We’ve all wondered what it would be like to be a fly on the wall – secretly listening in on conversations and overhearing chatter. Whether admitted or not, knowing what people are thinking, positive or negative, holds tremendous weight and influence on how we represent ourselves and how our organizations represent themselves to consumers.
With the influx of social media and myriad of outlets at our disposal, consumers WANT to tell organizations what they are thinking about their products and what they’d like to see change. Tools such as Twitter, Facebook, and Blogs no longer make it necessary to be the invisible fly; rather, consumers feel free to openly provide feedback and engage in two-way communication.
As PR Manager for Equinox Fitness Clubs, I consider it important that I not only know what the media says about the brand but also what our members and prospective members are saying as well. I recently scavenged a few outlets to find out just how Equinox is portrayed.
I first monitored a site called SocialMention.com, which allows you to “track and measure what people are saying about you, your company, a new product or any topic across the web’s social media landscape in real time.” Through a search of “Equinox Fitness Club”, “Equinox” and “luxury fitness” I was able to (pleasantly) find that people are #1 engaging social media to discuss the brand and #2 discussing the brand favorably. The sentiment, defined as the ratio of mentions that are generally positive to those that are generally negative, was a staggering 61:1 – a win for the Equinox brand. Additionally, the reach, defined as the number of unique authors referencing your brand divided by the total number of mentions, was 32% - not too shabby. What’s more the “top” keyword is luxury furthering the strength of the brand in the upscale fitness market.
After taking an overall approach to my search, I went straight to the sources – Twitter, Facebook and Blogs to find what people were talking about.
Twitter – People like to talk and regardless of the 140 character limit, they will say what they need to say. What then, do people say @equinox?
For starters, the @equinox Twitter (August 6) boast 10,124 followers and 3,826 tweets. @equinox followers discuss their experiences, classes they are taking, clubs they are using and general Equinox information. Hashtags such as #motivation, #changeisgood and specific group fitness class names (#Pound, #BarreBurn, #kickboxing) are often used in tweets which seem to generate positive buzz and bring other followers to join in on chats. More often than not, people engage in @equinox and express their positive experiences via the Equinox Twitter. Equinox keeps up to date, tweeting multiple times per day and making sure to respond to and retweet follower tweets. Keep up the good work @equinox.
Facebook – Like most brands these days, having a Facebook profile is crucial. But, like all social media outlets, Facebook too opens itself to comments and potentially negative feedback. I found, however, that the Equinox Facebook page is similar to @equinox in both sentiment and frequency. Equinox Facebook has 34,273 Likes and posts/comments every day. The Equinox moderator does a great job at engaging followers but like all other forms of social media, when followers want to talk they will. When prompted with a question (even non-Equinox related), the average number of comments and likes exceeds 25.
A recent question posted by Equinox, “Who took Monday’s challenge and tried something new this week? Fill us in!” generated 11 likes and 19 comments – all of which were positive toward the Equinox brand and its offerings.
In addition, a recent chat with Equinox injury prevention expert generated 23 likes and 57 comments. The Equinox Facebook followers willingly express opinions and ask questions – the overall trend = a positive one.
Blogs & Comments on Blogs – In my quest for the Equinox consumer voice, my research proves that people have a favorable opinion of Equinox. As with all things in life, however, not everything is rainbows and unicorns. With lovers come haters and users come leavers. A recent article posted by the WellAndGoodNYC blog was a product of just that. WellAndGoodNYC is known for its favorable coverage of Equinox, but on June 24th, one post caused a ripple effect of negative blog chatter. The blog titled, “Equinox asks trainers to lose the muffin-top for its new uniforms,” caused other blogs such as Gawker and BlissTree to pick up the story as well. One consolation – the comments posted on the blogs were most in favor of Equinox and defended the brand. Phew!
What have I learned in my studies? Social media outlets view the Equinox brand quite favorably. What is an important takeaway? This does not come without hard work and dedication. Equinox must continue to harness its skills and capabilities, constantly being aware of what its members and prospective members say and make certain to engage them in constant communication. People want to be heard and if Equinox stops listening – the impact could be, well, not so rosy.
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