Striking The Right Chord
Applying sentiment analysis to understand how customers really feel
So far in our series on text analytics we have discussed the importance of looking beyond the number of stars you receive for your product or service by applying text analytics to analyse reviewers' comments. In this article, we take things a stage further by discussing the importance of sentiment analysis in understanding what customers really feel.
For brands navigating consumer review sites like Trustpilot, Amazon and TripAdvisor, the challenge isn’t just keeping up with what people are saying; it’s understanding how those words reflect the underlying sentiment. This is important because emotion plays an important part in purchase decisions. This is where sentiment analysis comes in, giving brands the ability to interpret whether the things reviewers say are positive, neutral or negative.
In a previous article we discussed how text analytics can uncover important themes discussed by reviewers. Sentiment analysis can be applied to these themes, enabling businesses to measure the individual components of their product or service offer. While an overall rating tells you what customers think of the offer as a whole, sentiment analysis reveals what people think about the various parts of it. For example, a retailer might learn that customers are largely positive about their range but are more negative about customer support. Similarly, a hotel on TripAdvisor might focus solely on overall scores, missing negative mentions of specific pain points like noisy air conditioning or a lack of vegan breakfast options. By breaking down sentiment across different themes, businesses gain a clearer picture of what’s driving satisfaction or dissatisfaction.
Revealing trends
Another important aspect of sentiment analysis is its ability to reveal patterns over time. Trends in customer sentiment can highlight shifts in public perception, signalling whether changes to a product or service have hit the mark. For example, if an online retailer introduces faster delivery options, sentiment analysis could quickly reveal whether customers are noticing and appreciating the improvement. This kind of feedback loop, direct and unfiltered, offers a good opportunity to stay in step with consumer expectations.
Benchmarking against the competitive set
Sentiment analysis can also help brands understand how they compare with competitors. By applying the same approach to reviews of rival businesses, brands can uncover the things they are better at than others in the competitive set and the things they need to improve. These insights can inform strategy and sharpen a brand’s competitive edge.
Overall
Sentiment analysis offers more than just data. It helps brands to focus on what’s important, to adapt where necessary and to connect with their audience in meaningful ways.
These connections can make all the difference.
