The height by width by depth of digital WOM
Talk talk. Zocalo is set on measuring the height, width and depth of digital word-of-mouth with its Digital Footprint Index. The Ketchum/Omnicom Group- owned unit says the new tool “helps pinpoint not only the quantity of conversation about a brand, but also those channels where engagement is occurring, and how well people understand and share the things the brand wants them to.”
What about WOM height? The outfit defines that as the sum of the blog posts, forum threads, videos, photos, and social networking groups (excluding Google). Height answers the question: ‘how much is your brand being talked about?’
The height number is absolute. “For example, a brand working to promote itself through online video may have 10 clips uploaded to a video-sharing site such as YouTube,” says Zocalo. “A simple method for calculating height in this instance would be to count the quantity of videos online – 10.”
OK, what about width? It’s the sum of engagement metrics for each channel analysed for height. Comments, thread replies, video views, and Twitter followers each contribute to this value. Width answers the question: ‘how widely is your brand conversation being engaged with and shared?’
And finally, depth, which is the semantic value of the content to the brand. This is looking at whether the messages are on target with objectives, and whether they are positive, neutral, or negative. Depth answers the question: ‘are people talking about the brand in the ways it wants them to?’
“There is both an art and science behind evaluating the results of a brand’s digital footprint,” Zocalo says. “As a mix of both qualitative and quantitative metrics, the evaluator’s role is akin to that of a storyteller. The results for height, width, and depth each illustrate their own narrative for how a brand is being talked about online. Contrasted and juxtaposed with one another, even deeper insights may be drawn that tell the holistic story.”
