The document provides 9 lessons on social media monitoring from characters in Game of Thrones. The lessons include: listening and learning from Littlefinger; gauging sentiment like Tywin Lannister; exploiting powers of espionage like Varys; predicting the future using data like Bran Stark; crisis managing crises swiftly like Cersei and Jaime; fighting issues directly like Daenerys; leveraging positive comments like Joffrey; spotting trends early like Margaery Tyrell; and focusing on influencers like HBO. The document suggests social media monitoring tools can help with these lessons to strengthen brands' online presence and response.

2. 9 lessons from the social
media warriors of Westeros

3. Let the Lannisters, Starks and
Baratheons lead the way…
WHY DOES SOCIAL MEDIA
MONITORING MATTER?
And what can we learn from the cast of
Game of Thrones about SMM?

4. A SMM lesson from
Lord Baelish (Littlefinger)
Listen and Learn
Lesson 1

5. Lord Baelish (Littlefinger) would never have climbed the
ranks of Westeros and obtained powerful positions without
constantly listening-in for his next blackmailing break…
Climb the ranks of the social media sphere with SMM by:
• Monitoring the movements of mentions on social media:
who is saying what when, where and how?
• Cluing-in to consumers concerns before their voices go
viral…
• Increasing your online presence: get up to speed with the
latest industry insights and promote your position as a
thought-leader
Listen and Learn
Lesson 1

6. A SMM lesson from
Tywin Lannister
Gauging
sentiment
is essential
Lesson 2

7. Tywin Lannister is well-practiced at extracting and exploiting
information to prey on his victim’s sentiments, allowing him to
stay one step ahead.
With a social media monitoring tool, sussing out customer
sentiments about your brand couldn’t be easier…
• Sentiment: how consumers feel about your brand
• SMM tools track positive, negative and neutral mentions
about your brand
• Sentiment analysis help you to quickly counteract negative
mentions and alert you to any changes that need to be
made
Gauging sentiment is essential
Lesson 2

8. A SMM lesson from
Varys
Exploit your
powers of
espionage
Lesson 3

9. Varys, spymaster to the King, exploited his powers of
espionage to traffic information between Houses.
So, what are you waiting for? Break out the binoculars and
start spying (legally!) on your competitors:
• Keep tabs on your competition: use smart alerts - like
Varys would his spies - to track their every move online
• Monitor mentions about your competitors campaigns,
brands, #hashtags and
• See your competitor through the eyes of their customer &
track: review sites, social media pages, website &
subscribe for content
Exploit your powers of espionage
Lesson 3

10. A SMM lesson from
Bran Stark
Predict
the future
(as much as humanly possible!)
Lesson 4

11. Bran Stark’s may possess prophetic powers which allow him to stay
one step ahead of his enemies…but who would have thought that
SMM tools could help you predict the future too?
Although social media monitoring tools cannot officially enable you
to see into the future like Bran, they can help you to:
• Access to vast amounts of mentions = more data to analyse and
thus more accurate predictions
• Predict what your customer wants: what are customers buzzing
about?
• Predict what your customer will do next: what are customers
searching for and what search results are they presented with?
Are these search results positive?
• Predict the success of marketing campaigns: social media
analytics gives stats on potential audience/reach of mentions
Predict the future
(as much as humanly possible!)
Lesson 4

12. A SMM lesson from
Cersei and Jaimie Lannister
Crisis manage to
the max
Lesson 5

13. For Cersei and Jamie Lannister, word getting out about their incestuous
relationship certainly constituted a crisis. In order to cover their tracks, they
crisis managed the only way they knew how: murder (or rather, by
attempting to murder Bran Stark)
SMM tools can help you hone in on the source of social media mayhem
and counteract negative mentions of your brand immediately:
• Customized alerts track unusual activity surrounding your brand on social
media sites
• Mitigate malicious mentions by identifying the most influential influencers
and responding quickly (and quietly) to their concerns*
• Get personal: provide support on a personal level to customers by
replying to their tweets or assigning tweets/comments to colleagues
• Collaborate with overseas subsidiaries to maintain manning of social
media across the map 24/7
*Murdering key influencers is, however, not advised!
Crisis manage to the max
Lesson 5

14. A SMM lesson from
Daenerys Targaryen (khaleesi)
Fight (fire) with
fire
Lesson 6

15. Social media monitoring tools can be likened to Dynarus Tygarean; the
only difference being that one fights with fire (or rather, dragons) and
the other fights social media firestorms.
In order for social media crisis relations to succeed, brands must use
SMM tools in order to effectively fight fire with fire:
• Instead of reacting around the flashpoint (YouTube), brands must
react at the flashpoint
• Easily identifying the channel driving the most negative traffic is key
to targetting the trouble at its source
Social media monitoring tools save you valuable social media fire-
fighting time, by:
• Telling you where mentions are coming
• Showing you the audience/reach from each media source
Fight (fire) with fire
Lesson 6

16. A SMM lesson from
Joffrey Baratheon
Bask in your
awesomeness
Lesson 7

17. If there’s one thing we can learn from Joffrey Baratheon, it’s that basking in
your own awesomeness will not necessarily bring you friends, but it will
prove your power. And for the rest of you, who aren’t Rulers of the Seven
Kingdoms - well, you’ve got to be a little more subtle than King Joffrey…
Social media monitoring software allows you to pinpoint the most
complimentary comments on social media and circulate them like there’s
no tomorrow…
Why spread love for your label?
• Because people are probably saying nice things about your brand on
social media
• Because these people have followers who also hear nice things about
your brand
• Because leveraging compliments positions you as a source of trusted
information
Bask in your awesomeness
Lesson 7

18. A SMM lesson from
Maegery Tyrell
Set (and spot) the
latest trends
Lesson 8

19. When Margaery Tyrell first came on the scene, sporting a daring dress,
slashed to the navel, there was no question about it: she meant
business. The would-be queen of Westeros not only sets the tone, but
the trend in her out-there attire. But, Margaery Tyrell, isn’t the only one
quick off the mark, when it comes to spotting trends…
SMM tools are also dominating the trend-spotting space…but instead of
what’s trendy, they concetrate on what’s trending in the social media
arena:
• Spot the trends today which will make headlines tomorrow
• Latching-on early to the latest trends will give you a competitive
edge
• Plan your future marketing and social media campaigns around
what’s trending today
Set (and spot) the latest trends
Lesson 8

20. A SMM lesson from
The HBO Bosses
Keep an eye on
influencers
Lesson 9

21. If even the big bosses of HBO (creators of Game of Thrones) are keeping
an eye on their influencers, what are you waiting for? That’s right, it’s been
reported that HBO sent “influencer boxes” out to big names in the social
media sphere, introducing them to the world of Westeros…and look where
that’s got them today: the show is a phenomenal success!
So what can social media monitoring managers learn from the likes of
HBO?
• SMM tool can target the most influential people on social media: put
your content in the limelight, where its going to get shared, liked and
retweeted
• Influencers can be your greatest asset or your worst enemy…
• Make sure influencers feel favourably about your brand: the last thing
you want is bad reviews from complainers with clout
• Find out who the movers and shakers are and go after them!
Keep an eye on influencers
Lesson 9

22. So, there you have it – 9 essential lessons in Social Media
Monitoring from the Game of Thrones gurus of the social media
monitoring sphere!
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