United States

Generative AI is everywhere now. You see it in content, campaigns, customer experiences, and even internal workflows. It promises speed, scale, and efficiency, but there’s a harder question sitting underneath all that progress; Do your audiences actually trust it?

Trust in the Age of AI: What Consumers Really Think About AI Generated Content

Today, PR teams aren’t just tracking media coverage and share of voice. They’re also measuring how their brand shows up in AI-generated answers, search summaries, and large language models (LLMs). This new LLM visibility layer is quickly becoming a critical part of PR performance.

15 Must-Have PR KPIs and How to Track Them

See how one platform can power every decision across PR, communications, and marketing.

The Meltwater Blog

Blog Topics: Generative Engine Optimization, Media Intelligence, Media Relations, Social Listening, Consumer Intelligence, Influencer Marketing

Find out how you can leverage Facebook to boost your brand's online presence and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

Facebook Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage Instagram to boost your brand's visual appeal and gain a competitive edge. Explore our category page today!

Instagram Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage LinkedIN to grow your professional network and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

LinkedIn Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage TikTok to elevate your brand with creative content and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

TikTok Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage X / Twitter to engage your audience effectively and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

X / Twitter Blog | Meltwater

Find out how you can leverage YouTube to create engaging video content and gain a competitive edge. Explore the Meltwater category page today!

YouTube Blog | Meltwater

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is transforming how brands show up in AI-powered search. Explore insights, strategies, and best practices to help your content rank and resonate across conversational engines like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Copilot.

Explore insights and strategies for Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) to help your brand stay visible and discoverable in AI-powered search.

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) Blog Collection | Meltwater

Every day billions of conversations take place on social media: tweets, posts, comments, blogs, reviews, podcasts, and much more.
Learn how to use social listening to make sense of all of that data.

On our social listening category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around social listening and social media monitoring. Read more.

Social Listening Blogs | Category

Business Reputation Management: What does it take to add reputation management to your marketing strategy? More importantly, how do you keep your reputation sparkly and shiny? Here’s your all-access guide to online reputation management for the long term.

On our reputation management category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around business reputation management. Read more.

Reputation Management Blogs | Category

From your brand's logo to your website, your social media presence to your customer support—these elements combined are what constitutes a brand in the minds of customers. But, there are thousands of other businesses that have a logo, website, social media presence, and website. So, how can you position your business on the market and make it stand out from the competition?
The key to success is branding & brand management!

On our brand management category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around brand management. Build your strategy and reach your goals!

Brand Management Blogs | Category

Competitive intelligence and the act of collecting competitive data can be seen as growth drivers for a company. Our guide will help you understand the concept of competitive intelligence (CI) by answering questions such as: What is the definition of competitive intelligence? How is competitive intelligence useful to organizations? What is the goal of competitive intelligence? And more.

On our competitive intelligence category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around competitive intelligence. Learn how to stay ahead.

Competitive Intelligence Blogs | Category

Let’s dive into the customer journey framework and how to optimize the process by creating a customer journey map and using metrics that matter when analyzing the customer journey.

On our customer journey category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around mapping and understanding the customer journey.

Customer Journey Blogs | Category

What Is Data Analytics? [Beginner’s Guide 2023]
How can I grow my business? 
How do customers interact with my newly launched product?
How do I increase the productivity of my employees?
How do I know if my marketing efforts are working?
We have just two words for you...Data analytics!

On our data analytics category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around AI and data analytics. Technical and still easy to understand.

AI & Data Analytics Blogs | Category

Public relations and media relations can add impact to any marketing strategy. It’s an opportunity for brands to grow their reach beyond traditional sales messages. PR helps to shape the image you want people to have of your brand.
So, what is PR and how do you use it? This guide shows you everything you need to know to build a strong public relations foundation.

On our public relations (PR) category page, you find all our blogs covering public relations and communications topics. Step up your PR game.

Public Relations (PR) Blogs | Category

We all know exactly what the roles of sales or accounting are in a company, right? We might even have a slight idea of what the IT guys are doing.
But there is another business discipline, that plays a crucial role in organizations, even more so during the pandemic – internal communications!
But what exactly do we mean by that, what purpose does it serve and what steps can you take to ensure you and your employees will communicate effectively?

On our internal communications category page, you find all our blogs about internal comms topics. Learn about the intranet, internal newsletters, and more.

Internal Communications Blogs | Category

As the internet has taken root in more areas of our lives — everything from entertainment to shopping to paying bills and more — traditional marketing is becoming less impactful. As any marketer knows, you need to focus on where your audience is if you want to reach them. Since the average person spends about seven hours a day online, it’s no surprise that content has maintained its hold on marketers.

Here's a closer look at what content marketing is and why it matters more than ever in our digital-first economy.

On our content marketing category page, you find blogs about content marketing topics. Learn about strategies, KPIs, tips, and more. Make your content king!

Content Marketing Blogs | Category

The rise of the influencer marketing space – today a $10 billion industry, growing 50% per year – is one of the clearest examples of how social media is transforming traditional marketing. These days having a business website, presence on social, PR coverage, and your own content isn’t enough to compete.
We'll dive into the intricacies of influencer marketing to help ensure that you're equipped with the insights needed to be successful in this space.

On our influencer marketing category page, you find blogs about influencer marketing topics. Build your strategy, find influencers, and measure results.

Influencer Marketing Blogs | Category

Have you just launched a new product or service that you want to get the word out about? Maybe you want to share with consumers why it is awesome and how it is so much better than the one your competitors offer.

Well, then, there is one thing you can't do without...Marketing!

On our marketing category page, you find blogs about marketing topics. Learn about all the different angles and types of marketing and improve your results.

Marketing Blogs | Category

In this guide, we want to give you a peek into the definition of social media management, the daily schedule of a social media manager, social media platforms to promote your business, and the do’s & don’ts of social media management.
Are you ready to begin the journey of becoming a social media superstar?

On our social media management category page, you find blogs about social media management topics. Build and manage your online community.

Social Media Management Blogs | Category

Building a following and using social media platforms to reach a wider audience requires a well-planned social media marketing strategy. In this guide, we’ll be looking at why social media marketing is so essential and how you can make it work for your business.

On our social media marketing category page, you find blogs about social media marketing topics. Learn how to get the highest paid social ROI!

Social Media Marketing Blogs | Category

In the fast-evolving realm of digital marketing and public relations, utilizing the right tools is crucial for success. Our interdisciplinary category showcases all the pertinent tools for digital marketing & PR. These tools help in enhancing your online presence and effectively reaching target groups, whether through reputation management, influencer marketing, or social media management.

On our digital marketing and PR tools category page, you find all our blogs covering topics around mapping and understanding the customer journey.

Digital Marketing & PR Tools Blogs | Category

The conniving Cersei Lannister once said, “When you play the Game of Thrones, you win or you die. There is no middle ground.” – a quote that best describes the onus of the fantasy series’ success. The intricacies of political backstabbing and calculated manoeuvring between human morality, familial loyalty and the brutality of wars were the driving force which hooked the audience to the folklore.

The series established a massive fanbase that even the Ruler of the Seven (now six) Kingdoms would have been mightily proud. With the broadcast of the final episode, did fans rejoice at the finality of the folklore or did they have to reluctantly accept its end as closure to the series? With over 6.1 million  social mentions of the series, fans made their voices heard louder than a Dothraki army battle cry.

The Mad Queen and the Decimation of King’s Landing

With more than 1.9 million social mentions for the Mother of Dragons, fans were left in shock and grief when firstly Daenerys scorched the innocents of King’s Landing with Drogon’s flaming breath and subsequently received the pointy end of Jon Snow’s dagger. Like Nietzsche’s quote on gazing into an abyss, Daenerys’ character development has changed from meek princess to merciful Breaker of Chains and finally to the vengeful bloodlust despot. Despite fans showing disdain of her demise, many fans remained loyal to her reign and were satisfied with the character’s ascension to the throne.

Many fans were left upset that Jon Snow, the new Queen-Lover-Auntieslayer, was tasked to carry out the unforgiving deed of ending the Mother of Dragons. There were more than 150,000 social mentions on the Targaryen romance. Fans were also annoyed that the protagonist of the whole epic did not get a satisfying end and was even banished to the icy glaciers of the North instead of taking over the throne. Jon Snow’s whimper off to the chilly horizon left fans distraught as it did not reflect their hero’s resolve.

Based on Cersei’s quote, we know many have died in the Battle of Bastards or the Red Wedding. Amongst the living, the houses mutually agreed that Bran ‘The Broken’ Stark should succeed the throne – a democratic decision to choose a leader. Blessed with Tyrion’s oratorical influence, he shone a light on the events Bran had to experience, the stories that accompanied him and his ability to foretell the future and know everything in the past, the houses (sans his blood kingdom) proclaimed him as the new King.

But what did the fans had to say? There were 885,000 social mentions of Bran and they were not particularly encouraging. Majority of social media responded with resounding mockery character and words such as “disappointment”, “useless”and “nowhere” were used generously among fans. It can be said that fans may be partial to how they want their favourite characters to turn out but for Bran, there was no love lost and even highlighted that no one cared when his character did not even appear for a whole season.

Fans were more satisfied with the final chapter of another favourite, the impish schemer with a heart, Tyrion. There were more than 713,000 mentions of Daenerys’ Hand who gave up his position after her destruction of the city but eventually reclaimed it under Bran. Many fans were in consensus that despite all the travails he had to endure in his life and adventures in Westeros, Tyrion was a key player of the Game of Thrones. He had manoeuvred so much to find himself in a lofty position in King’s Landing and even talked himself out of execution by the Unsullied.

Like the council that voted on Bran’s ascension to the throne, fans sought to find a democratic solution to solve their unhappiness. Even before the discussions on the final episode had even died down, a petition to remake the series’ end was set up and more than 1.5 million people have signed it. However, it would not be too surprising if this fell on deaf ears as the producers have the support from the cast and even the creator George R R Martin gave a thumbs up, citing differences to his canonical books should have been expected.

For eight long years, HBO’s adaptation of Martin’s fantasy folklore has enthralled the audience with heroism, moral ambiguity, insane amounts of bloodletting and gore, suspense, hypersexualised imagery, notorious villains, interweaving realpolitik, and impressive interpretations of dragons to date. Despite the uproar on how series ended, fans have to acknowledge it has, for the best parts (undeniably the first four seasons), been an immovable force within the realms of popular culture.

Disclaimer: All data and insights provided by Meltwater were analysed for the period between and after the final two episodes.

Game of Thrones: Social Media Reactions to the Series Finale

With the Liberal Party trumping the Federal Election, Meltwater looked at a fortnight’s worth of social data in the lead-up to the election to reveal what influenced voters’ choices.

Australia headed to the polls on Saturday 18 May 2019 and the nation had been inundated with information from every possible avenue of news dissemination. This deluge of information provided the necessary decision maker on who they voted into the hallowed halls of government in Canberra. And with social media being a primary source of information, topics of interest swirled through the minds of the voters.

With the Cambridge Analytica scandal and ‘fake news’ closely associated with electioneering efforts overseas, the people of Australia made their votes count by combing through the facts of the policies put forward by the politicians. Due diligence in fact-checking has become part and parcel due to the multitude of information and ‘fake news’ available in our mobiles.

So what made Australians tick during this Federal Election? Which politician made you think twice about the direction that Australia will be taking in the next three years? Meltwater jumps into the pool of news data on the upcoming elections and looks to unravel electioneering trends.

The Federal Election is important in the enactment of future policies governing the country and a myriad of issues influence how the people of Australia voted. Using the data in the month of May, the issue of Tax topped the list of issues that worry the people of Australia the most. This is unsurprising as this is where it will hurt the most for everyone – their hip pockets.

There were a total of 68,900 social mentions and a whopping 68% of them were negative in sentiment. This could be due to widespread concern over the Labor Party’s controversial reform policies on ‘franking credits’ and dividend imputation. The Liberals worked hard on this issue and arguably it could be the reason that won them the elections.

The emphasis on taxes was echoed in the news as the topic had 23,600 mentions, the most of all the topics. This high coverage in media outlets might have helped the Liberal cause too.

The global and shared challenge of climate change was next on the agenda for voters. The issue garnered 54,000 social mentions and 21,900 news mentions. The voting public had an eye on the plans the government was implementing to tackle the environmental threat and proposed policies for the mineral export and mining industries.

Another bread and butter issue of education remained a key issue for the people as policies to cut budget spending on schools worried the general population of parents and teachers. The topic had 37,800 social mentions and 23,000 news mentions. Netizens were predominantly negative at 46%  as Australians reflected on the prospects of the education system.

With elections being the definitive tool for the people to hold the political community accountable, it can be said that social media has become the main medium to voice, advocate and share opinions. And with social media being so dynamically engaging between both communities, key leaders ultimately bear the brunt or receive praise for their policies and stances. With almost a million social mentions, a lot has been said about these five protagonists of this election.

Incumbent prime minister and leader Scott Morrison was mentioned 365,000 times and 55% of them had negative undertones. Compared to the other four individuals, it is the highest percentage of negative sentiments directed to an individual. However, Bill Shorten was mentioned 587,000 times. Dubbed as the ‘unlosable’ election for Labor, many have highlighted Shorten’s lack of general popularity with voters as one of the reasons.

Shorten, Richard DiNatale and Clive Palmer posted around 46-48% of its social mentions with negative sentiment but Pauline Hanson, the face of the right-wing One Nation Party, surprisingly garnered a lower-than-expected 30% negative sentiments. She topped it off with 22% of social mentions being positive in sentiment and the election results were better than expected for her party. On the news front, the Liberal and Labor leaders naturally were mentioned the most with each of them getting more than 50,000 mentions.

With opinions and information available from both social media and news outlets, voters were considerably well-informed and certainly making sure they were fully exercising their democratic right. With the new leaders in position, social media insights should be harnessed to relatively give politicians a sense of which topics people are concerned about. And it is now left to them to fulfil the promises they made or face the reaction in three years’ time.

Want to find out how Meltwater can help deliver brand insights and competitive intelligence for your company? Click below!

An Analysis of Australian Federal Election Coverage

Meltwater looks at what Game of Thrones fans are talking about on social media in this fortnightly review as the fantasy series battle #ForTheThrone draws to a close in season 8. Disclaimer: GoT Season 8 spoilers ahead.

It does not take a decree by the Mad King or Bran’s prophecies to declare that the Game of Thrones has taken over the world by (both fire and snow) storm. This week’s post casts an eye over what the fans gawked about in the epic and brutal scenes of the Battle of Winterfell in Episode 3 and the melodramatic aftermath that followed in the subsequent episode.

This post also looks at the countless number of merchandise churned out to commemorate the fantasy series and the buying masses who are lapping them up like the Night King’s hordes of undead storming into Winterfell. With over 3.5 million mentions in social media since the broadcast of Ep 3, there is a lot of marketing that could be done to expand fanbases for brands.

Despite patriarchal tendencies of the houses in the Seven Kingdoms, the lineup of powerful women runs the roost after eight seasons and two episodes shy of the series’ end. It must be said that the series features strong female protagonists consisting of characters such as Cersei, Arya, Sansa, Daenerys, Melisandre and Lady Brienne (or Ser Brienne, after her recent knighthood by Jaime). With such a strong narrative on the fairer gender, even cosmetic brands have tapped into this fandom to create new products. For example, Urban Decay released a capsule collection for the series and there were more than 15,000 mentions on social media. A healthy 38% of the mentions reacted positively commenting on their excitement and the colours available while a low 8% griped on the capsule being hyped due to the series. Furthermore, during the same period, the capsule generated so much interest that it usurped Urban Decay’s bestselling mainstay Naked Palettes which only had 1,300 mentions.

Other brands such as eco-conscious jewellers, Alex & Ani, and handbag maker, Danielle Nicole, also pitched in with their unique Game of Thrones merchandise. Alex & Ani produced a special collection for the strongest women in the series, namely the Stark sisters, Daenerys and Cersei while the latter crafted a range of backpacks and pouches interpreting the series’ drama and sense of adventure.

This narrative on pro-feminism, however, comes back to haunt the producers of Game of Thrones. With the rising stock of Sansa and how she had developed as an integral part of the series, her encounter with Sandor Clegane or The Hound drew widespread criticism from fans. With over 21,000 mentions, fans were vilified with the conversation between the two characters and highlighted overtly sexist remarks from The Hound. Fans even called the writers sexists by portraying women “needed” to be abused or raped to become a “stronger” character.

Undoubtedly, the most talked about scene was when Arya ended the Night King’s march into Westeros. This highlights another example of female dominance in the series where a young female protagonist takes on the heroic role despite the images of hopelessness prior to that scene. This scene alone garnered almost 660,000 social mentions. There were countless videos of fans erupting in joyous fervour during mass screenings in pubs and halls. Arya’s representation of the underdog and the oppressed overcoming all odds went down well with the series’ fans.

After Arya stakes the Night King with her Valyrian steel blade, the realm of men obviously had to celebrate. And what do they have to celebrate with? Unsurprisingly, booze and unadulterated coitus. Even brands saw the affinity that the Seven Kingdoms had with their alcohol and no one could blame them. In tribute of the show’s unbridled success, three brands took up the mantle to brew and concoct the drinks inspired by the beverages the characters consumed.

Johnnie Walker, Diageo and the Ommegang Brewery launched special creations in light of the final season. A product of inebriation would be welcomed by many and fans poured their delight on social media. Johnnie Walker’s White Walker whisky topped the alcoholic trio with almost 6,000 mentions since the first episode aired while Diageo’s single malts garnered almost 3,700 mentions. Predictably, the lesser known Ommegang drew a respectable 1,900 mentions by fans but did manage to receive positive comments for its creations. In the long run, this will inevitably help to propel the brewery’s reputation and marketability.

Fans also got into the act by concocting their own wines and one French winemaker Thibault Bardet developed two wines to commemorate his favourite books and TV series. Despite getting decent reviews for his creation of The Dornish and The Imp’s Delight wines, HBO sent a legal warning letter for him to stop producing them. Although the broadcaster was kind enough to let him sell off whatever he had in stock. At least the broadcasting behemoth had the heart not to cut off his head just like Cersei ordered the Mountain to do to Missandei.

Another topic that had everyone talking was yet another sensuous one involving Jaime and Ser Brienne. This topic alone had 115,000 social mentions. The pent-up tension and most probably the copious amounts of ale consumed, the pair embraced through the cold night in the North. Many fans were initially delighted but this turned to derision when Jaime made the choice to return to Cersei in King’s Landing. This derision was fueled by comments that this was an act of male chauvinism and Brienne was just a pawn to Jaime’s insecurities to prove that he was a bad person despite her protestations. Fans were also annoyed that Jaime’s character development was completely destroyed in one act of passion as it highlighted a soft indiscretion in an extremely likeable flawed persona.

A Goblet To Rule & Shoes To Walk The Seven Kingdoms

A takeaway coffee cup became a viral sensation in a particular gaffe which three-eyed fans spotted in one of the scenes toasting the victory over the Night King. Fans went hysterical over the brown paper cup and instantaneously identified it to be a Starbucks one. However, upon further investigation, it was revealed that the cup was not from the coffee chain but a generic cup. This did not stop fans from linking Starbucks to the TV series and the topic had 166,000 social mentions. A financial analyst even went as far to say that the cameo appearance generated US$2.3 billion worth in advertising for Starbucks but this we all know remains to be argued.

German athletic wear giants Adidas also jumped into the fray with their iteration of the highly popular range of Ultraboost running shoes. The footwear range represented the various houses of the show and these truly caught fire (and ice) with the fans across the world. There were almost 23,000 mentions since the launch of the collection and almost 42% of them were positively anticipating the chance to “cop” the sneakers.

Arguably, the series has become a cultural phenomenon never seen since the intergalactic world of Star Wars. With it being part of the cultural folklore of our realm, marketing professionals around the world are unsheathing and thrusting their blades into the bellies of capitalism and making sure that they get their own shot at the Throne.

Disclaimer: All data and insights provided by Meltwater were analysed for the period between Episode 3 and before the broadcast of Episode 5

Game of Thrones: Brands Making It Reign

Disclaimer: All data and insights provided by Meltwater were analysed before the broadcast of Episode 3.

Meltwater looks at what Game of Thrones fans are talking about in this fortnightly review as the fantasy series battle #ForTheThrone and draws to a close this season.

Now that Daenerys’ dragons have breathed fire and the ashes of fallen folk have settled into the new season of Game of Thrones, what does the future hold for the different house banners in the land of Westeros? And what does the realm of its fans say about potential permutations of realpolitik to claim the Iron Throne in King’s Landing? Prior to the Season 8 premiere, many cast their Three-Eyed Ravens to predict the future but not one Little Bird across the Seven Kingdoms had leaked any detail of the series. Even a group of German computer science students made their own predictions but only time will tell if they were correct.

There was also great interest from Brazil, India and Nigeria and this showed the phenomenon transcended borders, traditions and cultures while captivating the audience with the story of power, political deception, international domination, familial bonds, and cultural representation that resonated with people around the world.

The return of Jon Snow inevitably topped the conversations amongst netizens, especially the scene where he takes the reins (or spikes) of Rhaegal for a joyride. This scene was significant to the fans as the development of Jon’s linkage to the Targaryen family grew stronger as no one could ride a dragon that easily. This topic had more than 5,000 social mentions and it was also poignant as the beast was named after Jon Snow’s biological father Rhaegar Targaryen.

Another topical discussion was the three-sided power struggle between Jon, Daenerys and Sansa in Winterfell. Having taken the stewardship of the house, Sansa faces off with Daenerys as they both display their differences (and literal disdain) to each other. Jon also struggles to balance his personal alliances between family and love and doing what he knows best for his house. And there is also the revelation, which he reluctantly reveals to Daenerys, of him being the rightful heir to the Iron Throne. Fans continue speculating that even Daenerys might betray Jon as he becomes her direct rival to taking power of the Seven Kingdoms. This triangular psychological battle has sparked over 180,000 social mentions and fans are not slowing down with the different permutations of what will happen to the three of them.

The other Stark sibling Bran or the Three Eyed Raven sparked many conversations amongst fans as he is key to anything that happens – just because he foretells the future. Apart from Bran being a viral meme due to his lurking stare within the courtyards and his long-awaited reunion with Jaime Lannister, there were more than 35,000 Social mentions of Bran. The topic that led the discussions was a radical theory that Bran is the Night King. Fans are sieving through past seasons and are stoked that Bran wields a certain influence over the Night King. More revelations will be revealed and undoubtedly Bran will be front and centre of the story. Unless, he gets killed off in the next episode.

Expectedly, a sizzling topic that had every fan talking was Arya and Gendry’s consummation of their relationship. The pair first crossed paths at Night’s Watch and the attraction seemed to have not faded after seven seasons and the fans were elated with the union. There were more than 315,000 mentions of this topic in social media and sparked conversations spanning from whether it was an awkward moment for fans to watch Arya in the throes of passion to sexual empowerment of women where Arya had grown into a strong individual and taken a more dominant role in the relationship.

The King Is Nigh(t) and the Queen in the Red Keep

The impending doom of the Night King, flanked by his army of the undead and zombie dragon Viserion, is closing on Winterfell but fans are devising their own military tactics judging by comments on social media. There were over 235,000 mentions of the Night King on how he would take over the Stark stronghold.

The Night King’s epic and horrific message made from Ned Umber and the limbs of corpses dominated conversations. The grisly topic had 2,800 mentions and fans discussed what the spiral symbol meant and the significance it played in the folklore. Conversations also revolved on whether the Night King would raise the dead located in the crypts of Winterfell and how they would decimate the vulnerable population that were supposedly hiding there in safety. This topic had almost 19,000 mentions in social media and fans are waiting for the devastating end to the residents of Winterfell.

Cersei Lannister was also a main draw of conversations as fans were fairly amused with her fixation with elephants. There were more than 39,000 social mentions on the Golden Company’s inability to bring the leathery, lumbering creatures to the Queen in King’s Landing. Talk was also rife on the topic of her pregnancy – more than 7,000 mentions – fans were speculating whether she was scheming a move to name Euron as the father instead of her brother.

Away from the episodes itself, social media was rife with conversations on Sophie Turner, the actress who plays Sansa. Fans discussed about the troubles she had to go through playing the character and she revealed that she suffered from depression and even harboured suicidal thoughts due to internet trolls who were critical of her. There were more than 5,200 social mentions of this topic. Her issues with mental health while playing Sansa received attention from fans and ultimately this has become a good platform for celebrities to spread awareness. Sophie Turner also created quite a stir when she reacted on Instagram about her offscreen best friend Maisie Williams’ intimate scene with Gendry and fans were much amused by her hysterical comments.

Much has been revealed and the struggle for power continues in the land of Westeros. And as Varys and Tyrion had once discussed early in the series, power lies where men believe it resides and the power of the Game of Thrones is one that has left us fans subservient to the next episode.

Game of Thrones: Season 8 Buzz on Social Media

Across social media, trend hunters and animal enthusiasts alike are proclaiming 2019 the year of the vegan.

From Kind and Tyson, to Forbes and The Economist, to Taco Bell, McDonald’s, KFC and Carl’s Jr, experts are predicting – and perhaps willing – 2019 to be the undisputed Year of the Vegan.

According to The Economist’s report, “Where millennials lead, businesses and governments will follow.” And it is the millennials who are distinctively leading the charge toward plant-based living, followed closely by their rapidly-coming-of-age counterparts, Gen Z.

In America in 2015, according to one survey, 3.4% of the population were vegetarian and just 0.4% were vegan. Today, according to Gallup, 5% of the total population say they are vegetarian and 3% vegan, but “fully a quarter of 25- to 34-year-old Americans say they are vegans or vegetarians.”

Consumers appear to be making the commitment. According to The Guardian, record numbers of people have signed up for Veganuary, a movement designed to help meat-eaters pledge to go meat-free for the month of January – with 14,000 signing up in just one day. “Since the movement started five years ago, participant numbers have more than doubled each year and a total of more than 250,000 people in 193 countries have signed up.”

Fast and slow food brands alike are jumping on the bandwagon. McDonald’s has started selling vegan hamburgers. Taco Bell announced an all new, all-vegetarian menu. Waitrose in the UK launched a new line of vegan products. And according to The Economist, sales of vegan foods in America in the year to June 2018 rose ten times faster than food sales as a whole.

Source: www.foodrevolution.org/blog/vegan–statistics–global/

Celebrities and film producers continue to push the trend, not least of all professional athletes like NFL quarterbacks Aaron Rogers and Tom Brady, whose mostly plant-based diets have now become legendary, dispelling the myth that meat is necessary for protein and strength. Other US celebrities from Beyonce and Miley Cyrus to Arnold Schwarzenegger and Al Gore have spoken out in favor of plant-based diets.

The slow and steady reign of veganism makes sense, as consumers collectively begin to grow more conscious of the dire effects of climate change and global farming on the planet. Last year, a group of scientists and researchers from the University of Oxford and LCA Research group released the most comprehensive study on food production’s environmental impact.

They noted that the single biggest thing we can do to reduce this impact is to consume less meat and dairy. The study showed that while meat and dairy provide just 18% of calories and 37% of protein, they occupy 83% of farmland and produce 60% of agriculture’s greenhouse gas emissions.

Guardian Graphic | Source: Poore and Nemecek, Science

“A vegan diet is probably the single biggest way to reduce your impact on planet Earth, not just greenhouse gases, but global acidification, eutrophication, land use and water use,” said Joseph Poore, at the University of Oxford, who led the research.

According to a 2019 snacking trend report from snack company Kind, the trend toward a more meatless lifestyle goes beyond concern for the environment: “The growing popularity of plant-based eating styles is driven by both health and sustainability concerns – along with a desire for new and diverse food options. We can expect to see more innovations highlighting nuts, extruded seeds, beans, water lentils and algae across categories such as snack bars, chips, meat-free burgers or sausages and dairy-free yogurts and cheeses in the year ahead.”

Other factors, like a general progression toward health consciousness and a healthier lifestyle, along with more affordable vegan options, have further prompted the movement.

Finally, firms are getting better at replicating the real look, feel and taste of meat with lab-grown varieties. Impossible Foods, the SF-based fake meat lab who has raised $400M in funding and whose wildly popular Impossible Burgers took the US market by storm, have announced development of a new meatless steak. Meanwhile, Dutch firm Vivera arrived on supermarket shelves in June, and 40,000 of its vegan steaks were sold within a week.

Case study: Carl’s Jr. makes a bet on the rise of the vegan

The “Year of the Vegan” began rising on social media and blogs around December, when trend predictions for 2019 started to pick up. Among major US fast food chains, mentions of veganism and plant-based meals over the last 100 days has risen significantly, with Carl’s Jr. standing out above the rest.

US Fast Food: % mentions of vegan-related topics (Oct 2018 – Jan 2019)

27.3% of all Carl’s Jr. posts on social media in the last 100 days spoke to vegan and veganism trends. This is in larger part due to the announcement of their new Beyond Meat Burger, a vegan addition to the menu that is being pushed hard in early 2019. Vegan eaters have caught on, as mentions of Carl’s Jr. overall began spiking significantly since the new option was announced.

Volume of social media posts mentioning Carl’s Jr. (Oct 2018 – Jan 2019)

Average sentiment score: social posts mentioning Carl’s Jr (Oct 2018 – Jan 2019)

Popular Carl’s Jr social media mentions (Oct 2018 – Jan 2019)

This post was originally published on Outside Insight. An online resource designed to help business executives understand the power of external data and the impact of forward-looking insights on the decision-making process.

Is 2019 the year of the vegan? Carl’s Jr and others are betting on it.

As PR and marketing reporting becomes essential in the modern comms department and folks move towards quantifying their efforts, wading through different aspects of reporting can get confusing fast. This uncertainty can particularly be true for those building a data-centric foundation for their PR and marketing departments. Becoming data-centric now will streamline the future reporting process. We understand the complexity surrounding data gathering and the decisions that need to be made to implement a rigorous reporting strategy; that’s why we’ve laid out what you need to get started in this handy infographic.

Infographic: PR and Marketing Reporting—Keys to Capturing KPIs

If you want to make your social media marketing as profitable as possible, you need to keep close track of essential metrics. Social analytics is often the difference between a successful campaign and wasting your time and money on ineffective marketing. There are a variety of tools and services that can help you with analytics. However, what matters most is having a strategy and knowing which numbers to watch. Here are 5 social analytics tips to help you get more out of your campaigns.

Before you can identify the optimum metrics to track and the best social analytics tools for your needs, it’s important to identify your goals. Not all businesses or campaigns are alike. For example, if your primary objective is to increase brand awareness, it makes sense to pay close attention to data such as views, likes, shares and follows. If you’re trying to drive more quality traffic to your website, click-throughs are your biggest concern. Your goals may not be the same for each campaign or for each social media site. Goals for your business can also change over time.

Tip: Read 10 Tips to Increase Link Click-Throughs on Social Media

2. Find Out Which Channels Are Best For You

There are more and more choices when it comes to social media. It’s safe to say that every business should use Facebook as this site covers all demographics that are active online. Twitter is second in this regard even though some other sites actually have more users. Beyond these two, however, you should identify the platforms that your audience uses most. Pinterest can be powerful for promoting physical products. Snapchat is a good choice if you’re focusing on Millennials and Gen Z. LinkedIn is a must if you do any type of B2B marketing.

To really understand which social media channels are most valuable to you, conduct your own testing. You can use social analytics tools to help you find out which sites are sending you the most traffic and which are best for leads and sales. Google Analytics reports are useful for measuring which platforms, as well as individual posts, are responsible for the most leads and

Click-throughs are one of the most important metrics of all for any type of social media campaign. After all, your objective isn’t to get views or even likes but to get people to actually visit your website or wherever you’re sending them. Your CTR is a good measure of how effective your social media content is. It’s just as important to track CTR for your social media posts as it is for paid ads and website content.

Identify key factors in your social media posts and use A/B or split testing. There are a few ways to do this. You can measure your results on one site vs. another. If you find, for example, that you get a higher CTR on Facebook than other sites, you may decide to devote more of your resources to that platform. You can also split test variables on a single platform. Certain topics might perform better than others. you can also test different types of content, such as text posts, images, infographics and videos. There may be other variables as well, depending on which social site you’re using. On Twitter, for example, you can test hashtags.

While everyone says that you need to post to social media sites consistently, there’s far less consensus about just how often to post. Furthermore, there are endless debates about the best time of day and day of the week to post. As with most arguments about social analytics, the best solution is to do your own testing. The same answer is not going to be the same for every business.

Free tools such as Facebook Insights can help you test your results for posting at different times. It’s helpful to know when your followers are most likely to be online and engaged. If your audience lives in multiple time zones you also have to factor this into your calculations. This information helps with other types of marketing as well, such as sending emails and posting to your blog. Knowing how often to post is a little trickier to test for. Many studies on this topic suggest that it’s fine to post often as long as you have fresh and relevant content. It also varies from one platform to the next. It makes sense to post the same content two or three times per day on Twitter because the timeline moves so fast. Doing this on Facebook, however, will more likely annoy your followers.

While you should appreciate all of your social media followers, it’s a simple fact that not all of them provide you with equal value. Someone with over 100,000 followers who shares your post is a lot more significant than someone with 50 followers. Of course, there’s more to influence than the number of followers. It also matters how engaged their followers are and if they represent demographics that match your own audience. You can study such information using either free or paid social analytics tools.

It’s also worthwhile to track followers who may not be considered influencers but who, nevertheless, are very enthusiastic about engaging with your content. Such followers are always worth cultivating. Your time and resources on social media are limited. It only makes sense to devote a disproportionate amount of your energy towards people who can help you the most. When people are valuable or even potentially valuable to you, make an effort to provide equal or even greater value to them. Share their content, leave comments and mention them in your own posts.

These are some of the most effective ways to get more out of your social analytics. Having accurate data is always helpful. At the same time, information is ultimately a tool; it’s up to you to put it to the best possible use. Once you’re clear about what you want to achieve with social media you can search for the tools and techniques that provide you with the data you ne

AI & Data Analytics