Tracking how sentiment evolves over time is essential for understanding your brand’s overall health and reputation trajectory.
While daily fluctuations are normal, long-term sentiment trends reveal deeper insights into public perception, customer satisfaction, and the effectiveness of your marketing efforts.
By consistently monitoring sentiment evolution in BrandMentions, you can move from reactive crisis management to strategic brand health management, making informed decisions that strengthen your reputation over time.
Using the Sentiment Over Time Chart for Long-Term Analysis
The Sentiment Over Time chart, available in the Analytics Dashboard, is your primary tool for visualizing how sentiment changes over extended periods.
While it’s highly effective for short-term crisis detection, its real power lies in helping you evaluate long-term brand performance.
1. Select a Long-Term Time Range
To uncover meaningful trends:
Adjust the time filter to display data for the past 6 months, 12 months, or a custom period.
Longer time frames help you move beyond daily fluctuations and see the bigger picture of how public sentiment evolves.
Tip: Longer data windows are best for identifying gradual improvements or declines in brand perception.
2. Analyze the Trend Lines
Observe the overall direction of your sentiment curves:
Upward Positive Sentiment Trend: Indicates improving brand perception and successful marketing efforts.
Downward Negative Sentiment Trend: Suggests effective reputation management or enhanced customer experience.
Flat Lines: Reflects stability, but may also suggest stagnation, an opportunity to re-engage your audience.
Look for gradual, sustained shifts rather than short-lived spikes. Consistent direction over time is the most reliable indicator of brand health.
3. Correlate Sentiment with Emotions and Key Brand Activities
Sentiment and emotion data becomes most valuable when analyzed alongside your major business events or campaigns.
Consider mapping the following:
Marketing Campaigns: A positive spike following a campaign indicates strong engagement and message resonance.
Product Launches: Track sentiment before, during, and after a release to assess customer reception.
Customer Service Improvements: Look for a steady decline in negative mentions after process changes.
Use annotations or notes within your reports to connect sentiment shifts with specific initiatives as this provides tangible proof of ROI for your marketing and PR strategies.
4. Identify Seasonal or Cyclical Patterns
Long-term tracking can reveal seasonal variations in sentiment:
Retail brands may notice increased negativity during high-demand periods (e.g., holidays or sales events).
Travel or hospitality brands might see sentiment peaks during summer months or major events.
Recognizing these cycles allows you to anticipate and prepare for recurring challenges, improving both communication timing and resource allocation.
Objective | Tool | Recommended Action |
Understand long-term brand perception | Sentiment Over Time Chart | Analyze 6–12 month trends |
Evaluate marketing or PR impact | Sentiment Over Time Chart | Overlay campaigns and events |
Benchmark performance | Separate competitor projects | Compare sentiment evolution |
Improve brand strategy | Analytics Dashboard | Track progress and set improvement goals |
Benchmarking Against Competitors
For a complete assessment of your brand health, compare your long-term sentiment trends to those of your key competitors.
Create separate BrandMentions projects for each competitor.
Monitor their Sentiment Over Time charts using the same time frames.
Compare results to evaluate relative brand performance.
Best Practices for Long-Term Brand Health Monitoring
Focus on the Big Picture: Avoid reacting to daily fluctuations. Concentrate on month-over-month or quarter-over-quarter trends.
Integrate into Reports: Include Sentiment Over Time visuals in your monthly or quarterly marketing and reputation reports.
Use screenshots or exported data to demonstrate measurable progress.
Set Measurable Goals: Establish clear targets, such as:
Increasing your positive-to-negative sentiment ratio by 10% in the next quarter.
Reducing overall negative mentions by 15% year-over-year.
Consistent tracking and goal-setting turn sentiment analysis into a proactive strategy for long-term brand success.