One of the important benefits of social media such as Facebook and Twitter is that they allow marketers to learn what consumers are saying about their brand-and about the competition. To better understand that process, you can research what consumers are saying about a brand on Twitter.

1. Select a brand or a product category to study. If you are doing a marketing plan project for your marketing course, you may use that product. If not, choose a brand or product that you use-or one that you dislike.

2. Go to Twitter.com. Search for the product. Keep a record of the results. You might want to categorize the results in some way such as the categories listed below. Of course, you may be able to develop even better categories based on your product and the specific characteristics of the product.

a. Number of tweets that are positive (and negative) about the benefits of the product

b. Number of tweets that are positive (and negative) about the style or looks of the product

c. Number of tweets that are positive (and negative) about the quality of the product

d. Number of tweets that are positive (and negative) about using the product

e. Number of tweets that ask questions.