The Gettysburg battlefield draws over a million tourists a year, and this July, the 150th anniversary of the battle, will be especially packed. Perhaps the best time to visit is early fall, when the crowds thin and the leaves are still on the trees, as at the time of battle. The National Military Park is too big to tour entirely on foot; most visitors drive to the major sites. Pick up a CD at the park visitor center to provide historical narration. Or hire a licensed guide to join you in your car. Horseback tours are available, too.

Leave time to amble around town. Bizarre relic stores hold muskets, coffins and blood-stained nurses’ uniforms. The Shriver House Museum and the Rupp House illuminate civilian life. Lincoln stayed at the David Wills House before delivering the Gettysburg Address. 

If you’re building your business brand in today’s marketplace, you need to stand head and shoulders above the crowd of other businesses competing for your customers’ attention.  

Furthermore, you need to track how effective your brand building is, by monitoring it closely and reacting accordingly.

Your brand could well be your most valuable business asset and can mean the difference between a lifetime of loyal and avid customers, or simply being lost in the crowd of other brand marketers on Facebook and Twitter.

Let’s look at five ways for you to measure and track your brand in today’s online world.

1. Are Your Fans Engaging With You?
Social media and the internet has changed the way we do business.  Gone are the days when you marketed to your customers.  These days marketing is a two way conversation, with social engagement taking place between the business and consumers.  Relationships are built by being responsive to your customers needs.

A great example of fan engagement is the French telecommunications company, Orange, who used Twitter to engage their fans.  Followers were asked to use the hashtag #thissummer to tweet about the plans they had for summer, which were then broadcast on Orange's blog, with a Voice Over.  This had the twofold effect of both creating massive traffic, and enabling people to identify with Orange around an interesting and enjoyable topic.

2. How Much Real Value Are you Adding To The Conversation?
The content you offer needs to be the sort that people enjoy and encourages them to share with others, just like Healthy Choice did.  They increased engagement with their followers, and gained an extra 10,000 fans by offering a low value Facebook coupon, which increased in value as their fan base grew.  This not only reinforced their brand image with existing customers, but the majority of new fans also subscribed to their newsletter.

3. Are You Trying To Take More Than You're Giving?
Social media is about building a loyal and responsive following, by giving often, and taking infrequently.   Think of it as a savings account.  You must put in regular deposits, so you can reap the benefits when you need to make a withdrawal.  Giving freely without asking for something in return will translate to massive positive response from your fans when you do decide to ask for something.

4. Are You Actually Listening To The Online Conversation?
Today’s customer is a powerful being, with the ability to impact your business in a matter of minutes.  It’s therefore essential that you’re listening to the conversation that’s going on all around you, so you can respond to any negativity before it wreaks havoc with your business.  Learn from U-Haul’s mistake, who suffered long term damage to their well established brand, as well as lost thousands of dollars, because of a negative conversation about them which they weren’t listening to.  Even negative feedback can turn into a positive experience because it shows others that you’re concerned and responsive to their issues.

5. Is Your Website Active With Engagement, or Is It Silent And Stagnant?
Just having a website, no matter how flashy or attractive you think it is, simply isn’t enough anymore.  Build it and they will come is an internet myth.  Customers want to visit websites and blogs on which they can find interesting and engaging information, and which they want to bookmark and return to often because they look forward to your new content.  A simple way to encourage your website visitors to engage with you is to end your articles and blog posts with a question that encourages the reader to respond.

What do you want most out of your marketing efforts?