Filtering through customer feedback on the various Internet blogs and social networking sites such as Yelp, BooRah, Citysearch, and others can be a very time-consuming endeavor, especially if your quick-serve restaurant boasts multiple locations. But reviewing these comments can lead to more targeted information, such as the favorite menu item, most-common dislikes, and the popular customer service aspects and could play a key role in marketing and advertising for the company.

While you might want to dismiss blog comments, it is important to note that blogs and other social media networks are gaining importance with consumers. According to comScore MediaMetrix, blogs garnered 77.7 million unique visitors in the U.S. as of August 2008. Facebook netted 41 million and MySpace recorded 75.1 million. And these aren’t limited to teenagers anymore.

In its “State of the Blogosphere 2008” report, Technorati stated that three out of four U.S. bloggers are college graduates, and 42 percent have attended graduate school. Furthermore, the report states that brands make up a major part of bloggers’ online conversations, with more than four out of five bloggers posting product or brand reviews.

In addition, these same bloggers are looked at with a sense of knowledge and respect. According to the report, 37 percent of bloggers have been quoted in traditional media based on a blog post with half of all bloggers believing that blogs will be a primary source for news and entertainment in the next five years.

This belief falls in line with the results of the BuzzLogic-sponsored “Harnessing the Power of Blogs” survey, which shows a 300 percent growth in monthly blog readership over the past four years. “What you’re seeing from an online consumer standpoint is only growing,” says Valerie Combs, vice president of corporate communications for BuzzLogic, which assists companies in identifying influential online discussions on a desired topic, building relationships, and targeting advertising.

Using San Francisco-based BuzzLogic’s Insights service, users can research and track active consumer advocates and contributors that influence others on specific topics, brands, and products. The results can reflect who the company’s existing and potential customers are, as well as tap into word-of-mouth marketing to see what’s popular with its customer base.

Visible Technologies in Seattle also provides companies with solutions for listening and learning what consumers are saying about them online. Using one of four solutions, companies determine what they want to monitor. Visible Technologies then searches social media networks, blogs, and search engines for all relevant information, which is compiled to give the company a full view of the online conversation. Blake Cahill, senior vice president of marketing for Visible Technologies, says the company’s platform allows brands to be a part of the experience. “It’s a new channel for consumers to be able to communicate at its essence,” he says. “Why wouldn’t brands want to be involved in what their consumers are saying?”

Another great way to efficiently review customer feedback is with a service such as The Customer Insight Portal by Leximancer, which utilizes a text analytic software platform to analyze customer reviews. Accessible through a Web browser, the service allows users to log on and simply point and click their way to pinpoint where they want to search for comments.

For instance, using the service, brands can analyze reviews in a certain geographic area to compare trends from location to location. They also can see the number of positive versus negative comments. Another benefit is highlighting key words found in multiple reviews that users can implement to optimize search engine results. Users even can track down the source of comments and have a direct conversation with the consumer who posted the feedback.

A recent example of the technology's capabilities is when it was used to look at Dunkin’ Donuts reviews on Yelp, a social networking site featuring reviews in cities across the nation on a variety of services, including restaurants, hotels, and shopping. Analysis of reviews in cities such as New York and Boston found that the No. 1 theme associated with Dunkin’ Donuts was coffee, an interesting insight for a place known for breakfast offerings. As a result, if Dunkin’ Donuts decided to advertise on Yelp, the smart decision would be to focus on the company’s coffee products.

Of course, users also are likely to find both positive and negative postings regarding their businesses. DeAnne Merey, president of D M Public Relations in New York, works with clients who author and operate blogs, and her work involves reading and analyzing their blogs as well as advising and commenting on comments left by readers. She says ferreting out such comments on a regular basis allows restaurants to identify and address their most important issues. “These comments will yield a lot of power, especially if multiple blogs report the same experience and will determine the success of various establishments,” she says. “If the comment is negative, take immediate action and emphasize situations that are opposite of the comment in all sales, marketing, advertising, and public relations efforts.”

Responding to those who post such comments is a crucial component in monitoring customer feedback, says Neil Hartley, CEO for Leximancer in Boulder, Colorado. Regardless of what you learn in your research—what customers like most, what isn’t working at certain locations—you have to tell the customers you have heard them and are working to address their concerns. “It’s critical to communicate with these people that you’ve addressed the issues,” Hartley says. “It builds a connection point between the business and the consumer. Once I think consumers see they are being listened to, it adds value.”

This can be accomplished a number of ways, such as posting a notice on the business’s own blog, interacting with posters on the review site or blog where the feedback was found, and by using services such as Twitter, a real-time short messaging service that works over multiple networks and devices (much like a blog, but with shorter, more frequent posts). Dunkin’ Brands are already using this site regularly.

Pricing for the above-mentioned products varies, but subscriptions begin at about $100.