What is Sentiment?  Per the Free Online Dictionary, Sentiment is the measurement of  thought, view, or attitude, especially one based mainly on emotion instead of reason.   So really, a view on whether someone is positive or negative about a company, brand, or idea that is in the blogosphere.

Sentiment is the way that people view what you are doing either positively or negatively.   A Social Business needs to be able to analyze sentiment and filter by concepts, hot words and media sets to have a complete comparative analysis by comparing positive, negative, neutral, or ambivalent sentiment.

Sentiment Analysis helps a Social Business make evidence-based messaging decisions with analysis into consumer and stakeholder sentiment.   It adds value in assessing  precision trends and changes in perception of your corporate reputation and reaction to campaigns.

In addition, it can help you identify and target new channels to drive greater advocacy of your products and services with key influencers based on an analysis of sentiment   For example, the effectiveness of your campaigns’ messages and their impact on consumers’ purchasing decisions as well as the resonance and believability of their promise is valuable information.