I recently attended the Digiday: Social Event in New York, which explored the many dimensions of social influence marketing. The dimension that struck me the most was the importance of listening to the social web.
Why is listening important? Like it or not, people in the social web are socializing and interacting. They are talking about your organization, your brand, your industry. By not listening, you don't know whether your target audiences or your competitors are responding to questions raised about you, or providing their own input. They may be giving answers and information that are false or flawed.
The experts who converged at the event underscored that most aspects of digital media are becoming social and that social media are here to stay. This may be a wake-up call to those who have resisted trying out the social/digital media waters. Begin participating now by listening up first.
As motivational speaker and best-selling author Harvey Mackay said, "You learn when you listen. You earn when you listen - not just money, but respect." I would add trust to Mackay's quote.
How do you listen in the social web?
The first crucial step is to determine the right social media strategy for reaching your target audiences effectively. This includes finding out where your audiences are going to network and interact. Are they on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter LinkedIn and other social networking sites?
What should you listen for?
You need to listen for insights, not just data. The next generation of listening tools is designed to uncover insights that generate action across the board so that brands evolve into "listening organizations." The new tools enable you to hear if the chatter out there about your brand is positive or negative, including the percentage of good vs. bad. The tools can also monitor nuances, multiple voices, and the discussion of different ideas. Armed with these insights, your organization or brand can engage audiences effectively.
What if you're listening and find out there's too much chatter? Or encounter silence?
Not to worry. You can trust us to handle the volume. Conversely, you may encounter silence instead of noise about your brand. Again, no worries. Your audience may be more cautious about participating in the social web and may be resistant to blog or create content on Facebook, Twitter or other social networks.
But don't stop listening because eventually your target audience will start talking about your organization or your brand. Whether you hear silence or conversations, you need to listen to know how to best engage your audience.
When you deploy your strategy, be sure to have clear goals. Do you want to increase brand awareness; drive consumers to your Web site or reach out to key opinion leaders? Whatever it is, keep in mind that to convert consumers to be your brand advocates, you need to listen to their needs.
According to the great management thinker Peter Drucker, the purpose of business is to create a customer. When you consider today's 24/7 access to the social web, brands have a quicker way to reach and build relationships with communities of customers, friends or followers. But first, brands have to listen up!
Cherry Dumaul, Senior Vice President
Tags: DigiDay, monitoring, Social media, Social Web
