Listening and monitoring in today’s social media world

Are you listening?!

Were you ever told as a child (or yesterday) that listening is one of the most important skills you can learn in life?  Truth is, most people would rather talk than listen, and specifically people would rather talk about themselves.  Well, if you are nodding your head to that second statement than you might be more interested in listening when it comes to social media platforms. Many companies need to listen to people talk about them as an important part of consumer knowledge and understanding how people feel about their company and their products.  Beginning a social media campaign can be nerve racking for most companies aware that they are giving up control to their consumer, which is why listening and monitoring conversations on-line is an imperative follow-up to the any social media campaign.

Not convinced?  Consider the infamous viral YouTube video that showed a Comcast employee sleeping on the job while he was waiting for information on how to fix a problem.  The video spread like wild fire and before Comcast could change its channels the video became the first thing you see when you search for Comcast on YouTube.  This viral disaster caused Comcast to be much more aware of their customer service and those who serve their customers.  Also, consider the popular consumer driven business and service recommendation website, Yelp ( http://www.yelp.com ).  Thousands of consumers chime in every minute to give their advice on restaurants, clubs, bars and local and national businesses.  A bad recommendation may not necessarily call for immediate corporate feedback but it is definitely worth considering and thinking about.  Listening and monitoring is a relatively free way (unless you use your unpaid intern for the work) to get to know your consumers and understand where your strengths and weaknesses lie in the eyes of the people that matter.

Social media is also a great and popular way for non-profit companies to get word out on a small budget.  There are tons of non-profit companies out there and knowing if your social media plan is working requires following up on your platforms and listening to the conversations surrounding your non-profit.  For more information knowing how to follow up on your social media campaign watch this informational YouTube video on listening and monitoring.

Brittany Kelley.

Tagged listening, monitoring, tools