Dispelling a Few Myths: The Future of Social Listening

Working in the uncharted territories of social media, we’re all naturally predisposed to making all forms of future predictions as we brainstorm and prepare for the next tsunami to change this shifting landscape.

As with any budding industry, there is a lot of noise and even more competition. Being deep social media listeners since 2005, we’ve heard it all and have learned a lot along the way.

Yet through all the smoke we’ve stuck to our guns as the most in-depth platform for social media listening and in due time have garnered an industry reputation as “the expert’s choice.” We aim to be the best at what we do rather than a mile wide and an inch deep.

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Forward Thinking

 

Listening is a move forward. Before the Internet and social media arrived, brands were confined to the one-way broadcasts of traditional media. They had a mouth but no ears and weren’t really able to carry a conversation.

Now with the vast amount of publicly available social data, brands have the opportunity to gain valuable insights from which they can construct well-informed strategies and real results. By better understanding their customers, they’ve built stronger relationships and connections.

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Listening as Action

 

All the greatest writers were first great readers. All great musicians were great listeners.

A successful social media presence dictates that sellers think like buyers do. Empathetic marketers looking to truly understand their audience know that the first step is listening well.

But don’t just take our word for it. Let’s take a look at some concrete examples showing what deep listening can actually do.

–       We’re Listening: Expedia

–       Identifying Peak in Conversation: Taylor Guitars

–       LateRooms

–       Wendy’s

–       A Complex Web: Sparkassen

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Blind Action

 

Everyone has a favorite social media slip-up (think #askJPM or #myNYPD).

Hindsight is 20/20 and it’s easy to look back and say that these campaigns were never going to carry out to plan. But how do disastrous ideas like these come about?

The answer lies in the disconnection between the speaker and the audience. The problem is the propensity to speak without listening first – action without understanding.

Brands that are well aware of their audience’s conversations, sentiment, activities, influencers, demographics, response to campaigns, competitors, locations and interests will not send sinking ships to sea as JP Morgan and the NYPD did.

Furthermore, JPM and NYPD lacked the speedy and appropriate response to crises that comes from having an adequate alert system and an excellent knowledge of the audience.

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Demand the Best

 

“We have two ears and one mouth so we can listen twice as much as we speak”

– Epictetus

Do not accept slogans touting the “all-in-one” social media solution that only offers half the capabilities that specialized leaders offer. Simply put, if you want cake and ice cream, do not buy cake flavored ice cream.

We believe deep listening is the most important aspect of any successful social media solution.

Even small voices can carry powerful messages. Do not miss out on key conversations because your platform doesn’t cover the total listening base.

Yet as a company fully committed to holistic understanding, we strongly invite you to learn everything you can about social media solutions before deciding what’s best for you. Call us, book a demo, and research our competitors. We’re confident in our platform.

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