I participate in several private discussion groups. I’ve been on some for more than a year, and recently become involved in many more thanks to Facebook’s new groups feature. One of the private conversations I participate in occurs on the Social Media Business Council’s member’s only discussion forum. A place where several Fortune 1000 companies share strategy and experience in implementing social media campaigns for their companies.
While the discussions on the board can’t be publicly repeated in detail, the irony of a recent discussion was to rich not to blog about in the most general of detail. The discussion was about picking the best social media listening software for their enterprise. Several top vendors were compared by more than a dozen members. I thought it was ironic because, despite the fact that each of these platforms were designed to “monitor your brand online” and “listen to your customers” none of the companies being talked about have the slightest clue about what was being said. The forum is private. At that point I lost interest in which one others think works best because “monitoring my brand” through an online tool that only listens for the people hoping to be heard sounds like a short sighted solution at this point.
What good is listening if you aren’t engaged in the right conversations in the first place?
With the advent of Facebook groups, your members, customers or clients can talk about you in plane sight, and yet completely hidden from you. Being a good listener means less and less as these tools evolve. The hard truth to swallow is that “monitoring your brand” will more and more be performed by the members, customers, or clients that you’ve engaged with. The ones that listen for you when they are invited into these private groups. The ones who act as your ambassadors in the spots you’re not invited into. How you build that army is far more important that what listening software you buy.
Word of mouth is clearly now World of Mouth. We’re entering a whole new world that will require a substantial behavioural change for many businesses Todd.. And that can only be a Good Thing!.
Nice article to get me thinking harder Todd.
I love this line, “monitoring my brand through an online tool that only listens for the people hoping to be heard sounds like a short sighted solution at this point.” I think it also has relevance offline in regards to REALTOR Associations. It seems those who are ‘hoping to be heard’ are usually the ones who just talk and never take enough action (Rob Hahn recently covered this in a post). As an incoming president, I’m interested in reaching those who haven’t ‘wanted to be heard’ as of yet.
How can we deliver value to the silent majority and convince the talkers to become doers?
Even more specifically, what can a local R Association do to increase awareness and value when they don’t run a CE School or an MLS?
We have started to answer these questions and I promise to report back throughout our progress next year. In the meantime, I’d love have other assoc. leaders join this conversation with their own thoughts.
“What good is listening if you aren’t engaged in the right conversations in the first place?”
How does one know if they were heard if there isn’t engagement? Some one may have listened, but a leader/association or company will engage and have a conversation and that is what will define the brand. Then maybe the thoughts behind “monitoring” the brand will evolve from scary or ego driven to genuine.
Awesome thoughts Todd!!!