When defining a Social Media strategy, active listening is the most reliable source of information. The key is to listen to the audience; Meet their needs, find out what they think, or what their tastes and preferences.
Like it or not, the brand can no longer turn its back on customer care calls, as these need to be heard and feel that the company takes into account their needs.
For this reason, it is necessary to have the necessary resources and tools, which allow to trace the online medium and analyze the social conversation. In addition, the brand has to have a strategy that establishes the objectives and actions to be carried out to achieve them. In this regard, Tami Dalley, Senior Director of analytics at Salesforce highlighted the importance of listening to brands at the SES New York Session. For her, “Marketers are no longer the marketers, but the customers.“
Another very important information provided by Dalley is that active listening is not only the task of the marketing department, but can be applied to all areas of the company:
Customer Support. Users use social media as a means of getting closer to brands. For this reason, monitoring allows brands to receive in real time those problems and comments; As well as to react in an agile and effective way, in order to alleviate its consequences and even to act more directly and closely.
Marketing and Public Relations. This is a first-rate source of information on the attitude of customers towards the brand; Find out their sense of belonging or diagnose weaknesses. In this way they can reorient their strategy in function of the reality.
Product development. Nothing better than the opinions of the customers to assess the quality of the product, its usefulness or possible defects and deficiencies; Which otherwise could not be ascertained. Active listening also allows to detect needs to be satisfied with new products. It is a totally reliable information, which reflects the tangible reality of the customers and represents an opportunity to improve the product, or provides ideas on how to complete the offer of the company.
Sales. Through monitoring, the sales department can determine the intention to purchase the product, or test the margin of prices that the consumer would be willing to assume. It is relatively easy field work, with easily affordable costs.
Human Resources. An interesting area where social networks can contribute, both when identifying experts and influencers, as well as new candidates, as well as contact directly with them or find out more information about their profile. Also, it is valid to know the general opinion of the employees about the company, and to identify internal problems in time.
As indicated, social monitoring has many applications, and can contribute to improve the performance of the company in many aspects. It is a question of proposing it and allocating the right resources.