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The notion of Listening has inspired me this week. Primarily because I participated in Toby Bloomberg's SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING GPS - the 1st business book about social media written entirely on Twitter, in a traditional chapter format.The chapter I participated in, with Joel Rubinson from ARF, had to do with listening. Here's my contribution: Social Media Marketing GPS #msgps Chapter 3 Social Media Research: The 1st Listening Post Interview With C.B. Whittemore as well as Joel's.
You really should monitor the entire project as the pace and wisdom of each interview brings unusual perspective both to Twitter and to the notion of Social Media Marketing.
What intrigued me about the experience was how it had me thinking through listening and, more specifically, about all of the wonderful insights related to listening that my participants in social media series: Bridging New & Old have shared.
I decided to pick one from each participant to date to inspire you with:
1. Place an activity moratorium on your staff as they enter the social media world... to give them a chance to listen and learn before they dive in and start posting. This gives them a chance to see how it's done and avoid some of the common newbie mistakes. [Chris Kieff].
2. Connecting with customers is simply making yourself available to them by whatever means they prefer to communicate by. [Alan Woody]
3. Don't be afraid to give... the amount of credibility you build up by giving first is tremendous. It's the old reciprocation effect. [Karin Hermans]
4. Don't try to trick customers or present a false image. The Wizard-of-Oz strategy is not sustainable. [Jay Ehret]
5. When any customer wants to talk with your company, it's a gift and should be appreciated. WOM marketing is still stronger than anyone realizes, and those corporations unaware of the power combo of [WOM + Blogs/Twitter/Facebook/Email + mainstream media] often learn the hard way... [Kristin Gorski]
6. Word of Mouth (direct, indirect, and social review engines) has influenced my perception of product/service quality and retail experiences (even if I've never visited the store), thus affecting my shopping behavior. [Mario Vellandi]
7. Always strive to be human and try to give value. [Arun Rajagopal]
8. We use social media to create and share information with each other. We become friends and share our thoughts and feelings. We connect as 'real people.' [Mack Collier]
9. I am surprised by how many executives in some industries have no personal experience with the things consumers are involved with. We are not our customers! More than ever, marketers and executives need to work hard to stay immersed in the world of their customer or consumer. [Susan Abbott]
10. Think local, act global. [Laurence Borel]
11. Integrate social media into the plan of the departments in which the tactics will be used. [ Lewis Green]
12. I love the potential for businesses to put their customer relationships back at the forefront of their business. When it works well, it encourages individuals and companies alike to more carefully consider how and why they're communicating with people. Instead of putting the sales transaction first, it asks businesses to be more human in the way they approach their work. [Amber Naslund]
13. By its nature, social media is changing the way business, internally and externally, is conducted. Listening to the on-going, multi faceted conversations of our customers demands now that we explore new ways to bring that information to employees who can provide solutions. [Toby Bloomberg]
14. Social media is a great opportunity for brands and companies to "get a life" and learn to have some informal fun with people in the marketplace. That builds attachment more effectively than expensive and monolithic one-way branding campaigns. [Steve Woodruff]
15. Social media is just one tool in a larger New Marketing toolbox, which is about shifting your approach to the way you connect with customers. Marketers for companies of all shapes and sizes should be like Walmart greeters, asking themselves about their customers, "How can we help?" I don't mean that pejoratively or literally: Rather, I mean that companies should be positioning themselves as a trusted resource. [Ann Handley].
16. You need to hold true to your own values and be honest with yourself. If you aren't transparent now, you will have no choice in the future, as all media collides, and consumer-generated media will force your real face to be out there. Just have fun with it and write what you love. [Dan Schawbel]
Food for thought...
What tips would you share about listening?
I wish you all a lovely Passover and Easter holiday!
Technorati Tags: listening social media toby Bloomberg Twitter book #smgps Joel Rubinson Chris Kieff Alan Woody Karin Hermans Jay Ehret Kristing Gorski Arun Rajagopal mack Collier Susan Abbott Laurence Borel Lewis Green Amber NaslundSteve Woodruff Ann Handley Mario Vellandi Dan Schawbel
Del.icio.us Tags: listening social media toby Bloomberg Twitter book #smgps Joel Rubinson Chris Kieff Alan Woody Karin Hermans Jay Ehret Kristing Gorski Arun Rajagopal mack CollierSusan Abbott Laurence Borel Lewis Green Amber Naslund Steve Woodruff Ann Handley Mario Vellandi Dan Schawbel
6 comments:
In the very earliest stages of identifying social media opportunities I look for three factors within the subject:
passion, value and or expertise.
Social Media can be driven by audience looking for and sharing these three things
Jye, I like how you distill the social media discovery process to those 3 factors. They get right down to the essence of what the tools are all about.
Thank you for visiting and sharing perspective.
Thanks for highlighting Toby Bloomberg's SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING GPS. As you suggest, I'll monitor the GPS blog, for the unique way it is using Twitter as an interviewing tool, and as a way of aggregating responses in a book-style format. I especially liked your reflections there on listening.
In this post, I think Ann Handley's thoughts on why trust matters in business are very relevant. I think building trust is a key outcome of listening.
Thanks for choosing so many inspirational and actionable points around the listening theme.
Peg, as critical as trust is, isn't it amazing that it hasn't consistently been of primary concern to business? I'm grateful to social media for refocusing attention on it. Thanks for adding to this conversation.
C.B. - One of my favorite aspects of social media is the 'snow ball' effect of how ideas build. And of course to do that you must listen :-)
Thanks for your insightful interview in Social Media Marketing GPS #smgps .. as always you were brilliant.
Toby, I love the notion of a snow ball of ideas that results from listening. What a magical image!
Thank you for including me in your amazing #smgps project. It gave me a very different appreciation for and experience on Twitter.
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