How Do You Listen in Social Media?

In a recent Ad Age article “Using Social Media to Listen to Consumers,”
Abbey Klassen carefully dissects the anatomy of perceived social media sphere crisis
to posit some good marketing advice.

Online criticism… can provide companies insight
into passionate bases they didn’t know they had.
–Abbey Kalssen, Ad Age

Klassen disrupts marketers looking to maximize their social media marketing initiatives asking, “If the social-media sphere attacks your brand, do ‘real people’ hear the screams?”

A key insight of the article touts that online criticism “…can provide companies insight into passionate bases they didn’t know they had.”

What are some other lessons I learned from the article?

1. Don’t panic: Engage.

Listen before you leap. Approach a social-media sphere “crisis” as an opportunity to listen deeply. Then engage and educate to persuade a vocally excited crowd.

2. Every picture tells a story.

Word of Mouth is a powerful memetic phenomenon in persuasion influence. A compelling story as told to an audience can create an powerful enough image in the receiving audience’s mind to motivate them to both share the story down their social media networks and to act upon it. The article recommends having a response mechanism in place to headoff crises.

3. “Where’s the fire?” Reporters reporting on reporters reporting.

Most emotional responses in the social-media sphere often come from commenters commenting on an other’s responses to an issue and not the item at issue.

Social-media sphere outcries will occur. However, marketers are better served approaching these viral disruptions as an opportunity to engage and educate vocal online users.