Mar
14
Social Media Monitoring: Where to Start?
Posted by: Junie Wu | March 14, 2011 | Leave a Comment
Maria Ogneva gives 10 steps on how to listen online and what to do with the results. These steps can be used in companies that are in the walk, run, and fly stages; it just varies on how far the company goes in each step.
- Define an objective
- Decide where to monitor
- Decide what to monitor
- Prioritize
- Develop a Plan
- Involve others
- Listen first
- Inbound vs Outbound Conversations
- Build relationships- “When you develop a voice and become a resource for others, people will listen to you and spread your message on the merits of the message.”
- Select tools that match your strategy
What is interesting is step 7: if these are steps that teach a person how to listen, it is funny how one must be told to actually listen first. This is an important stage and I feel is often overlooked by companies eagerly wanting to jump in to the innovative atmosphere and having large egos.
It’s crucial to know the culture of the community and the norms. It’s somewhat like attending a wedding; you can’t show up in a Speedo, you must know what the dress code is. Starbucks does a good job of listening. They do not inject an advertising message on every instance the company is mentioned (step 7 and 8).
Most of all: if you do not listen well, you may end up turning away all your positive commenting people by annoying consumers and making them contemplate about privacy issues! A company needs to find a strategy that fits because there can be very negative implications if not done properly- word spreads quickly on the internet.