Listening to conversations online is a critical component of social media programs. Every post that talks about getting started in social media talks about the importance of listening. It's becoming one of those set in stone principles of social media, and is almost never disputed. What we are spending more of our time on now is how do companies do listening more effectively. Truth be told most companies are doing it pretty well, but aren't really maximizing it to its true benefit. This isn't anything like monitoring traditional communications outlets, and it certainly has greater application than just within the marketing function of organizations. We can use listening for PR, marketing, strategic planning, product development, customer service, investor relations, etc... The possibilities are literally endless.
Lets take a step back for a second and consider how companies typically get started listening to online conversations. Around the same time they understand the need/want to do social they also realize they need to pick a monitoring (the word makes me cringe) provider to help them understand the current social media ecosystem about their brand and topic areas of interest. They go through a process of looking at a kagillion (that's not a real number) different providers and come out the other side either more confused than ever or with a clear direction on which of the twenty kagillion (also not a real world) providers is best for them (if you need a great resource on listening providers, be sure to check out this wiki from Ken Burbary). Setting aside for a minute whether I think conducting this level of due diligence is needed, and I don't, what you should realize is that many of this providers have VERY similar platforms. If you don't notice it after looking at about five of them you aren't really paying attention. You can probably tell by the tone of this section of the post that I'm not a fan of this approach.
So, how do you actually get started listening to social media conversations? Nothing is easy in this space (if someone says it is I'd like to know their secret sauce), but I think there are six basic steps to get the ball rolling in the right direction:
1. Identify your goals. Like measuring social media, it is important for you to outline the goals for listening. This is not traditional media monitoring where your solution was tended to every other day. It is important to think critically about what you are going to use the data to accomplish.
2. Decide on your listening provider. There are quite a few social media listening solutions available on the marketplace. Conduct due diligence on at least five of them before selecting your partner.
3. Decide on your listening team. Listening is a job that requires more than one person to manage. Your listening team should be cross-functional, but largely housed within marketing or public relations.
4. Undergo training for personnel. Many social media listening tools are highly complicated to get setup the first time. If there is training courses offered by the provider, make sure members of your team participate. Also, look for opportunities to train other members of the organization on how to analyze the data.
5. Identifying the metrics you want to listen for. Most monitoring solutions offer several different kinds of metrics that you can analyze. Don't fall into the trap of trying to look at every possible metric they provide. Pick the ones that fit your goals and analyze those.
6. Building your listening platform. When you are building your listening platform you must understand that it will take time. You will need to change your existing keywords. You'll need to add keywords. Whatever the case may be, the best listening platforms are those that are constantly evolving.
For those of you that have experience building listening platforms for companies or clients, what have you found is the best approach for getting started?
