Jumping in to Social Media? Take Time to Listen First
If you’re looking to take the plunge into social media and want to know what to do first, the answer is easy: listen.
It seems like so many people think the first step is to create a Twitter page or try to produce a viral video, but that’s all wrong. The most powerful part about social media is that it allows you to listen in on THOUSANDS, if not MILLIONS of conversations about your brand, company, service or industry. Once you have a read on what people are saying, you’ll be a lot better equipped to start that Twitter or Facebook page.
The surge in corporate social media efforts comes after decades of so-called “push” marketing — where consumers were viewed largely as passive sponges of brand marketing. Marketers have been trying to adjust to the new reality of mastering the complicated and ever-expanding art of listening to consumers. And, while direct quantification of social media efforts into sales may be elusive, listening could go a long way towards building brand goodwill.
Mr. Devins cautioned the opposite can also be true — adding corporations are at risk of appearing ignorant or uncaring about what their customers are saying if they do not participate in social media .
With social media, he said “it’s like the phones are ringing. But they aren’t calling you because they are talking amongst themselves.
Molson is using Radian 6 to track for brand mentions and sentiment in blog posts and tweets and responds to those consumers in what it calls “Direct to Drinker” engagement.
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