Page 188 - Social Media Marketing

c h a p t e r 7: ╇ F ive E ssential T ips╇ ■Three Things to Do (and Why)

Listen, collaborate, measure.
Three words, simple in concept yet difficult in practice. At the core of social

media—and indeed the deeper application of social technologies in a business con-
text—is a process that is very nearly the reverse of traditional marketing and commu-
nications. Where traditional communications and advertising planning starts with a
message and a target audience or target influencer, social media begins with an under-
standing of what consumers and influencers are saying about your brand, product, or
service and then builds on that through participation (yours and theirs) for the purpose
of encouraging higher forms of engagement, up to and including collaboration. This
stands in contrast to prescribing and directing a message with the intention of persuad-
ing or driving awareness and conversion.

Taken together, listening, collaboration, and measurement create the basis for
the highest levels of engagement. The objective of listening—simplified—is to enable
166 a strategically directed response that leads to collaboration. This collaboration occurs
in multiple ways: between the customers and business, between and among customers
themselves, and between customers and employees. In other words, the end result of
an effective social business program is a business-customer paradigm that is more or
less equal in terms of who is listening, who is directing, and how it is that products and
services are inspired or evolve over time. Around this entire process is wrapped a mea-
surement methodology that ties it all back to the underlying business objectives.

The next three sections present, in order, listening, encouraging collaborative
activity, and the measurement of conversations that are applicable to your social busi-
ness program.

Listen Intently, Respond Intelligently

Listening forms the basis of your social business program. It is one of the tangible,
measurable connections between your business and your marketplace; it’s a direct link
to your customers. By developing a baseline of existing conversations, you can more
quickly spot irregularities. If a sudden new interest or accidental or unpaid celebrity
endorsement kicks off a wave of excitement, or a negative event or rumor around your
product or service is suddenly running through the market, you’ll see it in time to do
something with it, or about it. Combined with a response strategy and a current under-
standing of marketplace conversations, you can build on the positive conversations and
effectively respond to those that are negative.

Listening is a core skill for communications professionals. After all, commu-
nication begins with listening, right? Careful listening—in the context of the Social
Web meaning listening, analyzing, and thereby understanding both the subject and
the source—enables the ability to make sense of conversations and join into them.
Rohit Bhargava, Senior Vice President, Strategy & Marketing with Ogilvy 360 Digital