Social Listening; The what, how and why.

Social Listening; The what, how and why.

90% of data on the earth right now has been created in the last two years (Sintef, 2013). Using social media, business have the unrivalled chance to listen to their customers and understand what they think and feel about them.

Customers frequently voice their concerns about a product or service online, In my last blog I wrote how online customer reviews are influential, descriptive and damaging; http://bit.ly/1lmSAAX. In this blog I will show you how to listen, what to look for, where and how to use the information found. 

When online customer can freely express their thoughts, these naturally occurring conversations show peoples authentic, unfiltered feelings and emotions (Rappaport, 2013). Many of these conversations can be guided by business, brands or influencers. 

Modern business such as Dell constantly listen to their customers, every second they are reviewing their key influencers, understanding their opinions and acting on the information. They monitor social platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Google+. 

They found that influencors are the driving force in conversation about their brand, what others think about their products and influence others the most.

Listening is active. It usually requires you to do something as a result of what you’ve heard. Communication is a two-way process, like in person when you are in a conversation, when the other person is talking you are using non-verbal communication methods to show you opinion and show that you are listening. The same is needed for social media. By acknowledging customers online, they are more likely to feel positive about the brand, traditonally bid brands have had limitations to their communication with the public, and even less conversation. It’s easy just to focus on the influencers, and ignore the small voice in the crowd. But this can be a mistake.

Brands now talk to customers 24/7, a good example of this is Tesco Mobile. With a good reputation for replying to customer queries, a good informative news feed and many well-known comical Twitter conversations. They have earn't their customers respect online.

Their comical and at times offensive '#nojoke' feed has won favour and custom, by changing customer perceptions of the traditional British supermarkets mobile offering;

Daniel Deeks-Osburn, a brand manager at Jam: "The #nojoke campaign was launched to change perceptions about Tesco Mobile—to show the British public that there's really nothing funny about Tesco Mobile. By creating content that's authentic to the brand and consumer, we're creating a story people want to engage with. That's true brand advocacy." 

By listening to customers, understanding their concerns and altering their marketing strategy Tesco have managed to change perceptions. As well as have a much wider social reach than many of their competitors. 

However, listening to the right people is key, not everyone will like your brand, product or service. Going back through time and finding your direction is inaccurate, it can be an indicator of growth, but for direction business need to use current, reliable information gained from listening to customers.