The Art of Listening & Ketchup in Social Media

Long before Social Media entered the mainstream, our parents and mentors told us to “listen”. We know that listening plays a key role in communicating with others. Effective listening is not just hearing either, it’s watching for visual cues given by the speaker. This fundamental of communication carries over to the “corporate entity”, which is striving to learn new “listening skills” as companies develop new conversation skills. How does Ketchup play a role in our listening outcomes?

So how does a company “listen”? While there are many tools such as Social Media monitoring services (there are over 40 and here’s a good list) and Business Intelligence applications, the concept of “Corporate Listening” goes beyond the available tools. You can have all the tools you want, but unless you know how to use them and have a philosophy around “listening” they will not serve very well. So how does a company develop these “Corporate Listening” skills?

It starts at the executive level with a concious decision to engage in “listening” as a whole; recognizing that your market is saying something (beyond the usual focus groups and surveys) and that what the company might learn may result in fundamental change. Take for example the Ketchup Conundrum as Malcolm Gladwell wrote about. You may discover that your market wants more. They may even be willing to pay for it and your revenues may increase. Do you want your competitor to know this before you? While Social Media may not immediately replace focus groups, it can give you insights you’d never uncover in a structured focus group.

When “listening” starts at this basic, philosophical level, then it is easier to decide, we argue, what you are listening for and where you need to be listening. Then you can decide on the appropriate tools to help you listen. Key to succeeding then, is deciding what you are going to do with what you learn. Once you connect to Social Media, you will hear about many aspects of your company; from HR issues to product usage. You also need a plan on how to manage, disseminate and integrate that commentary into the organization.

So “Corporate Listening” needs to be more than a marketing project and begins with a fundamental acknowledgement that your market is out there talking and you can benefit. So just as in real life, listening in the virtual world is critical to success in communicating with your market.

(Excerpt from eBook “Conversant Corporation“)