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The Art of Listening

Social Media Marketing BUSI 145Professor Conrad

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2 Primary Areas

• First step is the Listen.• Formative research = data essential for informed SMM

decisions• Purpose of listening is to connect the vision of the

organization into the social media efforts• Foundational Background• Social Landscape

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Foundational Background

• You need the Mission Statement and/or Vision Statement• Provides direction for SMM• Explains….

• What the business does, for whom and how• Why the business exists• What differentiates them from competitors

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Foundational Background• Basic understanding of organizational structure and SM capabilities

• Who is responsible, influential, and who makes the final decisions• Successful SMM starts with the top first…. They must see the value in SMM

• SM Team Key Players….CoE = Social Business Center of Excellence…. Must have….• Leadership influence• Ability to apply action• Deep commitment to project• Managers/directors involved

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Elements of a Good SM Team

• SM Leader• Leads the strategy• Advocates for the SM team and strategies• Guides the team

• Word Artisans• Good grammar, style and vocabulary• Communication style is unique• Natural with words

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Elements of a Good SM Team• Creative Gurus

• Someone with skills with imagery

• Social Lead• Identifies the right kind of content and topics• On small teams, this is usually the SM Lead

• Data Analyst• Gathers data• Applies the information• Adjusts the SM initiatives

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Social LandscapeKey Listening Phrases

• Create a database… or a simple list that will• Identify relevant conversations thru ‘keyword’ searches

• Specific topics unique to the organization• Generic topics are topics indirectly related to the organization

• Identify who is having the conversations• Find ways to get engages in the dialogue

• This information will help create content later on that develops the strategy by relating to target audience

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Social LandscapeConversation Platforms

• With Keyword List in hand, find out ‘where’ the conversations are happening• Can use search functions on SM platforms (i.e. advanced search on Twitter)• Use outside tools such as Hootsuite (leading platform), Social Mention, Topsy and

Tweetdeck

• Analyze relevant conversations on each SM platform to see which platform has the most conversation for each topic/keyword

• Also note who participates in the conversations• Analyze the general tone of conversations• Using your Keyword List, add columns for this information

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Social LandscapeBrand Community Dialogue

• Examine current online communities of the brand• Do an Audience Analysis to create a profile of key publics

• Demographics• Behavioral information

• This helps identify the appropriate platforms and methods of engagement

• Review the kind of content of past posts for a historical understanding• Evaluate the amount and nature of interaction with online community

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Social LandscapeInfluencers

• Found in every brand community• Identify influencers

• They drive conversations forward • Get engaged with the brand and other individuals

• Encourage their participation in specific campaign

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Social LandscapeCompetition

• Competition Analysis - Identify competition and what they are doing• What type of content is generally effective across the industry• Identify engaging profile creation• Compare your presence on SM to the competition

• Can be used to • Content/topic choice and creation• Sets a benchmark to evaluate your own SM campaign

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Create a SWOT of Current SM Strategies

Strengths Weaknesses

Opportunities Threats

Internal/Controllable

External/Uncontrollable

Posi

tive N

egative

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Timeline for SMM Project• Weeks 1 & 2 – Create questionnaire and interview business contact

• Identify mission and organization of the business• Identify a future event for which you can develop a SM campaign.. Get all the details• Identify the SM platforms currently used

• Week 3 – Analyze their current SM strategy by “Listening”• Weeks 4 & 5 – Develop a SMM campaign for the future event identified at the

beginning of the course• Weeks 6 & 7 – Create and present a PowerPoint presentation showing your

findings and making recommendations to the business for a basic, foundational SM campaign