Listen up people!

Talking may come pretty easily for most people. Listening, however, can be one of the hardest things to do. People are on social networks talking about brands, products, events and more. Listening to consumer conversations is an essential part of successful branding. When businesses are ready to tap into the online world and its public conversations, developing a listening strategy is the key to success.

A listening strategy gives a company a feel for who is talking about the company’s brand online and what conversations those people are having. This listening is done through the use of specific brand related keywords which monitor mainstream news, blogs, forums and conversations on social networks.  So, what you hear from online users is determined by the keywords you use. Types of keywords that should be considered when listening include categories of brand, industry, special events, campaign and location.

A good listening strategy will not only address what is being said about your brand, but will also take into account what is being said about your competitors’ brands. Reviewing the feedback for your competitors and studying their keywords is a great benchmark for understanding and measuring online conversations about your own company. To hear conversations about your competitors and to learn about industry trends, study the keywords used about their specific campaigns, current events or television shows. There are a number of tools available to assist you in listening to specific conversations. In the beginning listening stages, it may be best to engage with your consumer by using free search functions offered by social networks.

When planning your listening strategy, take into account the different ways you can engage in the various types of conversations you may come across. Think about how your tone and message will translate and how that might affect your end result. At the recent Social Media for HealthCare Conference, two panelists discussed engaging in a negative post could actually lead to a positive turn around.


    Female: As a Kaiser Permanente member I found it highly ironic, if not fraudulent when I saw a Kaiser Permanente commercial this morning that touted the benefits of the paperless medical records system and all of the trees that are saved. Friday, I requested a copy of my medical record from the Reston, VA center and learned that the office is unable to produce a copy of the electronic file on CD. Rather, I’ll be charged $50 per page for the first 50 pages, then 25 cents per page beyond 50 pages. So much for saving trees. Not only that, the actual production of the paper copies is outsourced to a third party vendor – something that has potential to violate HIPA. Shame on Kaiser Permanente.

      Female: UPDATE! Not only will I be able to get my medical records on a CD, but a notice will go out to all Kaiser Permanente sites in the Mid-Atlantic Region to inform other members that this option is available. This team is fantastic. Thank you!

Kaiser Permanente was successful in commenting on the post and reaching out to the customer outside of the social network. The company made a public response that would show that they listen, care and take action with the feedback from their consumers. By doing so, they were able to solve a customer service problem and also receive positive, published responses from their consumer.