Image Source: Headphones by Darren Dutch from The Noun Project — Image Source: Headphones by Darren Dutch from The Noun Project

Everything has gotten faster. The social web has forced advertisers to think faster, be nimbler and change quickly. This has certainly presented challenges as all marketers evolving to this landscape have stumbled once or twice, but with greater speed, comes more opportunity. Much of that opportunity is unlocked not by tweeting, going mobile or leveraging algorithm-driven programmatic buys but instead simply by listening.

Marketers don't need to look much further than a query in Twitter search to get a general idea of what people are thinking about any given topic. Then there are more advanced tools like Brandwatch and Sysomos that allow for deeper, cross-platform conversation analysis.

There are very few barriers between us and the thoughts of our customers. We can see what they think of our brands' actions from commercials to customer service. We can understand their frustrations, tensions and passions related to our category. We can also see how people are engaging with and discussing our competitors. It's all public. It's all accessible. And it's all actionable right now.

You Have to Really Listen

Listening in a way that delivers real value is much more than setting up search queries and tracking brand mentions. It requires the same due diligence as any marketing initiative:

Have a Plan. Understand what it is you're actually trying to accomplish by listening. Are you trying to obtain real-time customer feedback on brand communication? Deliver customer service? Know why you're listening in the first place. That will guide every decision moving forward.

Know When to Listen and When to Act. People will talk and share. It's important to develop an eye for what is an isolated occurrence and what is a trend that deserves action. You may see one person hates your product. Don't panic. Look at what others are saying. In addition, don't always feel the need to just jump into a conversation you aren't invited to. People may be expecting to just be communicating with friends and no one else. When you do choose to act, be prepared to follow through on anything you communicate to people.

Share Your Findings. Have a plan for how findings and insights will be distributed to stakeholders across the organization. The person listening usually isn't the person who can take action on a finding.

Be Ready to Act on Findings. Listening should be treated as an input to something greater, whether that's improving consumer knowledge to take action, delivering better customer service or developing a competitive action. Don't let findings from listening just be stored away forever.