Listening to Social Signals

GutCheck CEO Matt Warta recently wrote an Op Ed for Direct Marketing News, urging researchers to double check the findings gleaned from social listening to avoid being taken in by noise. He writes:

Social listening provides a fire hose of data that is used to develop marketing hypotheses around campaigns, pricing, branding and messaging. But knowing how representative the feedback, mentions, reviews and likes are of your target market’s sentiments can be tricky. Is the buzz around your brand cacophony, or is there a signal in all that noise?

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Whether it’s understanding a vocal minority or helping alleviate the concerns of your target market, digging deeper into the insights and patterns gained by social listening is important to maintaining a good consumer relationship and validating research hypotheses. Giving this kind of attention to a social media crisis shows consumers that a) you’re listening and b) they have a voice. However, discerning what’s noise and what’s losing your brand loyalists will mean the difference between success and expensive missteps.

Check out the rest of the article and let us know what you think — what value have you found in social listening?