One-quarter of Twitter users check in multiple times per day, while 1 in 5 never check for new material | Pew Research
via pewinternet.org
The Chief Listener's Blog
Dell's Chief Listener, Susan Beebe, blogs here about social media listening, monitoring, engagement and measurement.
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STATS: The Continued Rise of Blogging - /via eMarketer #blog #stats
Social networks and microblogs have in recent years nudged blogging off the social media pedestal. For some consumers, who have more communication tools at their fingertips than they did a few years ago, Facebook and Twitter have supplanted blogging as life-streaming outlets.
But blogs continue to be important. eMarketer estimates that this year more than half of internet users will read blogs at least monthly. By 2014, readership will rise to more than 150 million Americans, or 60% of the internet population in the US. One reason for the rise in readership is that blogs have become an accepted part of the online media landscape.
“Trends in blog reading are expected to maintain an upward course as blogs continue to gain influence in the mainstream media,” said Paul Verna, eMarketer senior analyst and author of the new report “The Blogosphere: Colliding with Social and Mainstream Media.” “But there is a caveat to this forecast: Over time, blogs will continue to become indistinguishable from other media channels.”
Blog writing, by contrast, is a more niche activity. Just under 12% of the online population will update a blog at least monthly this year, eMarketer estimates. By 2014 that proportion will inch upward to 13.3%.
There are several factors driving the growth of blogging, including the ease of use of personal blogging platforms and the growing comfort level with blogs as a form of media. At the same time, social media like Twitter and Facebook are giving consumers an alternative, less-intensive way to communicate their thoughts to the world. Blogging is no longer a primary way for people to express themselves online.
via emarketer.com
Google report shows where its content is blocked | Digital Media - CNET News << This affects my ability to Listen #SMM
via news.cnet.com
Press Coverage - Chief Listener at Dell
Recent Press Coverage:
@AdAge Magazine - 'Chief Listeners' Use Technology to Track, Sort Company Mentions
Neville Hobson Blog - Meet the Chief Listening Officer
@FIR Podcast – FIR Interview: Susan Beebe and Richard Binhammer on Chief Listeners at Dell
csquared.cc magazine – no direct link – website
Marketing: How 'Chief Listeners' Track Brand Mentions - Advertising Age - Digital
SAN FRANCISCO (AdAge.com) -- The role of a "chief listener" evokes images of fuzzy sweaters, chamomile tea and sitting around with a patient ear. Instead, try sifting through unstructured data and building complex queries.
--> "We get about 300,000 new mentions of Kodak every month and we don't censor the comments or videos people create about our company," said Beth LaPierre, Kodak's chief listening officer, a role that's just starting to crop up in a few major marketing organizations and involves decidedly non-touchy-feely tasks. "I've spent the past five months defining how we handle those data via technology and tools."Beth LaPierre
The big task? Data mining -- and figuring out who needs the information.
"What kind of information does our marketing team need vs. our product team?" Ms. LaPierre said. "How do we classify the data? What is the process for handling 'ABC' information vs. 'XYZ' information?"
For example, she sends commentary about features and product requests to a product development team and so forth.
Her counterpart at Dell, Chief Listener Susan Beebe, describes her job, which she started in July, as building "complex queries."
--> "There is a data-analysis research role to this job, and I have a very technical background," Ms. Beebe said. Dell has thousands of new mentions per day and the CLO's job is one of "broad listening" -- as Dell has such a deep penetration globally in so many different markets.Susan Beebe
Unlike many social-media jobs, this position is very inward-facing. She's listening to Dell customers and consumers and giving all the intel to her Dell colleagues internally.
"Our chief listener is critical to making sure the right people in the organization are aware of what the conversations on the web are saying about us, so that relevant people in the business can connect with customers," said Richard Binhammer, communications executive at Dell. Mr. Binhammer points out that "Dell has been listening for four years and created a position called 'Listening Czar' two years ago. We are a leader in the listening space."
Ms. Beebe and Ms. LaPierre said their companies were driving innovation through customer feedback.
In a world where marketing managers are eager to get their perspective across, the idea of hearing the consumer is often more foreign than it should be.
Indeed, the author of the 2005 article that was one of the early descriptions of the CLO positions makes exactly that point. "Marketing is a dialogue but the listening part is often the poor relation to the desire to get 'the message' out. Just look at budgets and what is spent on listening vs. other marketing communications," said David Jackson, founder of Clicktools, who introduced the concept of the chief listening officer in an article on customerthink.com. "Few have made the investment needed to integrate these messages into a single, 360-degree view of the customer."
Since Mr. Jackson's article came out, social media has grown exponentially, and the amount of data available to a CLO is practically infinite. "Unstructured data is important, and more so as social networking amplifies the reach and impact of the voice of the customer," he said last week. "Tracking this is important from a company-wide perspective and its ability to shape product and strategic direction."
Ms. LaPierre and Ms. Beebe pay stringent attention to social media -- Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, for example. But their advice? Don't get carried away when one person says something outrageous about your brand.
"My biggest thing is you have to look at the context before you look at the content. How many views is that video getting? Is that person an influencer? Do we need to contact them?" said Ms. LaPierre.
Mr. Jackson said that while only two companies right now have an official CLO title, many of the current positions will transform in the future. "There are a number of 'cut down' versions of the CLO in the shape of insight managers. Over time they will expand their role and grow into CLOs."
via adage.com
Hello World ...
I really like this fortune cookie slogan, pictured below,
"You are a good listener."
