To many, the concept of social media is a vague concept. It's a concept most strongly embraced and propagated by those who view the world from the 50,000 foot level. Almost by definition that means it makes sense to the thinkers of the world, but to the doers of the world, it's much less practical.
It need not be that way however.
In order to demystify social media, we at Search Engine People have created the L-I-S-T-E-N acronym to help business understand the simplicity of the social media process. Its a great acronym given that LISTENing is a major point of differentiation between old media, and social media. Each letter of the acronym stands for a different phase of the process, and builds upon each preceding step, so theres a natural progression of activities:
Listen
Identify
Solve
Test
Engage
Nurture your Fan Base
The Base Idea
The application of this process will help companies accomplish three really important objectives.
- Reduce the likelihood individuals will spread negative messages about your company or its brands.
- Give marketers the opportunity to turn problems into opportunities and, even more, sales.
- Encourage those who have had positive experiences with a company, to share those experiences with others.
Who wouldnt want to do all of that?
At its base level, the LISTEN process is as simple as
- creating a continuous feedback loop that listens for feedback and ideas,
- making modifications based on that feedback,
- engaging in communications with those whom give input,
- providing solutions to the original problems as defined by those people
The biggest ROI comes from identifying the biggest fans of the company and empowering them to carry forth positive messages about the company and the solutions it provides in the form of products and services.
A little oversimplified maybe, but still a good high level overview.
The following six posts detail a process that will get you found -- and bring you fame & fans using Social Media Marketing.