LISTENING has always been a good habit. People who listen, understand better, and people who understand better, act appropriately. Similarly, in case of brands, listening to what consumers say has become a key part of #digitalmarketing. #SocialMedia has provided a platform to consumers to share their views and reviews about their experiences, these conversations have become a reservoir of knowledge. And this knowledge is available freely to everyone.

Tips for brands who not only want to be at the peak but also stay there permanently:

1. Be an active listener: Listen to the online consumers everyday and not just occasionally. #SocialMedia is unpredictable and anything could happen any time. Active listening helps in being prepared than being sorry.
2. Be present everywhere: Most of the brands even today feel that covering #Facebook and #Twitter is enough. No doubt these are the major platforms, however, consumers are present everywhere, hence, all the consumer touch points are important. When it comes to ranting, consumers do not respect any brand and go all out on every platform they have access to.
3. Deep dive into the data: Don't make your #ORM team another customer service cell, also, make them analyse the data in depth so that it could be helpful in taking organisational decision at various levels across departments. Consolidate all the data from every platform to get deeper insights.
4. Act ASAP: #SocialMedia is all about speed. If you do not have a TAT based action team, you are about to lose. Access to #socialmedia has made consumers impatient and therefore, demand quick actions. Be there for them when they need you and not when you have time.
5. No Bots please: Many brands even today use bots to respond on #socialmedia, it gives them speed of acknowledgement, but lacks intelligence, customisation, increases the time for resolution process, sometimes it causes customers to become irate.
6. Evaluate your actions: Month-on-month analysis of the consumer data helps in evaluating brands failures vis-a-vis success parameters. This learning helps brand in saving on their digital spends and reconfiguring the digital strategy.
7. Keep an eye on competition: It is important to know what is happening around in order to be at the peak. Track what consumers are talking about your competitors and their response to it.
8. Know what is coming: Listening helps in knowing what is coming for you. Recent trends show that it is easier to target brands on #socialmedia. There are case studies of brands that have been rooted out because they didn't knew what was coming for them. It could be from unhappy consumers, media, competitors, or employees. If you are not listening you are on for a ride.

Happy Listening!