Al Cadena Shares Customer Listening Tips With Chief Marketer

Customer listening is crucial to the success of a marketing campaign, but where and how should you be doing it?  In a new special report from Chief Marketer, Beeby Clark+Meyler Senior Account Director Al Cadena says that while determining which channels to track can be daunting, brands can focus their efforts by better understanding their target audiences’ media consumption habits.

For instance, millennials are especially active on social and mobile, and are particularly heavy consumers of video. They’re also three times more likely than boomers to turn to social media to find opinions about products to buy. While monitoring and engaging within all media and channels is important to the target audience, vigilance and consistency are also critical, and so companies must prioritize. Says Cadena, “Tend to your own channels first—those are the people who have the closest connection with your brand, and you have a responsibility to be attentive and responsive to your fans and followers.” And although there are many good listening platforms, big and small, “what works for one brand’s needs and budget may not work for another brand, so you, or your agency, need to research all of the tools and software options” and stay informed about evolving options and technology.

As online influencers become an increasingly important resource for engaging audiences, Cadena offers advice for working with these influencers: they should have a persona and a history of generating content that match those of the brand’s customer and prospect base, as well as a large social reach and a proactive and responsive fan base. They should also have a willingness to work with the brand and be enthusiastic about endorsing it (ideally, they will have a history of organically advocating for the brand, or at least not endorsing competitive brands). They should also show a record of conscientiousness about engaging with and responding to followers, and a commitment to being transparent about their influencer relationships with brands. Influencers who are paid or have been provided samples need to disclose that both for legal and credibility reasons. In the end, it’s up to the brand to make sure that that happens consistently, he adds.

Click here to see the full report.