Great article in the Times today on monitoring consumer generated media (cgm). Great for Pete Blackshaw who coined that term and acronym. Great for Nielsen/BuzzMetrics. Much of the article supports the value of listening to what people are saying online in message boards and "Web logs" (they couldn't bring them,selves to say "blogs"). I am still surprised the number of people who question the value of listening. I take it for granted that any customer-driven business would want to listen to those customers and not just through aggregate studies.
We have reviewed most of the monitoring solutions out there. the common thread is that none is fully automated. Nor should they be. Half the battle is filtering down to relevant content from the firehose of conversations out there. The other half is analyzing that information and making it actionable. Even if you are just letting customer service find customer complaints, these services can be invaluable.
Buzzmetrics has great reports. Their services can be pricey but perhaps worth it. (We have identified some other interesting choices including a procedure that is not nearly as comprehensive but is something that every marcom department can do as a start.)
“We’re brand radar,” said Pete Blackshaw, 42, a former brand manager and Internet marketer at Procter & Gamble who is now BuzzMetrics’ chief marketing officer. “You can’t fly a plane without radar.”
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