A few weeks ago, Gleanster published a new Gleansight report on Social Intelligence. The findings outline how Top Performing organizations have developed unique skill sets for capturing, disseminating and acting upon the insights that reside in social media. It turns out the term Social Intelligence isn’t really a new concept; although the way it is applied in the context of digital engagement has certainly evolved. The term was coined in the 1920s to refer to an individual’s ability to understand other people and to engage in adaptive interactions with them. According to a 1933 issue of the Journal of Social Psychology, “Social intelligence is the ability [to gain] insight into the temporary moods or underlying personality traits of strangers.”
The research suggests that Top Performing companies have actually developed replicable best practices for managing the insights derived by monitoring social media. Social Intelligence could be used for customer service (a good example is Best Buy’s @Twelpforce), marketing (to actively create a better customer experience), product management (for testing, refining, and development), and even market research (identifying customer trends and competitive activities).
Top Performers were five times more likely than Everyone Else to proactively monitor “the temporary moods of customers and prospects” social media monitoring and analysis tools. Taken a step farther, Social Intelligence isn’t just about generating insights, it’s about learning how to engage in adaptive interactions with customers and prospects. The research outlines nine key value drivers that, according to Top Performers, play a key role in active listening and engagement with customers and prospects. Here are the Top 3 for Top Performers.
1) Identify and segment consumers engage in online conversations about the brand.
Companies need to know who is talking about their brand by age, gender and geography, if appropriate, and even based on various psychographic and behavioral attributes. Today it’s possible to create these social profiles. Healthcare companies segment patients from caregivers while consumer technology companies segment the most tech savvy consumers from a more mainstream audience. Some companies segment stages of the buying cycle. Consumers can also be segmented based on such factors as level of customer satisfaction and influence.
2) Identify brand devaluation issues.
Consumers use social media to both praise and complain. Praise provides helpful feedback. Complaints are usually valid statements about how a company’s product or service has disappointed. But sometimes they are unwarranted attacks by activists with an ax to grind. If left alone, they can sometimes go viral and do real damage.
3) Identify and proactively engage key influencers.
Commonly referred to as top influencers or customer advocates, highly-engaged individuals can serve as brand ambassadors. Level of influence may involve an evaluation of how well-connected an individual is, to what degree their social circle has acted on their opinion in the past, and how often they’ve discussed your brand in a positive light and across which social platforms. Reporting tools can map relationships between different sources and their level of influence based around a specific topic. Influence may also refer to opponents or detractors of a brand.
To read more about the other six Value Drivers or to learn about the technology landscape for Social Intelligence, check out the full “Social Intelligence Gleansight” report. Access is complimentary with registration.
