What does it mean to ‘listen’ on social media?

How to let your audience know there’s a live body tweeting or posting updates on Facebook.

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The physical presence of ears does not make you a good listener. Listening makes you good listener. If you’ve created a Twitter, Facebook or other social media account for your brand, congratulations, you now have ears. Are you listening?

Most brands realize they need to be present in social media, and many may be listening, but you wouldn’t know it. You wouldn’t know it because they’re not engaging their audiences.

They’re not part of the conversation. If somebody says something nice or not-so-nice about their brands, there’s no response. Are they responding behind the scenes? It doesn’t matter. Perception is reality with social media. We need to see you in social media to know you care.

This post is motivated by my personal experience trying to engage with brands online. In most cases, I’ve raved about how awesome I think some person, place or thing is. You know, an unsolicited endorsement or recommendation to my friends and followers. In most cases, I’ve used their Twitter handle (or Facebook page, URL, etc.). I know somebody has seen it on the other end, but no love. What gives?

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