That wasn’t quite my point. I most certainly would never suggest that popularity of a site or traffic should dictate it’s value to a company. Quite the opposite.

Here: “Use your listening tools and strategies to pinpoint the discussions that are most important and valuable to you, and have the confidence to table the rest until and unless it matters to your business. It’s not about being cool or cutting edge. It’s about being present and relevant to the people who are asking for you.”

What’s relevant and valuable could very well NOT be what’s in the mainstream, and that’s the critical point about listening and monitoring. It’s finding the gems out there that might not make the news. The small, niche communities that have passionate members and lively discussions.

My point is exactly that for every business, it’s critical to pay attention and find where those communities ARE, because they are not in every place at the same time, and following the path of popularity or least resistance will most certainly ensure that you miss some valuable conversation.

Hope that clarifies things. I believe you and I are in strong agreement.

That wasn’t quite my point. I most certainly would never suggest that popularity of a site or traffic should dictate it’s value to a company. Quite the opposite.

Here: “Use your listening tools and strategies to pinpoint the discussions that are most important and valuable to you, and have the confidence to table the rest until and unless it matters to your business. It’s not about being cool or cutting edge. It’s about being present and relevant to the people who are asking for you.”

What’s relevant and valuable could very well NOT be what’s in the mainstream, and that’s the critical point about listening and monitoring. It’s finding the gems out there that might not make the news. The small, niche communities that have passionate members and lively discussions.

My point is exactly that for every business, it’s critical to pay attention and find where those communities ARE, because they are not in every place at the same time, and following the path of popularity or least resistance will most certainly ensure that you miss some valuable conversation.

Hope that clarifies things. I believe you and I are in strong agreement.

That wasn't quite my point. I most certainly would never suggest that popularity of a site or traffic should dictate it's value to a company. Quite the opposite.

Here: "Use your listening tools and strategies to pinpoint the discussions that are most important and valuable to you, and have the confidence to table the rest until and unless it matters to your business. It’s not about being cool or cutting edge. It’s about being present and relevant to the people who are asking for you."

What's relevant and valuable could very well NOT be what's in the mainstream, and that's the critical point about listening and monitoring. It's finding the gems out there that might not make the news. The small, niche communities that have passionate members and lively discussions.

My point is exactly that for every business, it's critical to pay attention and find where those communities ARE, because they are not in every place at the same time, and following the path of popularity or least resistance will most certainly ensure that you miss some valuable conversation.

Hope that clarifies things. I believe you and I are in strong agreement.

As a competing vendor in this space, your points on feeling overwhelmed and the need to execute on strategy are well noted. However I am also trying to reconcile some of the thoughts you put forward on communities not being everywhere.

The chief concern I have is when we apply this logic to inform strategies and approaches which treat depth of sourcing as a necessity in so far as the incidents likelihood to appear in top 10 search rank and bruise a company’s Google resume.

Audience membership found on message boards, smaller channel and local online forums have a much stronger sense of kinship than high bandwidth channels, and brands appearing genuine and excited about opinion and feedback emerging from these areas of the social Web stand a much better chance of winning over entire communities.

Excluding channels deemed less valuable or not heavily trafficked without careful thought and consideration to the fact that each should be treated as an equal opportunity to winning audience interest and attention is a monitoring and engagement driving strategy without checking blind spots.

Joseph
@RepuTrack