Distinguishing a Mention From A Need
By: Amber Naslund
As advocates of listening, we talk a lot about “listening at the point of need” in order to support business development and sales efforts, and be sure that you’re supporting and responding to potential customers when they’re in the market for what you offer, or expertise that you have. In other words, expressed needs online give you a great point of entry to introduce yourself, say hello, and offer help. (We wrote a little PDF about it that you can download here).
But it’s important to remember this: there’s a difference between a mention and a need. And that distinction can be the difference between making a welcome and well-timed introduction, and coming off as interruptive, opportunistic, or at worst, like a spammy used car salesman.
So, how do you do this effectively and in a way that’s likely to engender the response you want?
Here are 4 tips for responding to true needs rather than just jumping on passing mentions.
1. Look for questions or requests for input or advice.
A phrase like “looking for someone to recommend a great insurance agent” are much more open invitations for response. If you’re an insurance agent, this can be a great moment to introduce yourself and offer to be helpful (that’s the key word here). The door is open in this situation, but tread here like you would an in-person encounter, and be gracious, polite, and simply offer a hand. It’s up to the person posting whether to accept, but the overture will at least be relevant and well timed, and help express that you’re listening and paying attention.
2. Don’t just respond to keyword hits for your competitors.
If you’re Toyota and someone in a forum thread is talking about how much they love their new Honda, they’re likely not in the market to reconsider their purchase based on you jumping in and asking them to take a look at your newest model. Or, if someone’s Facebook status says that “Microsoft Windows 7 rocks!”, that’s probably not the time to try and convince them that they’d be better off with a different operating system.
Some folks make the mistake of simply pulling up a Twitter or Radian6 search for keywords about competitive brands and responding to each one in turn (more on that response below). But context is everything; a mention does not always a need make, and it’s important to recognize when someone really might be looking for some information, or when they’re just chatting aloud, talking to friends, or even expressing their contentment with a competitive offering (you can’t win them all).
3. Personalize your responses.
If you’re going to respond, stock doesn’t usually cut it in social media. Go back through some of the brands you know on Twitter, and see what their point of need responses look like. Are they all the same, or are they really seeking to respond to the individual questions, concerns or needs of the person talking?
Take a few moments to customize your engagement and outreach, and let your potential customers or those meeting you online for the first time feel like you really care about them personally. If they feel like they’re worth an extra few moments of your time to reach out, they’re more inclined to believe their business will matter to you in the long run.
4. Be gracious and patient.
If someone’s unhappy with their current product or service provider, there *can* be an opportunity to help point them to your own solution. But tread lightly here.
Sometimes, they love the company or product, but they’re just having a challenging moment, and what they really want is help from the provider or brand, not someone ready to pounce when they smell blood. A better approach is often to sit back a bit and see when or if the company responds to their customer and offers help. Or, if you really insist on reaching out immediately, think instead about framing your approach as a question or something helpful, like “Hi Bob, saw you were having a bit of trouble with your email provider. We’ve got some tips on our website here that might help?”
It’s a bit softer and requires a bit of finesse, but helps you make yourself visible and present to that person without pushing a pitch at them in their moment of frustration.
So what else have you noticed? Have you been on either end of this kind of scenario and what do you think? And how would you encourage companies listening in social media to understand the difference between a mention and a need?
Looking forward to your comments.
This is what I worry about for my clients. I think the difference in your case, Jessica, is the authentic drive to help vs. the calculated use of social media to build awareness and generate leads. I always fear that my clients will have a very hard time resisting the latter, especially when they report to me that they see their competitors doing it. Their question is always "when do we jump in the mix?" It's a hard one.
I would rather they at least create their own thoughtful resources on a topic via a blog, video channel or slide share account that have potential value to their audience so that when they scour around at least they are able to send people back to a useful resource that may have longer term value to the person even if the moment to help or "jump in" has passed. This seems more like connecting and sharing within a shared area of interest, yet I also see it as self promotion.
When I do social workshops I give homework to acct and sales teams to post a question on Linkedin on a topic, for example, and see what responses they get. They always come back reporting that the people providing answers are obviously trying to sell something. I think this helps, any advice on helping clients, especially sales and account teams, avoid "jumping in" and being totally obvious and annoying in social media is always appreciated.
Amanda
Hi Amanda – I actually really love your approach to developing helpful and relevant resources to which you can point people. Helpful and useful information will beat a sales pitch every time, and it can definitely help a sales or lead gen person be more effective when they're reaching out to potential customers, especially for the first time and online when they may or may not be already acquainted.
Thanks for sharing!
This is what I worry about for my clients. I think the difference in your case, Jessica, is the authentic drive to help vs. the calculated use of social media to build awareness and generate leads. I always fear that my clients will have a very hard time resisting the latter, especially when they report to me that they see their competitors doing it. Their question is always "when do we jump in the mix?" It's a hard one.
I would rather they at least create their own thoughtful resources on a topic via a blog, video channel or slide share account that have potential value to their audience so that when they scour around at least they are able to send people back to a useful resource that may have longer term value to the person even if the moment to help or "jump in" has passed. This seems more like connecting and sharing within a shared area of interest, yet I also see it as self promotion.
When I do social workshops I give homework to acct and sales teams to post a question on Linkedin on a topic, for example, and see what responses they get. They always come back reporting that the people providing answers are obviously trying to sell something. I think this helps, any advice on helping clients, especially sales and account teams, avoid "jumping in" and being totally obvious and annoying in social media is always appreciated.
Amanda
Hi Amanda – I actually really love your approach to developing helpful and relevant resources to which you can point people. Helpful and useful information will beat a sales pitch every time, and it can definitely help a sales or lead gen person be more effective when they're reaching out to potential customers, especially for the first time and online when they may or may not be already acquainted.
Thanks for sharing!
On the Radian6 blog today, distinguishing a mention from a need. There's a difference! http://bit.ly/aM0Fog
RT <a rel="nofollow" href="http://twitter.com/AmberCadabra" rel="nofollow">@AmberCadabra: On the Radian6 blog today, distinguishing a mention from a need. There's a difference! http://bit.ly/aM0Fog
RT <a rel="nofollow" href="http://twitter.com/AmberCadabra" rel="nofollow">@AmberCadabra On the Radian6 blog today, distinguishing a mention from a need. There's a difference! http://bit.ly/aM0Fog
RT <a rel="nofollow" href="http://twitter.com/AmberCadabra" rel="nofollow">@AmberCadabra: On the Radian6 blog today, distinguishing a mention from a need. There's a difference! http://bit.ly/aM0Fog
RT <a rel="nofollow" href="http://twitter.com/AmberCadabra" rel="nofollow">@AmberCadabra On the Radian6 blog today, distinguishing a mention from a need. There's a difference! http://bit.ly/aM0Fog
RT <a rel="nofollow" href="http://twitter.com/AmberCadabra" rel="nofollow">@AmberCadabra: On the Radian6 blog today, distinguishing a mention from a need. There's a difference! http://bit.ly/aM0Fog
RT <a rel="nofollow" href="http://twitter.com/AmberCadabra" rel="nofollow">@AmberCadabra: On the Radian6 blog today, distinguishing a mention from a need. There's a difference! http://bit.ly/aM0Fog
Yes there is! RT <a rel="nofollow" href="http://twitter.com/AmberCadabra" rel="nofollow">@AmberCadabra On the Radian6 blog today, distinguishing a mention from a need. There's a difference! http://bit.ly/aM0Fog
Great tips, Amber. Thanks for sharing.
I recently posted a question on Twitter about the particular wording of a wedding invitation I received. Within a few minutes, I had several helpful responses and that was all I needed. Fast forward to *weeks* later and I'm still getting responses from Twitter users with names like "WeddingPlanningEtc." It's no longer relevant, and at this point it's frankly quite annoying.
I think there's a sense of relevancy and urgency that people need to recognize when responding to questions or issues on Twitter. There's a time and a place when you can help, and a time and a place when you should recognize that it's too late or no longer helpful.
Great tips, Amber. Thanks for sharing.
I recently posted a question on Twitter about the particular wording of a wedding invitation I received. Within a few minutes, I had several helpful responses and that was all I needed. Fast forward to *weeks* later and I'm still getting responses from Twitter users with names like "WeddingPlanningEtc." It's no longer relevant, and at this point it's frankly quite annoying.
I think there's a sense of relevancy and urgency that people need to recognize when responding to questions or issues on Twitter. There's a time and a place when you can help, and a time and a place when you should recognize that it's too late or no longer helpful.
So very true, Jessica. And I'll mention that, unfortunately in relation to Twitter, there are lots of automated 'bots that are out there to find and autorespond to content that matches certain keywords. Certainly not the way we'd advocate doing things.
A must-read! RT <a rel="nofollow" href="http://twitter.com/AmberCadabra" rel="nofollow">@AmberCadabra On the Radian6 blog today, distinguishing a mention from a need. There's a difference! http://bit.ly/aM0Fog
Measures of mentions are a random walk RT <a rel="nofollow" href="http://twitter.com/AmberCadabra" rel="nofollow">@AmberCadabra: On the Radian6 blog today distinguishing a mention from a need http://bit.ly/aM0Fog
RT <a rel="nofollow" href="http://twitter.com/webby2001" rel="nofollow">@webby2001: Measures of mentions are a random walk RT <a rel="nofollow" href="http://twitter.com/AmberCadabra" rel="nofollow">@AmberCadabra: On the Radian6 blog today distinguishing a mention from a need http://bit.ly/aM0Fog
Amber,
Is this post about using monitoring for lead generation? I never had considered it in this context, but it sounds as though the target here are sales folks looking for business, no? What I mean is that I do not usually expect the typical Radian6 user as one who uses the platform for lead generation (by looking for mentions of themselves and competitors) AND is also the one who responds.
I do come from the CRM perspective, and Social CRM even. I have spoke to Ryan S on this topic as well, and it seems that the first part of the process is the identification, as you describe, but then putting the 'hits' into a business process (like your integrations with Sword Ciboodle, SalesForce and others) and allowing the proper folks respond (Social or not), according to the defined business processes in place.
Apologies in advance if I am missing something,
Mitch
Hi Mitch –
Whether it's the same person responding or different people really isn't the focus, to me. And certainly I agree that there are models like you describe that *can* work, wherein one person is doing the monitoring, and then sending the posts to the right person for response (that's how we do it here at Radian6).
It's also possible in smaller organizations that the listeners and the responders ARE the same person, and in many companies that are larger, that's still the case. And yes, we absolutely believe that monitoring and listening can be effective for lead generation, and that a segment of proactive listening could even be housed and led directly by the sales or business development department itself, either using CRM solutions or other.
It's just that not every business has a sophisticated "business process" by which they funnel these opportunities, but in my mind, the best practices for responding to them remain the same nonetheless.
Amber,
I do respect what you are saying, and I hope this does not come out wrong. But, I am the direct type. If an organization is forward thinking enough to use (invest in) a platform like Radian6, but they do not have a system or defined processes to manage leads and a pipeline then I worry about that organization. This person (the one looking) may be reaching out on many channels at the same time, not all of them "social" (email for example).
Even if you are giving general advice (not using Radian6), I would suggest businesses of all sizes need a system to maintain the ongoing relationship with that person they are responding to on the social channel. It is unlikely that for any business that the act of value exchange, what ever it is will be able to be completed on Twitter or Facebook. The process is important, to institutionalize knowledge, as well as create consistency across the organization – even if that same person is responding.
If they work for me, they should be able to repeat back to me, thus train others, what process they go through in their own mind. For certain things, I absolutely agree that listening may be able to live in isolation of other parts of the organization – but for sales, and marketing, the business needs a cohesive approach, channel independent.
My thoughts – thanks for indulging,
Mitch
Amber,
Is this post about using monitoring for lead generation? I never had considered it in this context, but it sounds as though the target here are sales folks looking for business, no? What I mean is that I do not usually expect the typical Radian6 user as one who uses the platform for lead generation (by looking for mentions of themselves and competitors) AND is also the one who responds.
I do come from the CRM perspective, and Social CRM even. I have spoke to Ryan S on this topic as well, and it seems that the first part of the process is the identification, as you describe, but then putting the 'hits' into a business process (like your integrations with Sword Ciboodle, SalesForce and others) and allowing the proper folks respond (Social or not), according to the defined business processes in place.
Apologies in advance if I am missing something,
Mitch
Hi Mitch –
Whether it's the same person responding or different people really isn't the focus, to me. And certainly I agree that there are models like you describe that *can* work, wherein one person is doing the monitoring, and then sending the posts to the right person for response (that's how we do it here at Radian6).
It's also possible in smaller organizations that the listeners and the responders ARE the same person, and in many companies that are larger, that's still the case. And yes, we absolutely believe that monitoring and listening can be effective for lead generation, and that a segment of proactive listening could even be housed and led directly by the sales or business development department itself, either using CRM solutions or other.
It's just that not every business has a sophisticated "business process" by which they funnel these opportunities, but in my mind, the best practices for responding to them remain the same nonetheless.
Amber,
I do respect what you are saying, and I hope this does not come out wrong. But, I am the direct type. If an organization is forward thinking enough to use (invest in) a platform like Radian6, but they do not have a system or defined processes to manage leads and a pipeline then I worry about that organization. This person (the one looking) may be reaching out on many channels at the same time, not all of them "social" (email for example).
Even if you are giving general advice (not using Radian6), I would suggest businesses of all sizes need a system to maintain the ongoing relationship with that person they are responding to on the social channel. It is unlikely that for any business that the act of value exchange, what ever it is will be able to be completed on Twitter or Facebook. The process is important, to institutionalize knowledge, as well as create consistency across the organization – even if that same person is responding.
If they work for me, they should be able to repeat back to me, thus train others, what process they go through in their own mind. For certain things, I absolutely agree that listening may be able to live in isolation of other parts of the organization – but for sales, and marketing, the business needs a cohesive approach, channel independent.
My thoughts – thanks for indulging,
Mitch
Thanks everyone for sharing today's post! Haven't read about distinguishing a mention from a need? Take a look
http://bit.ly/aM0Fog
RT <a rel="nofollow" href="http://twitter.com/radian6" rel="nofollow">@radian6: Thanks everyone for sharing today's post! Haven't read about distinguishing a mention from a need? Take a look
http://bit.ly/aM0Fog
RT <a rel="nofollow" href="http://twitter.com/AmberCadabra" rel="nofollow">@AmberCadabra: On the Radian6 blog today, distinguishing a mention from a need. There's a difference! http://bit.ly/aM0Fog
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Amber Naslund, radian6, Belinda Ang, David Spinks, steveplunkett and others. steveplunkett said: RT @webby2001: Measures of mentions are a random walk RT @AmberCadabra: On the Radian6 blog today distinguishing a mention from a need http://bit.ly/aM0Fog [...]
RT <a rel="nofollow" href="http://twitter.com/AmberCadabra" rel="nofollow">@AmberCadabra On the Radian6 blog today, distinguishing a mention from a need. There's a difference! http://bit.ly/aM0Fog
Great & nuanced post & discussion. RT <a rel="nofollow" href="http://twitter.com/ambercadabra" rel="nofollow">@ambercadabra On <a rel="nofollow" href="http://twitter.com/Radian6" rel="nofollow">@Radian6 blog … distinguishing a mention from a need…. http://bit.ly/aM0Fog
Nice article, Amber. I don't always comment but I do enjoy reading.
) we were not being taught to send stock messages, but some students still came out with the idea that they should send media kits to bloggers for their fake term-long PR project…
).
I like that you talk about not needing to talk everywhere where people are talking about your competitors because you're not going to turn a die-hard Pepsi-drinker into a Coke fan.
As for "stock responses", I have yet to research who came up with them, but then again maybe it's what being taught in schools. Actually, I can speak from experience that ( I recently graduated – took my time with a couple foreign exchanges in-between
Also, I'd say just being helpful can go a long way (at least as far as community manager
Always a pleasure, Amber
Michelle
Nice article, Amber. I don't always comment but I do enjoy reading.
) we were not being taught to send stock messages, but some students still came out with the idea that they should send media kits to bloggers for their fake term-long PR project…
).
I like that you talk about not needing to talk everywhere where people are talking about your competitors because you're not going to turn a die-hard Pepsi-drinker into a Coke fan.
As for "stock responses", I have yet to research who came up with them, but then again maybe it's what being taught in schools. Actually, I can speak from experience that ( I recently graduated – took my time with a couple foreign exchanges in-between
Also, I'd say just being helpful can go a long way (at least as far as community manager
Always a pleasure, Amber
Michelle
Nice article, Amber. I don't always comment but I do enjoy reading.
Business Writing
Nice article, Amber. I don't always comment but I do enjoy reading.
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