Do you know my name?

Do you know I moved across the apartment complex two months ago?

Do you know I inquired about brand X five times before I purchased?

Do you know I purchased because I received a recommendation from another one of your customers?

Do you know that I purchased brand X for myself and gave as a gift to my husband, our two children and my best friend in Dallas, Texas?

Do you know my favorite color is purple because I bought all color coordinating accessories for brand X?

Do you know I shop online on Fridays and only shop or have physical interaction with your organization when I purchase brand Y or have issue Z?

Do you know ME?

Do you know ME whether I shop online, by phone or at your physical location?

Do you know I spoke to a customer service person yesterday via Twitter and again on IM today regarding issue Y?

I know ME and I expect if you have a presence online, offline or both, you should know ME too.

Over the past month, we have talked about forming a solid engagement strategy and how-to engage. But, before you have an exchange with someone, it is helpful to know a bit about them. Monitoring, exclusively, will not give you the insights you need to better know your customer base or community. Actively listening to customers/community will help clarify an immediate interaction, but will not give you a holistic view of their relationship with your organization.

How can you go beyond listening at the point of need to engaging at the point of need, knowing exactly who the customer/community member is and deeper context surrounding their transaction or issue?

What is missing?

The power of observation.

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, to observe is:

“..to watch carefully especially with attention to details or behavior for the purpose of arriving at a judgment.”

Judgment is based on data over time. It is essential to learn the language of data to properly extract actionable insights. Do not dismiss the need to monitor or passively listen before engaging with your community. But realize there is an extra step between monitoring and listening. Observing. Use the time while monitoring to understand the people within your community. Just as an anthropologist would, study the behavior of the community in their natural habitat without the direct influence of your organization. Observe their habits, conversations and circles of trust.

Data tells a story. It is your job to observe and find the patterns and connections that matter so your organization can answer, “Do you know ME?”

How do you take the data you glean from online monitoring, observation, and any active listening between you and community and weave this information into existing data infrastructure?

Tags: Listening, observation, Social Media Monitoring