Earlier this week I sat in on the third and final (say it ain’t so) twebinar of the summer, hosted by Chris Brogan and David Alston. If you missed “The Importance of Listening,” you can find out more at the Radian 6 Twebinar site. There were so many great points that it would be difficult to include all of them in one post. My notes alone fill seven pages. So here are four nuggets and ten observations I’ve highlighted. Enjoy!

Four Nuggets:

1. We have two ears and one mouth. We should listen twice as much as we should talk.
2. Maggie Fox stated somewhat emphatically that the words, “campaign” and “social media” should never be used in the same sentence. (Think about it. One is about pushing a message; the other is about conversation.)
3. Listen for conversations that contain complements. Respond with a thank you and when applicable, use those conversations and their links as testimonials.
4. Companies can benefit from listening and responding. Steve Lubetkin told a great marketing/fly fishing story to illustrate this point. Several years ago some fly fishing fans were trashing a new rod and reel on an online forum/message board, known to be the source of information for fly fishing. Sadly, the company was nowhere to be found.

Ten Observations:

1. Corporations are struggling with the shift.
   Geoff Livingston set the stage by explaining that traditionally, customer service and sales have had 90% of the responsibility of listening, with marketing sharing the remaining 10%. Today, marketing’s listening responsibility is shifting from 10% to 90%. During the previous era in the US and Europe, companies harnessed the power of mass communications to control the message. Before that technology was available, dialogue existed. Henry Ford understood dialogue when he designed the Model T Ford. He worked tirelessly to achieve accessible automobiles. Listening isn’t new; it’s old.
2. There are no excuses.
   Mike Manuel said there are too many (free) tools available not to listen. He went on to say not listening is “a little wreckless.” This was perhaps one of the most powerful statements of the twebinar. Companies need to be listening to what people are saying about their products/services, their industries – their brand experiences. Not listening is like not answering your phone.
3. It’s not about demographics anymore.
   Sam Lawrence noted that the advent of social software now reveals what people care about, what they think about and how they feel about their experiences. It’s more about experience and attitude than demographics.
4. Find the interesting conversations.
   Ken Kaplan encouraged listening to see if you could identify problems or hear scenarios to positioning your company as a resource. This is different than listening and pushing unsolicited information. Don’t be “that guy.” Additionally, the richness of the conversation can change how you develop products and services.
5. Listening is about caring.
   Chris Heuer brought this point home by adding, listening is more than just hearing. Joe Thornley continued by saying companies have to have the will to listen, not just the strategy. Companies must be willing to listen and then DO something.
6. Timing is important.
   Marcel LeBrun noted that the while life of a blog post is quite long, generally speaking, most of the attention happens within the first three days. Ideally, companies should respond within the first two to four hours with new or correct information. By responding early, companies get a lot more visibility for being part of the conversation.
7. Conversations are happening.
   There are millions of conversations taking place right now on Twitter, Flickr, Friendfeed, etc. and even on forums/message boards. Some conversations have huge attention spans, with thousands of threads on one topic.
8. Listen to avoid threats. Companies are using social media before they need crisis management. One of the speakers recounted a United airlines story where an online pilot mentioned being sad. Evidently, the pilot was too sad to fly and was removed from what could have been a potentially hazardous flight.
9. Listen to capture opportunities.
   Todd Defrin suggests that companies should be lisetning for things going on around your brand. He used pharmaceuticals as an example. By listening more broadly, pharmaceutical companies can hear what patients are saying about diseases, treatments, affordability and what doctors are saying as well. Lebrun advises to connect with others who have similar opinions and terms and participate in those conversations. Connect at the point of need, rather than intruding into every conversation.
10. Join the conversation.
    Monitor what’s being said. Make judgments about what conversations need responses, then decide who responds and join in! With so many options, the task can seem daunting, so start small. But do start. And remember, in some cases, internal and/or external changes may need to happen as a result of what you hear.

So what about you? Are you listening? What have you heard/learned? What tools are you using? What have you tried that hasn’t worked? What has worked well?