CIPR guide to social media monitoring

I’ve spent a bit of time over the last week scanning through the CIPR’s new guide to social media monitoring.

The new guide, which reflect the best practice outlined in the Share This and Share This Too books (a great starting point for social media stuff for the uninitiated) is a really good attempt at ending the confusion about the plethora of monitoring tools and approaches and aligning this activity to real business objectives.

I don’t claim to be a social media guru (and don’t trust many who do) but anyone working in PR and comms who is still in denial about the power and influence needs to wake up and smell the coffee.  More often than not, the problem comes with senior management who are reluctant to harness the power of social media because they are terrified of losing control.

To me they are missing the point – social media gives you the opportunity to listen to and learn from the conversations about your brand or organisation that in the past you just didn’t know about – any hotel that doesn’t monitor and respond to reviews (good and bad) on Trip Advisor or council that ignores feedback on twitter is just sticking its head in the sand and will suffer as a result.

What business doesn’t want honest feedback from its customers? The core three-step approach of listen, engage and influence highlighted in the guide is a good starting point to anyone still unsure how to begin engaging.