Listen and Learn

Live tweeting started immediatly in class on Wednesday, January 24th with an understanding of active listening. As class proceeded, Kelli Matthews started the topic of listening and monitoring for social media along with what companies should listen for. Kelli asked us what brands we have personally interacted with on social media. Justin Hanes raised an intriguing question. He asked, “Which brands do a good job when responding to compliments/complaints on social media?”

And the conversation took off. Students tweeted screenshots of their own interactions with brands and people. Many people agreed that airlines are normally consistent in keeping up with customer service messages. However, we discussed verbally in class that many companies are not as efficient at responding.

The lecture moved forward to the discussion of rebranding. As a class, we discussed Diet Coke’s process in rebranding. We shared and communicated reasons why rebranding could be a strategic move for companies that are struggling with engagement.

The Twitter discussion turned into discussing which companies are authentic on Twitter and how it works for them. Wendy’s, MoonPie and Taco Bell’s Twitter handles are all authentic and personable. We concluded the twitter conversation with a few tweets about research methods.

The whole discussion was mainly focused on the brands, people, and companies that interact with their followers the most. Many people voiced their own opinions about restaurants, airlines and people that have provided responses in addressing an interactive tweet or direct message. An overall takeaway from our Twitter conversation is that authenticity is vital within a companies strategic values. Keeping up with trends is an efficient way to keep your company relevant. Developing a strategy to listen and monitor is crucial in social media.

Rita Herbstman, Adrianna Grigorian, Emily Soury, Aaron DeOCampo