As marketers, we love to have power.  We like the power to create brands and products that have value for consumers.  We like the power to craft a message and place it in a targeted medium.

But what about the power that comes from listening?  Admittedly, it doesn’t sound very exciting.  Wouldn’t we all rather talk than listen?  The problem with talking all the time is that your audience may nod off or leave you completely.

In this age of the empowered consumer, the advertiser who doesn’t listen risks being more than a bore.  There is a greater risk of being completely ignored or abandoned by consumers.

Today, there are many ways to listen to your consumers . . .

• Call centers and “contact us” sections of websites give consumers the means to communicate questions or complaints directly with the company

• Market research allows consumers to respond within narrowly defined parameters.

• Consumer-generated media monitoring (like Empower’s ChatterWatch^SM) allows a marketer to listen to unfiltered commentary about the brand, competitors, or topics of interest to your consumer—whether they directly mention your brand or not.

• Employees who interact directly with customers can be more fully utilized in providing consumer behavior insights.

• Private consumer communities can be established for in depth brand and category conversation.

While many marketers do some of these things, many do not consolidate all of these insights to enable quick response.  Different departments may own different feedback mechanisms, but all must be combined for full understanding.  Commitment to listening requires an internal advocate responsible for integrating all findings, weeding out outliers, and communicating to the impacted departments throughout the organization.  Skills in both research and analytics are necessary.

The power of listening reveals itself in many ways.  You may hear an unexpected voice from outside of your research efforts.  You may get insights and inspiration to improve your product.  You may get validation that marketing efforts are working without a large research investments.  You may avoid making mistakes that arise from incomplete understanding of your consumer.  Ultimately, a consumer that feels heard is more likely to be a brand advocate, rewarding your business with sales, loyalty, and recommendations.

By: Julie Pahutski, SVP Consumer Insights