Second To None

Be specific to get C-level buy in

By Kerry Colligan

According to Foundations of Listening, a book recently published by the Advertising Research Foundation, listening to consumers discuss brands via social media channels isn't ready to replace the old system of "asking" via survey research. (See the Ad Age article on the topic.) The planning/strategic implications of that finding are clear and known to most marketing/market research managers. But, I have to think the dual tracking of consumer opinions hurts C-suite buy in.

Many customer experience managers struggle to obtain top-level buy in for ongoing customer research programs because it can be difficult to take action on results if research doesn't evaluate the relationship between organizational performance and customer opinion.

A typical social media monitoring program has nothing to do with operational performance. It looks at keyword usage and changing brand perception. Perception rarely changes overnight making it difficult to link social commentary to tactics. But the allure of "free" keeps social at the top of many market research agendas. There are, after all, 100,000,000 Facebook users. And many of them publish their opinions for free.

Traditional survey research has countless case studies that prove positive ROI. Getting C-suite buy in means proving that market strategies and operating procedures improve. It's not about demonstrating the correlation between the employee interaction and average ticket. It's about the specific components of that interaction that matter to specific customer segments looking for/buying specific products. Social can't tell you that.

Brand Strategy