Putting your Ear to the Ground

All great social media campaigns begin with the concept of listening. Whether it is because you have a brand that you want to protect or if you are just looking to see if customers are looking for something you want to offer. Well the good news is, the tools are available and they are really easy to use.

Google (insert voice of angels) has a really easy to use tool called “Google Alerts.”  If you are involved in this industry, how could you not have heard about it.  Even if you don’t have a product out there, you should at least be monitoring your name.  This can lead to quick responses when people are posting comments related to your business or reputation.

Here is how it works in three easy steps.  First, make sure you have a google account (it isn’t completely necessary, but it helps in the management of these alerts).  That is easy enough to do.  Next, navigate to http://google.com/alerts and get going!  For example, if I want to see if anyone ever mentions my name “Christopher Bazin”, in “search items” I will put my name. Under “type” I can choose from an array of different types of content (News, Blogs, Web, Comprehensive, Video or Group).  I chose “comprehensive” since (according to google) that, as the name suggests, has the most reach into the different categories.

Next, how often do you want to receive these alerts? Once a day? Once a week? or As it happens?  Well, I think this really depends on the reason for the search and frequency that the search is successful.  If I am protecting a specific brand and I want to respond to comments made toward my brand in a timely manner, I would suggest that you set it for “as it happens.”  There is no underlaying magic here.  Google, when it stumbles on the words you have put into the alert, will notify you.

Finally, you can also determine the length of the email you will be receiving the results in – “Up to 20 results” or “Up to 50 results.” That I will leave up to you to test out.

Then as simple as putting in the email address you want your alert to go to, you are done!  Note that if you are not signed in to your google account, google will send an opt-in email for the alert. Simply go to the email address that you entered, find the email to approve the alert and bingo!

Try it and see what your results are. You may be surprised!

UPDATE!!

Ok, so within hours of me posting this article and creating the alert, Google (angels singing) sent me the following email.  Check it, you won’t be disappointed!