How is social media best served? A platform to shout from or a chance to hear the crowd

It's no secret that many industry sectors are still plotting ways to get the best out of social media. Whilst many view it as a way of promoting themselves to a big audience the opposite side of the story is it allows the audience direct access to your dressing room after the show (so to speak). Whilst performing in front of millions is one thing, gaining crucial feedback after the set is just as vital.

The problem is it's difficult to take all the feedback. Look at the England team for example. Some fans can probably offer some genuine insight into where they went wrong. Most fans would probably just offer some expletives. Sieving through this has always been a problem but imagine the power in the hands of a pharmaceutical company, or a retail giant, if they could get valuable feedback directly from clients without the need to set up workshops or expensive market research projects.

With automated media monitoring sieving becomes possible and therefore so does listening to the consumer, as opposed to just yelling things at them from the rooftop. Being able to search quite literally for a needle in a haystack without any of the manual work is quite simply a priceless tool. Imagine the power of spotting a few complaints of side affects after taking a drug, early after release, or finding out a crucial component of the product you sell doesn't seem to work, before losing millions on the production line. So, as a platform for exposing your company, yes, social media is powerful. But as a platform to listen from, and to put yourself in direct contact with the consumer, social media is invaluable.