The fact is that people are talking online, often telling what they want, wishing that someone will invent, create or provider specific goods or services, this information is valuable. In many cases these goods or services are available but the potential customer is not aware of it, so by listening companies can respond and offer the potential customers what they want and where to buy it.
In addition, people are talking about their own experience with businesses, they are talking because there is something relevant to be said. Many cases are about complain, as people get engaged it can reach more and more people and it can very harmful for companies, they cannot sit back and expect that customers will contact them directly if there is any issue.
In fact a single customer with the wrong information could create panic in the audience. If there is no one to rectify or clarify the information, it can create a serious consequence for the customer perception of the company’s brand. So companies should listen to the conversation and interact with the audience, it is important to monitor and analyse the information in the social media
It doesn’t need to be a large company to afford tracking what people are saying about you company, they are several free tools such as Tweet Deck, Google Alert, Social Mention, Search Tweet advanced, Technorati (good for blogs), Tinker, Addictomatic and Howsociable. However companies such as O’Leary Analytics can provide a more detailed and depurated information.
They are several analyses available, but one which is a bit tricky is the sentiment analysis in Ireland, as people here are sarcastic, software can misinterpreted the real meaning behind the message