Are You Monitoring Your World?
At a conference back in the spring, I heard a presenter recommend Google Alerts like they were the latest, newest toy in the toy box. Exasperated and somewhat depressed to have endured such “old news” – I wondered to myself: “Have you been using the tools so long that because they are old news to you – you’ve forgotten to recommend them to others who might not know?” It’s like the basic principles of marketing that I teach – sure there are new tools and new uses for the new tools that come out every day. And it’s really fun for me to teach you how to achieve new levels of success with those new tricks and new tools. But the old principles still apply: target your market, know what experiences your customers desire, focus on customer retention, etc.
So, here’s a basic principle reviewed and updated for 2009 regarding Google Alerts.
Considering the on-line world in which we live, we basically have two choices: stick our heads in the sand and fail OR monitor our world so we can know what’s shakin’ out there, if you know what I mean.
There are a LOT of tools out there that allow us to monitor what’s being said about us, our businesses, our competition and our market (and pretty much anything else you would desire to monitor). And by monitor, I mean, eavesdrop and know what’s being said about these topics on web sites, blogs, public Facebook pages, Twitter, YouTube, and other social media. Trust me, you WANT to know. (I AM willing to explain why – just in another post).
The most basic and easy-to-use monitoring tool of them all, however, are Google Alerts. Google describes this service as follows (bolded areas are my edits):
Google Alerts basically monitors the latest, relevant Google results (web, news, etc.) based on your choice of search term. Some handy uses of Google Alerts include: monitoring a developing news story, keeping current on a competitor or industry, getting the latest on an event or conference, and, of course, monitoring what the world at large is saying about YOU and your business.
To get started, you’ll need a Google account. The easiest way is to sign up for Gmail, Google’s free e-mail service.
Then, go to the Google Alerts page to begin setting up your alerts. Basically, think of what goals you have for information. What data do you wish you had, or if you could eavesdrop on conversations, which ones would they be, etc. For an hunting/outdoor sports niche enterprise, we might suggest monitoring all major competitive brands by name and nickname, each of their own product/brands by name and nickname, industry trends by keyword or key phrase, as well as the names of the business’ owners and key employees (just to name a few).
However, for a small chain of shoe stores in Atlanta, we would recommend adding both niche terms and geographical terms to narrow your sphere in order to better understand your customer and market – and what others are saying about your business within that market.
Once you’ve decided on which alerts will be valuable for you to receive, choose how you want your alerts delivered. Google Alerts can be delivered to you via e-mail or through an RSS Feeder (like the good one Google provides aptly named: Google Reader). If delivered by e-mail, you’ll also choose if you want a daily digest of alerts or want them delivered AS they occur.
Then wait and watch for the alerts to show up.
The amount of data necessary – and the ability to digest it on a daily basis – will, should and must grow as the business grows. But your business will not grow in a sustainable way if you are out of touch with your customer. The web today provides many tools – Google Alerts being one of several. Others should at least include Twitter monitoring and advanced web site analytics. For the novice that has done business without ANY monitoring other than point of sale customer feedback and the occasional customer comment card, start simple by making a list of as many possible Google Alerts as you can comprehend, then narrowing it down to your most critical FIVE or TEN. No more. Edit yourself. Then, pay attention daily. Learn from what you see. Apply it to your business. Respond to blog posts, social media comments, etc. as appropriate (which is whenever they appear). Use the measurement to learn and use it to engage your customers and prospects in meaningful relationships. Build trust.
How are you montoring what folks are saying about you on-line? We’d love to hear how you use monitoring methods to learn and to engage customers.
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