There's a lot of buzz monitoring companies around offering you the promise of which sites/forums/blogs etc are the most influential and which ones you should be keeping an eye on. All good stuff. There is so much being said, who do you know who to pay attention to? I am staggered to meet some companies where there is clearly a huge gulf between the messages they are putting out and the conversations going on around their brands. You might think you know what you stand for but what are customers actually saying about you? The real danger for companies who have no social media strategy in place is there could be a disconnect between the official brand image and the real brand as it is being discussed online. It is crucial for any company to start listening to online conversations about their brands and relevant issues in their markets and they should start quickly. People no longer need to refer to companies for information. They can just organise themselves and they are doing. I can see consumers increasingly ganging up on companies online to make their points and to organise movements and force changes in policy. By listening to conversations online you put yourself in the position to join those conversations.
One further word on influential buzz monitoring etc, I think it is important to bear in mind that the web is a very dynamic place. What's influential today, won't be tomorrow. So you need to keep your eye on trends, growing topics as well. It's a useful early warning system.
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