• by Shawn Kemp , Op-Ed Contributor, June 2, 2015

Campaigning is a balancing act of consistent messaging, not being caught off-guard by adversarial campaigns, and effectively attacking from a position of strength all while constantly appealing to constituents. All this happens in a very fluid environment of news events, October surprises and changing tides of consumer opinion. 

Social listening can play a critical role in this balancing act as, according to research by Dynamic Markets, 39% of Americans spend more time socializing online than they do face to face. Having a finger on the pulse of social media voters can help keep supporters engaged, passionate, and drive them to action, one of the most important things a campaign can do. 

Understanding which way constituent winds are blowing can be critical to driving social media virality, organic content, and social action. Campaigns interested in listening, understanding and taking sage action should embrace the following:   

1. With 74% of Americans using social media, according to Pew Research, the amount of content created in a given day can be overwhelming. As such, the basis of a listening strategy really should include a tool designed to filter out the noise, leaving only the signal.

2. Separate the voices from the trends and seek to get an understanding of what direction public opinion is trending, rather than what just a few loud individuals are saying. (That is not to say that campaigns shouldn’t know who the opinion makers are.) It is also important to understand the context for the trending direction; is it directed at the campaign or is it peer-to-peer conversation? Campaigns should make sure to assess trends per platform as each network has different demographics which will be reflected in the trend lines campaigns see. 

3. Campaigns can and should also engage with individuals directly. Assess the opportunities and risks for doing so, follow their page and engage them in conversation. People want to feel important and heard and reaching out to them directly can help achieve both goals. When engaging with someone, campaigns should ensure that they bring mutual value to the conversation.

4. When creating content in response to listening activities, campaigns shouldn’t aim for the lowest common denominator and only post content to try and please an audience; there is still a need for education and introducing supporters to new causes. In fact, according to Digital Trends, 30% of Americans get their news on Facebook, a role campaigns could do well to help fill. Moreover, it’s important to remember the goal of each activity. Campaigns seeking to activate their extremes on social should take a far different approach than campaigns looking to engage those in the middle. 

One thing is universal: supporters are more likely to engage with trending or timely content. Therefore, it's important for campaigns to keep their ears open for timely content that is related to their key messages and core campaign issues. Once identified, campaigns should embrace a multi-channel marketing approach, which includes sharing the news, creating a social action on the topic, including the topic in the campaign blog, sharing in the campaign newsletter and more. By starting with a social action, campaigns can capture the engagement that the post receives and move supporters to the next level of involvement--whether that be subscribing to the campaign blog, or other action, that opens the door to additional campaign outreach.  

Social listening not only keeps campaigns informed on social sentiment, but on questions or concerns voters may have, what’s important to them, and how they view competitive campaigns. Armed with this data, campaigns should have a solid understanding of the issues that relate to their constituents and how people are reacting to them. Have they been misinformed? Set them straight. Are they looking for ways to get involved? Put them to work. Do they have questions? Answer them. This is a great chance to be responsive and connect with supporters. And, done right, campaigns will be able to use the social relationships they’ve built post-campaign to work together with constituents to develop policies and be the change for which they voted.