Hi there,
Inspired by a recent trip to South by Southwest (SXSW) and some comments from our clients, I’ve been thinking about what Plato—the philosopher who lived more than 2,000 years ago—would have to say about social listening research and intelligence. Yes, this is actually how I think.
One of Plato’s most famous works, The Allegory of the Cave, was required reading in my foundational communication class in undergrad. In the hypothetical story, Socrates describes people chained to a wall in a cave who can’t turn their heads. All they see are shadows projected on the wall via a campfire. These shadows reflect contrived events—essentially a puppet show—happening behind the captives. They perceive the shadows as reality, unaware of the very real people, animals, and objects that are casting them. Socrates poses a question about what might happen if a captive person could turn around.
“What do you think his reaction would be if someone informed him that everything he had formerly known was illusion and delusion, but that now he was a few steps closer to reality, oriented now toward things that were more authentic, and able to see more truly? And, even further, if one would direct his attention to the artificial figures passing to and fro and ask him what their names are, would this man not be at a loss to do so? Would he, rather, believe that the shadows he formerly knew were more real than the objects now being shown to him?”
Most marketing metrics are shadows on a wall. They’re one-dimensional and easy to digest. They don’t provide much depth or understanding, but they sure make a pretty dashboard. Today I challenge you to take a few steps away from the shadows, towards what the metrics actually represent. Continuing Socrates’ train of thought:
“Now, let’s say that he is forcibly dragged up the steep climb out of the cavern, and firmly held until finally he stands in the light of the sun. Don’t you think that he would be agitated and even begin to complain? Under that light, would his eyes not be nearly blinded, unable to discern any of those things that we ourselves call real?
It would take time, I suppose, for him to get used to seeing higher things. In the beginning, he might only trace the shadows. Then, reflections of people and other things in the water. Next he would come to see the things themselves.”
Marketing metrics represent humans. The actions they take, the opinions they express, the questions they ask—or their unwillingness to do any of these things. Understanding the human behavior and context behind the metrics generates insight that informs invention, not just activation. This is really hard to grasp for the first time, and it can be overwhelming at first. You might be tempted to go back to the dashboard, even if it’s just a shadow. It feels safer. Easier.
This is what I discussed at a SXSW happy hour with some of the world’s top social intelligence leaders. We’d gathered after a challenging Social Intelligence Meetup during which most attendees wanted to talk about “the best metrics” or new data sources, rather than actionable uses of social listening research. Dr. Jillian Ney, founder of The Social Intelligence Lab, emphatically stated, “it’s not just data; the analysts looking at it need to understand people.”
When the Campus Sonar team starts working with a new client, we see the allegory of the cave play out as people realize that their current marketing metrics (especially for social media) are shadows of the insight that is gleaned from the human experience with a strategic social listening approach. Then they begin to understand what additional metrics, as well as qualitative insight, can truly inform their decision-making. And eventually many turn to social intelligence as a human-centered replacement for ineffective media monitoring, survey research, or brand health measurement tactics.
Jenny Petty, Vice President for Marketing and Communications at the University of Montana, describes our approach to social intelligence this way: “It’s managing your brand as an asset in a way campuses haven’t thought of and might not even know they can.”
You might not know you can, because you’ve been looking at shadows.
My time at SXSW confirmed Campus Sonar’s role as a social intelligence partner for higher education. Our industry needs this capability and perspective or we will fall further behind others. I met someone from an agency dedicated to the healthcare industry that has a 140-person team dedicated to social intelligence, the founder of an international agency providing social intelligence to pharmaceutical companies, and heard the Executive Director of Global Corporate Marketing at Bristol Myers Squibb say on stage that “social intelligence and social listening can tell the story and show the value of purpose-driven marketing.”
Our team has steadily continued to grow, and there are now 17 empathetic professionals helping our clients become audience-centric, innovative leaders who can better respond to shifting demographics and the demands of what Loyola Marymount University president Tim Snyder calls The Solidarity Generation. In his talk at SXSW, he stressed that higher ed leaders should partner with students and strive for “less down from above, more boiling from below.”
Whether it’s through the lens of an ancient philosopher, the world’s best social intelligence professionals, or a president who partners with students, I’m reminded daily how important our work is. I’m inspired to do human-first work in higher education, and I hope you are too.
