Social media monitoring helps with military recruitment

With so many people active on social media these days, the information obtained simply by listening to the conversations can be invaluable. Many organizations are finding innovative ways to use this data, such as the Army and Air National Guard divisions of the U.S. military.

According to InsuranceNewsNet, the National Guard used social media monitoring to bolster its recruiting efforts.

"We were able to combine traditional recruiting tactics with social media communications by developing a 'social listening' program," said Mike Schaffer, who served as social media director for iostudio, the company that helped craft the Guard's presence within the social media space. "When anyone asked on Twitter about joining the military, for example, we made sure the National Guard was the first branch to respond."

The method proved to be successful, and the website points out that the National Guard has daily interaction with potential recruits. The group uses the platform to answer questions those interested in joining the military may have and then helps them make a decision on the branch that will best steer them toward their desired goals.

Not only can social media listening help strengthen recruitment efforts for the military, the strategy could one day be used to elect the next President of the United States.

How social media listening can impact elections in the future
According to a recent report from the Washington Post, President Barack Obama is regarded as the first U.S. President to embrace social media and effectively use it to his advantage by integrating the channels in his campaign strategies as a way to disseminate information. This was done to not only control his messaging, but to deliver it to groups that would be more likely to be positively affected by it.

Tom Eslinger, director of social and digital for Saatchi & Saatchi, a global advertising agency, told IP & TV News that social media could someday be solely responsible for getting a president elected into office. He states that those with the potential to become presidential candidates in the future will likely be extremely savvy when it comes to social media use and understand how to leverage the platforms in a campaign.

As social media continues to grow in use in popularity, so will listening strategies that will help shape a lot of desired outcomes in many sectors of the world.

Source: snaptrends