This hole in social media strategy leaves vast amounts of market intelligence untapped. Of all brand mentions on Twitter, for example, only 3% use company or brand identifiers in the tweet. That means 97% of them are never heard by the companies they are talking about. But the value isnt just in that percentage; the messages themselves are also more authentic.

Most companies employ people responsible for engaging with consumers on social media channels and have established guidelines and protocols for how to do so. The missing piece of the puzzle is that while these companies engage with customers that actively mention or directly address them, they are missing out on the conversations where consumers passively mention them among one another.

Untold sums have been spent on surveys, focus groups, and market research to get a glimpse into the attitudes consumers so freely share with one another. Social media has provided a channel where these conversations happen more than ever beforein a public venue that businesses have full access to if they know how to listen.

The nature of communication between consumers has almost always eliminated businesses from the conversation by default, leaving them to wonder what consumers really think about them and their competitors.

Endorsements validated by consumers have more credibility than even the most coveted brands could ever cultivate on their own because they are authentic and lack perceived sales motives. Consumer-to-consumer communication is the most trusted form of messaging, making it the most highly sought after by marketers.