How often do we sit through frustrating meetings where everyone just wants to be heard and few really want to hear? How many dinner conversations are competitions between people wanting to tell their stories? There is a mantra in sales about listening twice more than you speak. Same should be said in marketing. When I used to run a market research company, the insights we would gather from customers would be gold for our clients.  Gold because, apart from contact centre logs, there was little opportunity for market feedback. Today though, there are unprecedented opportunities to listen to what customers are saying. Marketers need to get beyond looking for ways to advertise in social media and find the real gold in hearing what people feel, want and need. CK gives some great tips on Marketing Profs about listening and elaborates on her own site about navigating social media, including a guide to books on the subject.