Communiscpace CEO Diane Hessan has some advice about using social media and the common element is this: use your head.

In “Lessons From Leno and Twitter Bombers: 3 Rules for Next-Gen Marketing,” Austin Carr writes in FastCompany about Hessan’s recent presentation at the Advertising Research Foundation’s (ARF) 2010 Re: Think Conference in New York. Hessan presented eight rules for next-gen marketing research based on feedback from over 200 consumer-insight professionals. Carr focused on three of them: 1) manage social media jitters; 2) game-changing insights don’t usually come from testing; and 3) don’t underestimate the power of one.

Regarding responding to social media, Hessan prescribes a balance between reaction and overreaction. “We need to listen hard to consumers, for sure, but if your target consumers are not on Twitter, for instance, then you don’t necessarily need to change strategy because of an angry tweet or two.” Hessan said that research doesn’t always translate into success. Game-changing insight may instead come from ongoing discovery, which she views as a necessary part of marketing. And Hessan said “the big breakthroughs often happen away from the spotlight. … The one lone voice in the background” may have the best insight.

The SSN take: Rules can be good guidelines, but in the end you still need to think.

John Sniffen, April 17, 2010

Note: Post not sponsored.