CHICAGO, Nov. 29, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- We've reached a crisis in listening: a study found that the average large organization devoted 80 percent of its resources to broadcasting its messages to the public or clients and only 20 percent on listening^[1]. However, creating compelling content that resonates with your audience and drives its behavior begins with listening. When brands fail to listen, they act like someone who is late to the party — interrupting different groups to tell stories about themselves. No one likes being around that person.

Once your brand understands how it is being discussed in the media and by thought leaders online you can use those insights to adjust your communication strategy in real-time to augment your strengths or address any weaknesses. Cision's white paper, "Listening: Turn Real-time Media Channel Insights into Communications Action Plans," demonstrates the vital role listening plays in the business communication cycle with three data-packed, real-world examples.

The free guide also discusses the key benefits of listening for organizations, including:

• Identifying the needs of existing audiences, discovering new audiences and effectively responding with relevant information or services
• Understanding the motivators and affinities of consumers in order to drive change and influence
• Driving results from real-time data through benchmarking and optimization

Through the process of listening, you can identify which messages resonate with your target audience and the influencers driving those discussions, so you no longer will need to shout to be heard. Instead, listening provides insight on exactly what your message needs to be, when it needs to be communicated and who will best deliver it. Access the full guide to learn more about how this step in the lifecycle of business communications is crucial to crafting a persuasive content strategy that engages influencers, inspires positive sentiment and drives purchasing decisions.

This white paper follows the "Master the Mix: Amplify Your Campaign Results With Earned Media" guide, the first in a series of white papers exploring the communications lifecycle. The guide details how marketing and communications leaders must establish meaningful relationships with influencers and buyers and use earned media in an integrated way with paid and owned channels to maximize program impact.

About Cision:

Cision is a leading media communication technology and analytics company that enables marketers and communicators to effectively manage their earned media programs in coordination with paid and owned channels to drive business impact. As the creator of the Cision Communication Cloud^™, the first-of-its-kind earned media cloud-based platform, Cision has combined cutting-edge data, analytics, technology and services into a unified communication ecosystem that brands can use to build consistent, meaningful and enduring relationships with influencers and buyers in order to amplify their marketplace influence. Cision solutions also include market-leading media technologies such as PR Newswire, Gorkana, PRWeb, Help a Reporter Out (HARO) and iContact. Headquartered in Chicago, Cision serves over 100,000 customers in 170 countries and 40 languages worldwide, and maintains offices in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America and Australia. For more information, visit www.cision.com or follow @Cision on Twitter.

Contact:
Stacey Miller
Director, Communications
(301) 683-6038
stacey.miller@cision.com

^[1] Jim Macnamara, FASS Organization Listening Report http://www.uts.edu.au/about/faculty-arts-and-social-sciences/what-we-do/research/reports/creating-architecture-listening

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SOURCE Cision