Reflecting on the 12+ years we’ve spent guiding companies on their social media journeys it’s been fun to see the marketing world evolve over time – first large organizations were skeptical about social media and thought it was a fad (convincing them on the value was like pulling teeth) then they warmed up to the future, started to see great ROI, and a multibillion-dollar industry was born.

Fast forward to today, the biggest companies in the world are looking for ways to not only squeeze the most out of social media for marketing purposes, but also harvest all of the informational nuggets of gold it provides that affect all facets of their business ranging from customer experience/service to product development, ensuring operations run smoothly, etc.

But ask yourself this: With millions of conversations taking place on a weekly basis around your brand/company across multiple channels (Twitter, Reddit, Yelp, blogs/forums, etc.) how can you possibly keep up, especially when things go dark when everyone leaves for the day? That’s where social media listening command centers come into play.

Additionally, aside from physical social media command centers with ergonomic chairs, beautiful screens and all the other bells and whistles, when it comes down to business the software that’s powering the listening centers is equally as important.

Currently only a small number of Fortune 500 companies have social media command centers operating around the clock, but in the next 1-2 years we expect that number to spike based on our research as well as companies we’re guiding to launch command centers (integrating powerful artificial intelligence solutions to automate processes, consulting on strategies, etc.).

Ultimately, does your Fortune 500 need a social media command center? The simple answer is yes. Social media has no business hours and understanding the pulse of your company 24/7/365 is absolutely critical, and that takes a dedicated team combined with cutting edge technologies that allow you to see problems or opportunities on the horizon.