Social listening is one of the most important strategies in today’s social media-driven world. It helps you get to know your customers, their concerns, and their requests. As a marketer, it can save you from launching new products and services that are already out there on the market. It gives you a chance to react on time and prevent negative reviews and comments about your brand. Social media listening is not just about knowing what is being said about your brand on social media, it is also about understanding customers’ needs and demands.
Social listening allows you to develop strategies for building relationships with your customers, and also find loyal customers who will champion your brand online. This way you can minimize the risk of negative publicity caused by dissatisfied customers and monitor what people are saying about your competitors as well. Social listening offers you a chance to be more responsive to customer feedback and complaints, which will ultimately lead to better customer satisfaction and loyalty.
With so many sources to choose from, it can be difficult to decide which social media platforms are the best channels for reaching your target audience. But in the end, it all comes down to who is talking about you and what they are saying. Tapping into those conversations is a valuable way of getting real-time feedback on your brand. When you know what people are saying about you online, you can adjust your marketing strategy accordingly. To help you determine the benefits of social listening practices for your business, we have created this blog post. So let's dive in!
#1: Customer Engagement
Social media is a participatory medium, which means that it’s only as valuable to your brand as you make it. To get the most value out of it, you have to be listening — not just posting and tweeting. According to a survey from Sprout Social, 70 percent of businesses rely on social media for customer engagement. That means that if you are not on social media and do not have a customer service presence there, you are likely missing out on an incredible opportunity: the chance to respond quickly, empathically, and effectively to customers who are talking about your brand. Being there the moment your customers want you is the first step in retaining their loyalty.
In other words, do not be afraid to jump in and respond publicly — or even better, initiate the conversation yourself by asking relevant questions of your audience. Treat social media as an extension of your brand ambassadors, who are out there talking about how great you are. What you want them saying on social channels is consistent with what you want them telling their friends at parties or over a cup of coffee — whether they know it or not! That’s where you come in. Make sure they have the tools they need to talk about what they love about your brand, and that they know it’s OK to do so. And then listen carefully so you can jump in when needed!
#2: Crisis Management
Social listening is more than just monitoring your brand mentions and responding when necessary. It allows you to take proactive steps to influence public opinion when necessary as well. That is why social listening is also a crucial part of crisis management, particularly when it comes to responding to negative feedback in a timely fashion. If you receive an influx of complaints via social media, social listening can help you identify the root cause of the issue and provide an appropriate response in a timely fashion. Rather than waiting until a crisis nearly develops, social listening allows you to address concerns as they arise and minimize damage to your brand’s reputation.
When something good happens for your business, social listening can be used to amplify it across multiple channels. For example, if a customer has a positive experience with your company, social listening can help you respond immediately and generate positive word-of-mouth advertising for free by highlighting this positive customer experience on your social media channels. However, it is more important to monitor what people are saying about you or your company negatively. This can make all the difference between a small blip on the radar screen and a full-blown crisis.
#3: Competitor Tracking
Monitoring your brand can be exhausting. Every time you turn around, another article is posted about you, one of your customers is complaining, or people are talking about your brand on social media. Not only does this make it difficult to keep track of customer perception, but it also makes it impossible to listen to what people are saying about your competitors. Through social listening, you can track any topic related to your industry. You can see what people are saying about your competitors, and how they’re responding to the marketing that they’re doing. This means that instead of just monitoring your own brand’s perception, you can also use this to keep tabs on what your target audience is saying about their needs and wants from their competitors.
How can you use this information? Two ways. First, you can use it to listen for product feedback from your customers and then implement it into your product line. If people are complaining about how their product doesn’t work for them, then fix that problem with your own product line. Secondly, you can use this information as a way of keeping tabs on how your competitors are doing with their marketing efforts. Are they using similar tactics as you? Are they using different tactics? Do these tactics work? This information is vital when it comes time to start the marketing campaign for your own brand.