Social listening should be an integral part of your brand strategy because it is one of the best ways to understand what people are saying about you in their environment. This is how it works. Social media platforms are a goldmine of data that can help you understand what people are saying about a specific topic, which you can then use to improve the experience of your customers, employees, product, and brand.
To fully capitalize on the power of this data, you must first listen. That, of course, is all about what social listening is. But what exactly is social listening, and how can social listening tools assist you in better understanding your customers? More importantly, how can you ensure that your social media listening tools are worthwhile investments of your time and money?
What is Social Listening?
The practice of social monitoring various social media platforms for mentions, comments, reactions, and conversations about your brand is known as social listening. Organizations can gain insights into consumer perceptions and identify opportunities for business growth by collecting this type of data. Social listening involves two steps. The first step is to monitor social media content for mentions of your brand, products, competitors, and business-related keywords.
The second step is to analyze all of the gathered data and present it in a way that will assist you in developing the most profitable action plan. Businesses develop a strategy based on social monitoring that results in a complete shift from their original brand positioning. Sometimes it's as simple as responding calmly and decisively to an unhappy customer.
Distinction Between Social Monitoring and Social Listening?
You must monitor social media channels in order to listen. Individual mentions are typically identified and responded to in social monitoring, which is more passive than social listening. It is a type of reputation management, similar to social listening, but it is less action-oriented because it only tracks metrics. For instance, social media listening could track:
• Brand mentions
• Relevant hashtags
• Competitor mentions
• Industry trends
Keyword monitoring as part of your social listening strategy is significant during a crisis when a brand wants to collect all coverage of that incident. Social listening takes it a step further by acting on the information gathered. It is more active because it analyses data and provides insights that will assist you in making better customer-focused business decisions.
Benefits of Social Listening?
Pay attention to what your customers say rather than assuming you know what they want or need. It's not surprising that people publicly voice their opinions about the brands they interact with because people are accustomed to doing so, whether it's about the political climate in our nation or the newest meme.
1. Customers Appreciate It When Brands Respond to Them
On social media, customers want to feel heard. According to Sprout Social research, 46 percent of consumers believe that engaging with your audience on social media distinguishes a brand as the best in class online. Indeed, being responsive on social media makes a difference; according to Sprout Social research, "marketers can positively influence consumer behavior to benefit the entire organization by putting social media responsiveness and relevance first. Ninety percent of customers who follow brands on social media are likely to buy something. They expect a response from you. But it goes beyond that. The goal is to create thoughtful responses that add genuine value by utilizing social listening. These are the kinds of responses that will increase brand loyalty and customer retention.
2. You Can Monitor the Growth of Your Brand
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Certain scandals, and major problems occasionally involve brands. Even one incident can cause a social media backlash, despite things happening. It's easy to brush off a few rude remarks here and there, but it becomes a problem when the negative comments outnumber the positive.
Now is a great time to practice social listening. You can research whether the rise in critical remarks has led to a decline in followers, sales, or any other metric you choose to investigate by looking at the most recent incident. Once you know this, you can decide if immediate action is necessary or if it is just a short-term phase with no lasting effects.
3. You May Come Across New Opportunities
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Most of the time, your clients will carry out the work for you. When many customers begin voicing similar complaints or supporting the same outcome, it's a sign to pay attention to and seize. Using social listening, you can discover ways to innovate in response to these changes rather than just keeping an eye on them.
For example, if you are employed in a gym and customers have voiced their displeasure with the quick fill-up of fitness classes. There is a chance for you to consider adding more classes, making more spaces available in each class (which might require moving to larger locations), or putting a cap on the number of classes that one person can sign up for in a week. Any of these choices could have benefits and drawbacks, but trying out various approaches can yield valuable results and, ideally, increase the number of customers you can please.
4. You Have the Ability to Increase Customer Acquisition
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Numerous opportunities exist on social media to increase the number of prospects you can reach. After all, your followers aren't just your loyal customers; they're also people who enjoy your content or stumbled upon it through social media. These people should be on your radar. According to inbound marketing, creating engaging, practical content that people can use is crucial. As a result, you can attract them to your brand in the beginning rather than having to saturate them with annoying ads.
Instead of approaching random strangers and hoping they'll be interested in your goods or services, it is much simpler to convert your content viewers and followers into leads and, eventually, customers. You can discover what kinds of content the people who follow and mention you enjoy by looking at their posts, shares, hashtags, and images. As a result, you can produce pertinent content that appeals to their preferences and eventually draws them to your brand.
Social Listening Tips
A comprehensive social listening strategy has advantages that go beyond marketing and social media metrics. This organic market research can result in various benefits, including product or service improvements, operational efficiencies, improved employee engagement, and increased sales and revenue. Here are some suggestions for improving your company's social listening skills:
1. Make the First Move
Customer satisfaction surveys allow customers to provide candid feedback. At the same time, their purchasing experiences are still fresh. You can be notified of potential hiccups, process glitches, or service disruptions before they become larger issues. And, of course, you learn what your customers liked about their purchasing experience.
2. Hold Cooperative Discussions
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Create a relationship with your customers that is more than just a seller-to-buyer transaction. By conversing with them rather than talking at them in marketing jargon, you'll build a loyal community, uncover pain points you might not have discovered otherwise, and gain invaluable knowledge about the one thing you can't control, no matter how brilliant your marketing is — customer sentiment.
3. Accept the Bad Along With the Good
People who take the time to express their thoughts about your company or product are giving you a gift. Negative comments or reviews can help you identify human and technical problems in your delivery, operations, or products. Perhaps you have a rogue customer service representative or a broken link in your supply chain. Your prompt and thoughtful responses to criticism demonstrate your dedication to continuous improvement and create opportunities to convert dissatisfied customers into loyal, repeat customers and brand advocates.
4. Make a Big Deal When Customer Feedback Leads to Improvement
What better way to show that you're paying attention than to take corrective action? Invite your community to give themselves a pat on the back for identifying problems and allowing you to fix them.
5. Increase Your Ability to Listen and Learn
As more digital channels emerge, so do consumer opportunities to share feedback and experiences. It is critical to monitor and respond to every digital conversation, which is impossible to do manually.
Investing in an Online Reputation Management solution allows you to scale your listening and engage meaningfully in every conversation.
Conclusion
The best way to incorporate social listening into your marketing efforts is to integrate your brand website with your social media pages. Businesses frequently include social media icons in their website's footer to connect with their Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter accounts.
However, the most technologically advanced website building tools now include a feature that allows you to integrate these platforms with your site more easily. If you use Strikingly to build your website, you can insert a portion of your Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter feed directly into one of your web pages by using our social feed section. This means that visitors to your site will not have to leave to view your most recent social media posts. Strikingly also offers many other web development features, focusing on our customers' ease of use.
We want you to be able to create your website without having to hire a web developer. Surprisingly, you can create a professional website in just an hour or two without writing any code. Strikingly handles the technical aspects of website development and maintenance, allowing you to concentrate entirely on developing effective marketing strategies through social listening.
