Social media has been dominating the marketing scene for years now. Most brands have capitalized on this and built their own social media presence.
It’s great that a lot of these brands are focused on creating content for their social media channels. But don’t forget about the other thing you can do on social media: social listening.
What is Social Listening?
Social listening is a two-part process:
- Tracking or monitoring social media channels for customer feedback and direct mentions of and/or conversations about your brand, business, product / service, industry, competitor, and other relevant topics, keywords, and similar
- Analyzing these feedback and mentions to gain actionable insights and strategies
It’s the second part that differentiates social listening from social monitoring.
Why is Social Listening Important?
Social listening has so many benefits for your business. It’s the quickest way to gain feedback—you get it in real time!
Here are the many other ways your business stands to benefit from social listening.
1. Monitor your brand and your industry
This is the most obvious reason you listen in on social media conversations. You want to know what’s being said about you—the good and the bad. You want to see what competition is doing better, according to its clients. You want to hear questions they have about your industry or category. These conversations can give you valuable information that you can use to further improve on your product or service, customer service, your selling, marketing, and more.
2. You engage with your clients in real time
Of course, you’re not just there to listen. You also respond to the feedback and mentions. And this is critical especially in customer service. It makes your customers feel heard and valued. They also appreciate brands who respond to them with personal messages. It makes them feel more secure about moving forward with your brand because they know that you see, hear, and, most importantly, acknowledge them.
That’s how you gain customer loyalty: engagement.
3. You can do damage control ASAP
Of course not all feedback and mentions will be positive. You will get some negative reactions every now and then. But you’ll be able to put out fires, so to speak, ASAP. You can address a customer rant immediately; you can make changes on the spot.
Responding to negative feedback in real time helps manage the crisis and lessen its adverse impact on your business.
4. You can identify your customers’ needs
To sell better, you have to know what your customers need. Social listening gives you the opportunity to really listen in on what they need. People are vocal on social media: they will rant and rave about products or services. Listen in on what they’re ranting and raving about you, your competition, and your product or service category on social media. That will give you insight on what they like, don’t like, and, ultimately, what they need.
Photo by Prateek Katyal on Unsplash
5. Use it step up your customer service
Want to meet—even exceed—your customers’ needs and expectations? Be proactive on social media and find customers with problems and assist them in real time. That is one way to step up your customer service.
6. You create new opportunities
You’ll find a lot of opportunities from social listening. Implementing changes in response to negative feedback is an opportunity for growth.
Another opportunity you’ll find from social listening? Sales leads. You’ll find people asking questions about your product / service category. Offer valuable information to them and reach out. Then you can very smoothly begin a lead nurturing strategy.
If your content game is strong, you will also find followers you can eventually convert into leads and then, with the right strategy, actual customers.
7. It can help you with your own content
You can improve your content strategy by listening in on what people are talking about. If they’re talking about it, they will read content about it. That’s a great way to stay relevant AND get people engaging with your brand’s content. It’s a double win for you.
8. You gain instant research
Social media is your instant focus group discussion. You’ll discover what’s trending. You’ll get insight on audience reactions on your campaigns. You’ll find product and audience research. You’ll obtain competitive and industry intelligence.
Social listening is a gateway to a wealth of marketing and research information. And the best part? It’s free.
9. Find influencers and thought leaders
You will find relevant conversations from some very powerful voices when social listening. Look for these important voices—they could be the influencers and thought leaders in your field or industry. You would want to add them to your network for possible collaborations in the future.
Main photo by Jakob Owens on Unsplash
