Why Social Listening Matters
Gordon Owens
Entrepreneur that loves hosting guests at short term rental properties in my spare time
By now you’ve probably heard plenty about social listening and the tools available to help. Thanks to social monitoring, you can listen to conversations in real time and get a better understanding of what people think about your product, your service and your brand in general. Not only can you see how others feel about your company, but also you can respond in a timely manner. This way, you can resolve issues, provide helpful tips or just give a friendly thank you.
Let’s glance at a few of the things that you should be paying attention to. Remember, social listening is keyword based, so you need to keep an eye out for keywords that relate to the following:
- Mentions of your brand
- Product reviews
- Customer feedback and interactions
- Competitors
- Hashtags
- Anything related to your niche market
Social listening isn’t rocket science, but it does take time and a watchful eye, which is why social media monitoring tools are available. These tools help you follow conversations that relate to certain keywords, and you can manage everything from one convenient dashboard. So what are the benefits that you can expect from social media monitoring?
- Show Authority. If you see that customers share common questions or concerns, step in, address the problem and offer a solution. This shows that you are an expert in your field.
- Discover Pain Points. What frustrates your target audience most? How will your product or service fix these issues? By listening to your customers, you can understand their pain points and use them as motivation to sell your product.
- Brand Sentiment. How do people feel about your brand? Is it generally positive? Negative? What can you do to get people talking even better about your company?
- Find Influencers. Who are your brand’s biggest influencers? By identifying these people, you can sell your product or service more effectively. The opinion of everyday people is regarded more highly than the opinion of your company - at least to consumers.
- Identify Competitors. It’s important to know what your competitors are up to. Where do they hang out? How do they interact with customers? What keywords are they using? You can learn a lot about what works and what doesn’t by watching your competition.
The benefits of social listening can go on and on. It can be used for practical purposes such as hiring new employees; it can be used for building lasting relationships with customers. Knowing what’s being said about your product and your brand is the single best way to shape an even better company that meets your customer's needs and expectations.