Social Listening: Straw Fires Easily Become Wildfires
Web2.0 was transformative for marketing. Whether it is social networks or blogs: people share experiences, opinions and images of cats freely, immediately and with ease. This also means that people talk about brands and products. Companies should be a regular visitor in these virtual places in order to interact with audiences and to market their services. However, one should pay attention to what is happening outside of the company-owned Facebook fan page as well: How often do people talk about your products elsewhere? Is the conversation neutral, positive or negative? These are question that are probably very interesting to you. But there is even more to it. This is why you should invest into social listening:
Strategy
You are probably on one or the other social network. But which network is the one on which you are most frequently a conversation topic? Where do people talk positively about you? Use this information to optimize your social media marketing strategy. Focus on platforms that really matter to your brand.
Product development
Clients do not always get in touch with if their think of ways to improve your services. However, if you keep an eye on the conversation about you, you will learn a lot about what clients like about your products and what leaves them dissatisfied. It is also worthwhile to keep the whole industry on your radar: are there needs that none of your competitors fulfill? Be the innovator and close that gap!
Image
Do people like, love or hate you? Some brands have had to endure vicious shitstorms because they did not take client feedback online seriously enough. Make sure you do not miss a thing and react to complaints in a timely manner! A single complaint can reach thousands or even millions of people in a matter of a few hours. This could seriously damage your brand's reputation. Social listening helps you to manage your reputation online and allows you to improve on your service!
Identify influencers
Whether it is blogs or YouTube. Some people have a huge online following. Are some of these people talking about your brand? If so, try to get in touch with them. Maybe they are interested in a partnership. You cannot have enough influential friends by your side. But first, you have to identify them!
Keep an eye on competition
Do not only focus on your own brand. What is the competition up to? How do people talk about them online? What are the most talked about trends in the industry? How can you optimize your strategy to differentiate yourself better from the competition?
What are the best social listening tools on the market? Learn more in our social listening white paper!
Content listening: you are what you click
Social listening can be very helpful if you want to know what people say about you online. It will benefit your services and your marketing strategy to do social listening. However, people tend to lie every now and then. If you want to learn more about your clients desires, you should invest in content listening as well.
Just like social listening, content listening is software that analyzes user behavior. Which content do they click? What are they looking for? Are there topics that are especially valuable to them? Decisions for or against specific content gives away a lot about what they need. This is valuable information:
1) Content listening enables you to produce content that is interesting to clients and keeps them invested in your brand and turns them into returning customers. This will also provide valuable data in the lead nurturing process.
2) Create buyer personas. The more you know about clients, the better you can serve their interests. You can address clients in a personalized manner and make individual offers to them. This will greatly simplify the sales process for you!
The advantages of social media marketing for your company:
✓ learn more about your customers' interests and needs
✓ gain in-depth insight about how people talk about you online in real-time
✓ keep an eye on industry trends and your competition
✓ optimize your social media marketing strategy to increase your ROI
Our Service
We gladly advise you on the benefits of social listening for your company. We can also assist you in developing a social media strategy that really meets your needs. Get in touch!
