There are many elements that should be involved in your social media management process. Part of what drives buyers to make purchases is your ability to connect with them and put a face behind your product. When people feel that a company supports their values, they are inclined to give their loyalty as a customer. By using social listening as a means to understand consumers you are taking full advantage of a key social media marketing benefit.

What is social listening?

For those of you who are not accustomed to hearing the term, social listening is the process of being aware of online conversations that are taking place amongst your customers (and potential buyers) through the use of their social media platforms. By familiarizing yourself with this practice, you are allowing it to be used as a tool to collect valuable data on topics, industries and brands.

Social listening vs. social media monitoring

Although both terms suggest keeping tabs on your buyers, social media monitoring is not the same practice. Though they are similar, social media monitoring is when an e-commerce business owner, or a hired social media professional, simply watch social media channels for mentions or comments about their brand. However, social listening involves a more in-depth insight into this conversation.

Interestingly enough, there are conversations that you may find valuable as a business owner that are taking place without appearing in your notifications tab. Actually, studies suggests that only 9% of Tweets that converse about your brand are happening opening on social channels. That means around 91% actually happen without you even knowing. Through the use of social listening you’re able to track keywords, phrases, events and organizations that correlate with your branding. This kind of social media digging provides you with a stronger social presence and other beneficial insights that will aid you in better connecting with your target audience.

What are some other benefits of social listening?

• Strategy measurement: Strategies are simply a trial and error process. If something isn’t working, make a new plan. Social listening allows you to measure social engagement and see what is generating the most optimal results.
• Content marketing: Since a successful business is measured by your ability to deliver good content, social listening will help you to reach your target audience by crafting posts that they care about.
• Build a reputation: One of the most beneficial elements of using social listening is the prompt ability to handle a social media crisis. While positive mentions are the most ideal, negative mentions do happen and it’s important to tackle these issues to ensure your brands longstanding reputation.

If you don’t have the spare time to add social listening to your social media strategy consider speaking with a member from our team to help you with the process.

Have you integrated social listening into your social media strategy? Tell us all about it in the comments section below.