People discuss anything on social media, including negative reviews, positive experiences, popular subjects, and even arbitrary ideas. In the fast-paced world of today, brands that want to remain ahead must be aware of what consumers are saying about them. Social listening may help with that.
What is Social Listening?
The act of monitoring and evaluating discussions about your company, goods, rivals, or sector on social media platforms is known as social listening. But it is not just about listening to what others have to say. It all comes down to figuring out what clients need, want, or detest.
Consider that you are the owner of a network of coffee shops. “Their latte is amazing, but the service is slow,” is a tweet that gives you useful information. You may gather these ideas and use them to enhance your company by using social listening.
Why is Social Listening Important?
Online talks are unvarnished and unadulterated. Whether customers are excited about your new product or irritated by a shipment delay, they express their genuine opinions. There are several ways that listening to these discussions may help your brand.
Improves Customer Service
Consumers anticipate prompt replies when they lodge online complaints. Brands may identify these grievances early and take swift action by using social listening. A consumer may post a remark on Instagram about a broken product they got, for example. Your brand may transform a negative experience into a favorable one if it takes prompt action to rectify this.
Consider airline companies such as Delta as an example. They respond relatively immediately to customer concerns about delayed flights by using social listening. They demonstrate their concern by reacting quickly.
Tracks Brand Reputation
Understanding consumer perceptions of your brand is essential. You can identify unfavorable trends before they get out of hand by using social listening technologies. For example, you may resolve a problem with your product before it harms your reputation if a few of consumers are dissatisfied.
When a fast-food restaurant business introduced a new chicken sandwich in 2019, they saw a number of tweets complimenting it and others complaining about lengthy wait times. They maintained client satisfaction by modifying processes to better meet demand.
Helps You Understand Competitors
It is not only about your brand when it comes to social listening. It is also a means of monitoring your rivals. You may examine the reasons behind a competitor’s successful product launch and draw lessons from it. Conversely, if they are receiving unfavorable comments, it is an opportunity to enhance your products.
Identifies Trends and Opportunities
You may find trends that are important to your business by monitoring talks. Consider eco-friendly packaging, for instance, if sustainability is a hot topic right now. You can identify these changes early and adjust by using social listening.
Once, a skincare company saw that consumers were talking about “vegan beauty” in tweets and reviews. By introducing vegan goods, they were able to capitalize on consumer demand and witnessed an increase in sales.
How Can Brands Start Social Listening?
It is not as hard as you would assume to get going. You may monitor mentions, hashtags, and keywords associated with your company with the use of tools like Hootsuite, Sprout Social, and Brand watch. However, tools are insufficient. A team that evaluates the information and acts upon it is what you need.
Even manually searching social media sites for mentions might provide insightful information for tiny companies.