According to the 80/20 rule of active listening, a salesperson should do most of the listening and very little of the talking in any given sales interaction. Same goes for campaigns centred around social media platforms. At least, that’s the way things ought to be. Emotional state is something you should be keeping an eye on in addition to reacting to fan comments, complaints, and queries. Here comes social listening.
By engaging in “social listening,” you may track public opinion as it develops in real time. That requires paying attention to positive and negative feedback about a brand. Detecting potential PR problems ahead of time and recognising promising chances with brand advocates, opinion leaders, or complementary companies.
This piece will examine the value of social listening and the businesses that are excelling at it.
How Can I Improve My Social Listening Skills?
Simply said, social listening is the practise of scouring social media for mentions of your company along with associated keywords and themes. Your articles and pages are probably not the places where these kinds of discussions are happening. The data you collect is then used to fine-tune the quality of your content, service, and even final product.
Keeping tabs on likes and comments isn’t what social listening is all about. Much more important is how people feel and what they think of your brand. The best way to keep track of the conversation around your business is to engage in social listening.
How Can One Take Advantage of Social Listening?
There’s no use in wasting time on something that won’t improve the situation, and we’re all really busy.
The advantages of social listening will be discussed.
Relationships with customers need to be strengthened
There is a high likelihood that customers will not come to you directly with complaints. Neither are you always tagged in encouraging comments. You can’t know what people are saying about your brand unless you monitor social media. I’m giving you a hint: you should listen to them.
This is a problem because they seldom tag you. When you use social listening, you might uncover untagged mentions of your business online.
Find out who is influencing your brand
Put Kylie Jenner and the rest of the gang out of your mind; you can’t afford them. After all, we are well aware of the efficacy of marketing via niche influencers.
Discover key opinion leaders who can help spread the word about your product. People who have a large number of followers and who often promote your brand positively. You can find them, keep tabs on them, and eventually ask them to collaborate with you all through social listening.
To get an advantage over the competitors
Is the service that your rivals provide to their clients satisfactory? What is the general consensus among fans on the quality of service they receive? It’s helpful to be aware of the context in which your approach is operating. You might either provide them with an upgrade or quickly respond to their argument. If your company has a sarcastic or clever side, brand banter is trending on social media right now.
So, Tell Me, Exactly How to Practice Social Listening?
Now you know why the greatest businesses in the world are concentrating on social media listening and how it may help your own brand. How do you socially listen, though? First, let’s review some of the most important details.
Essentials of Social Listening
Learn the parameters of your monitoring
The correct searches may be compiled and saved if you have a good grasp on the subject matter you’re interested in hearing about.
You may think about some of these examples:
Commercial Outfit or Label (Include popular relevant hashtags and typos.)
Recent developments in the business world (For example, at Contentworks Agency we follow trends like finance, fintech and crypto that are related to the work we do.)
Personnel Crucial to the Process (known directors, shareholders or the CEO plus any brand ambassadors)
I’m referring to the catchphrases “Just Do It” and “#JustDoIt” used by you and your rivals.
Products (e.g., iPhone 10, MacBook Air, iPad Air, etc) (e.g., iPhone 10, MacBook Air, iPad Air, etc.)
Events and Promotions (if you launched a new product or service or made an announcement)
Competitors (Listen for their names, usernames and hot hashtags) (Listen for their names, handles and popular hashtags.)
Leverage previously recorded retorts
One of the advantages of utilising a service like Agorapulse is the ability to preserve and reuse previously approved replies. While you will still take the time to make each one unique, pre-written responses to commonly asked queries or common complaints might save your response time significantly.
Your team will benefit from social listening if they have a plan and know how to respond appropriately and with the correct tone.
Recognize the best places to focus your hearing
There’s no doubt that your audience and potential customers are discussing social media, the question is: where?
Specifically, I’ve seen that discussions on cosmetics brands tend to cluster on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. Fintech is a popular topic of discussion on social media platforms like LinkedIn and Twitter. There’s no need to limit your listening to just one or two services, and doing so is likely to yield better results than scattering your efforts over several sites.
In certain cases, fewer words are better. Get rid of stored searches that don’t deliver relevant results and ditch terms that return irrelevant or spammy results. The problem with tracking phrases like “content marketing” is that you may get so many results that you become overwhelmed and unable to act on them.
Avoid This Mistake When Monitoring Social Media
Before we wind up, let’s talk about some social listening no-nos.
Methods of imitation
It’s tempting to mimic a successful tactic that a rival is using. Not in any obvious way. Have a minute to mentally applaud their efforts, and then consider how their work may be repurposed for your own.
Avoid breaking in until you have something helpful to say
It’s a fine line to walk when you interrupt someone else. Interrupting a conversation between two users about your business may make you look intrusive and unwelcome to them. At other times, silence is sufficient. Don’t chime in unless you have anything of genuine interest to say or can help other people out.