{"id":1213,"date":"2020-01-21T06:00:41","date_gmt":"2020-01-21T06:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mulberrymc.com\/?p=1213"},"modified":"2020-01-21T06:00:41","modified_gmt":"2020-01-21T06:00:41","slug":"social-listening-strategy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mulberrymc.com\/us\/blog\/2020\/01\/21\/social-listening-strategy\/","title":{"rendered":"Social Media Has Something to Tell You"},"content":{"rendered":"

What Is Social Listening?<\/h1>\n

Social media presents companies with an indispensable opportunity to build their brands, bolster their reputations and adapt quickly to changing trends. To seize this opportunity, businesses must be willing to listen to what their social channels are telling them.<\/p>\n

In other words, effective social media managers should regularly monitor and track growth for all channels. They should internalize customer comments and user feedback, and they should analyze, condense and interpret relevant data to track growth and adapt to changing trends. That’s social listening. Organizations that prioritize consistent social listening can yield new insights from the online public that allow these companies to enhance their marketing strategies and grow their customer bases.<\/p>\n

Follow the Leads<\/h3>\n

New leads can and do emerge through a company\u2019s social media messages \u2013 for instance, in a direct message on Instagram. Social managers should promptly respond to potential customers who ask questions via message or comment. Facebook<\/a> posts a company\u2019s responsiveness metrics on the company profile, making it essential to respond as quickly as possible on that platform to optimize response rates and times. Waiting too long may result in potential leads looking to competitors who may be more closely listening on social media.<\/p>\n

Reach out<\/h3>\n

In addition to responding to potential customers\u2019 messages, businesses can take a more assertive approach when seeking leads on social media. If a company\u2019s social listening is telling them that demand for their product is high among a certain audience \u2013 for instance, a specific demographic group, industry or geographic population \u2013 they can target members of that group and consider reaching out directly.<\/p>\n

Analyze and Adapt<\/h3>\n

According to HubSpot<\/a>, \u201csocial listening finds root causes behind social conversations and implements long-term strategy change.\u201d This involves understanding current social trends, analyzing data and harnessing the resulting insights to grow the business. In that sense, social listening is a two-part process \u2013 the first step involving monitoring and analysis and the second being an actionable response or adaptation.<\/p>\n

Keep confidence<\/h3>\n

Social managers should closely watch which types of content<\/a> tend to earn engagement from their audience, and which often fail to do so. They should use these insights to constantly update and optimize their content calendars. When multiple genres of content \u2013 for example, company blogs or industry news \u2013 tend to perform well, this empowers social media managers to diversify what they post while retaining confidence in the audience\u2019s interest level.<\/p>\n

A Skill to Develop<\/h1>\n

Marketing and public relations professionals should understand the power of social media listening. According to the MIT<\/a> Sloan Management Review, social listening can \u201cserve as the map for a treasure hunt. It is already overturning how consumer product companies develop, market, and package their products \u2014 and we are only beginning to discover the scope of possibilities that machine learning advances will catalyze.\u201d<\/p>\n

Differentiate by using social listening<\/h3>\n

Between the 280-character virality on Twitter, the growing influence of Instagram and its influencers<\/a>, the massive reach offered on Facebook and the continuing growth of LinkedIn, there are countless opportunities for companies to seize a competitive advantage by using social listening effectively.<\/p>\n

Social media platforms allow business users to access and export certain social media data, but the following external tools and platforms can also be useful to maximize social listening effectiveness:<\/p>\n