Discover What Your Customers Are Saying About You
What is Social Listening?
Every company wants to know what consumers think about their brand, but what if we told you they’re already telling you? Consumers from every demographic are talking online about their experiences with products and services, and your audience and customers are no exception. Tapping into those discussions and making your brand a part of them is what social listening is all about, and it’s an important tool for gathering insights into how your audience really feels.
The term “Social Listening” more or less explains itself. It is a form of marketing research where businesses watch their social platforms for customer engagement, such as conversations, shout-outs, and even complaints, then use them to inform their marketing and business strategy.
Understanding Monitoring vs. Listening
The terms social monitoring and social listening are sometimes used interchangeably, but true social listening is much more involved than just monitoring. The thing that sets them apart is that, like any form of listening, the best social listening is an active process.
It’s easy enough for any marketer to look at a trending discussion or viral interaction in their industry and react to it, but social listening challenges them to start asking questions. “Why does this customer feel this way?” “What caused them to have this experience?” “How could my company have changed or improved this?” By asking these kinds of questions (sometimes even to the customers themselves!), you can start to piece together the root causes of your audience’s feelings and behaviors, turning what was originally simple social media chatter into deep, actionable insights.
What Does it Do For Me?
Social listening allows a deeper look into customers’ minds than almost any other form of marketing research. When done correctly, it’s one of the best ways marketers can gain valuable insights into the behaviors of their target audiences.
