What Is Social Listening?

Wouldn’t it be great to know what people are saying about you whenever you are not around? Whether it’s good or bad, this kind of knowledge will not only teach you a lot about your friends and family, but it can also provide you with insights into how to become a better person.

Even though there is no software tool that exists today that can help you monitor conversations about you behind your back, there are ones that can help you monitor conversations about your business on social media.

This is called social listening.

Why Is Social Listening Important?

Brand Reputation:

Monitoring what people and customers are saying about your brand on social media can help you manage your brand’s reputation.

Let’s be honest. It’s impossible to keep all your customers happy all of the time. However, you can always try and improve the ratio between good and negative reviews.

With an online listening tool, you can be notified if someone mentions your brand and you will be able to determine if it’s a positive or a negative sentiment:

• In the case of a negative sentiment your support team will have a chance to redeem your brand’s reputation. For example, they can apologise if your business was in the wrong and maybe provide the customer with a 10%-off coupon to see if they can restore the relationship.

This is just one of the ways your support team can manage your brand’s reputation online.

Customer Feedback

The most successful companies in the world make a point of it to listen to what their customers are saying and suggesting when it comes to their product or service.

With that said, an online social listening tool can assist in providing you with insight to what your customers think and how they feel about your specific offering.

With this knowledge you can find ways to improve your business and offering.

Innovation

Gaps in the market become clearer once you start understanding your customers and how they use your specific product and service.

These insights can lead to new ideas and eventually innovation ensuring you stay one step ahead of competitors in the digital marketing space.

How To Engage With Your Customers Using A Social Listening Tool

Reward

If a customer had something really good to say about your brand, product or service, ensure you take the time to reward them for their honest feedback.

Something like 10% off on their next purchase, or a friend and family discount initiative, can go a long way in assisting in your word of mouth marketing.

Think about it like this. The person already likes your brand so the chances are they are more likely to tell their friends about your business if there was a small incentive.

Appreciate

Make sure to take the time to thank whoever has something good to say about your brand online.

A simple “thank you” can further strengthen the customer’s connection not to mention that it can also show the public that you are a brand that listens to its customers.

Cross Promotion

In some cases, other companies or the press might have something to say about your business. In cases where it’s a positive sentiment, share it with your own fan base.

This kind of promotion will be appreciated by the other parties. It will also build credibility under your own audience because a third-party compliment is always more powerful than self-promotion.

Now that you understand the power and importance of social listening, you can start listening to what people are saying about your brand.

Get in touch with the Digital School of Marketing

If you are interested in learning more about how to use social media marketing to grow a business, then make sure to have a look at our social media course. This social marketing certificate will enable you to grow your brand strategically on any social channel, increase customer engagement and correctly target those who matter most.

The Social Media Marketing Course is conducted online over a 12-week period and is considered to be the benchmark in social media marketing in SA.