Do you know how to incorporate social listening as part of your marketing strategy? If not, it's time to start harnessing its power.
Social listening is the practice of crawling the internet to locate all the mentions of your brand on social media platforms as well as your brand's related keywords. This way, you can very specifically target the consumers who will buy what you're selling quickly and easily.
To do it most effectively, you need a strategy of do’s and don'ts that will maximize your time, marketing focus, and your campaign effectiveness. Use the following science-driven tips to do it right:
Make sure your brand is properly positioned, first and foremost.
According to BrandWatch, 91% of brands use two or more social media channels for advertisement.
The more you spread out your brand name, products and services, the more social chatter you'll generate. Then, it's just a matter of picking through that data for nuggets you can use to innovate and refresh your marketing messages.
Make sure your search efforts uncover hidden gems.
Untagged posts on Instagram. New product sites. Rave reviews on blogs. All of these locations that mention your product shouldn't be overlooked as advertising targets, because they could be especially effective niche market resources.
Pay attention to self-identity statements.
Research from the Royal Society for Public Health found that showing self-identity and the need for self-expression are two very important and positive reasons why people voice their thoughts on a social media platform.
So, note the way consumers describe the way your product impacts their lives. This is more important information than simply analyzing whether your product is liked or disliked. If you can focus your targeting so it delivers specific benefits to your consumers to feel better about themselves, your profits can soar.
Don't focus on your followers.
BrandWatch also found that 96% of people who mention a brand on social media don't actually follow that brand's social media platforms. Take all mentions into account as a whole and consider each mention to be representative of an entirely fresh consumer to win over.
Keep listening consistently.
Daily social media monitoring is ideal. Assigning interns or junior team members to keep their ears to the ground in shifts is the best way to make sure you're on top of trending, complaints and rave reviews at all times. This info is a gold mine — use it to your best advantage!
