Catherine Fisher once said that walls have ears. The earlier generations referred to the physical aspect of it, but the modern age refers to the digital walls too.

What a customer is doing online can give businesses a lot of insight about the individual and his tastes & preferences.

It’s not about a handful of people. As per Statista, there were an estimated  2.95 billion people who were using social media in 2019.  The number is expected to reach around 3.43 billion by the end of 2023.

The world of the internet is no longer limited to a bunch of websites. Instead, you get a myriad of portals offering similar services. The way people communicate has also seen a significant overhaul. Thankfully, social listening lets you use all of them to your benefit. 

What social listening means?

Social media is believed to be vital for overall marketing strategy by most marketers and CXOs. Some people think that using the data we get from social media is social listening. It is a lot wider than that in the real world. 

Social listening is a two-step process. The first step is to monitor social media, blogs, and every other possible online source where people may talk about you, your products, or your competition. The second step is to analyze the information to create actionable insights that can shape your future activities.

Why is social listening gaining traction?

54 percent of social browsers are actively seeking the help of social media to determine what to buy and what to leave out. Needless to say that if you aren’t paying attention to them, you are losing out on a lot of valuable data.

You are also missing out on an opportunity to draw the customer’s attention towards you and your offerings. Here is why social listening is gaining a lot of traction lately – 

 

• Improves engagement with customers

In the earlier days, there were very few ways in which a customer could send over his feedback to the brand. With the emergence of social media and other platforms, they have found a way to voice their opinions. Being a marketer, you can utilize the opportunity to engage them or to ensure that you have noted their words. 

 

• Tracking your competition 

Social listening is not just about your brand. It is also about monitoring your peers and understanding the public perception surrounding them. If they are doing something right, it will give you an insight into the same.

If they are failing in achieving something, it allows you to trample the competition and steer clear of them. It also allows you to shape upcoming marketing campaigns and tackle a backlash.

 

• Better management of a crisis

Human beings are prone to making errors. If you, as a brand, have goofed up something unknowingly, social listening allows you to address it timely. Be it PR disasters or customer care issues; you can look for the cause of negative sentiment and make changes ASAP. 

Even if that means dropping an apology note or putting up a regret post, it can go a long way in keeping up your brand image intact. If you are looking for some inspiration, look at how Nike reacted when Zion Williamson’s shoes from the brand exploded while being on the field.

 

• Evaluating your brand strategy

Social listening has gained a lot of importance as it helps you evaluate your current strategies. You can track conversations that are happening around your brand or its products, and it will uncover buckets full of data about what works and what doesn’t.

Once you know what doesn’t work, you can sit on your planning roundtable and discuss the remedies and address the concerns to ensure that the upcoming strategies don’t carry the same issues. 

 

• Discovery of potential leads

Customers depend on online searches and social media for many tasks, such as to gain knowledge, shop, entertainment, socialize, etc. Based on insights gathered by social listening., you can use meaningful tactics to connect and develop and nurture relationships with potential customers, and gradually send them down your sales funnel. 

 

Is social listening essential for you?

Social listening is an aggregate of a lot of things. It is not a one-off process and requires continuous dedication. With more and more people joining the world of the internet, it has allowed marketers to position their products exactly the way a customer intends. With the whole world aiming for your customers’ attention, how relatable and customized is your brand communication to that of customer’s preference is of utmost importance. 

Social listening is imminent for every brand and marketer to stay a step ahead of its competitors and continuous growth.

 

Tags: Blogs, Brand strategy, Marketer, Social Listening