Doc Searls & David Weinberger Co-authors, The Cluetrain Manifestos
‘Listening' has always been an essential part of communication. No matter whether you are talking in general or addressing your audience in masses, listening to the point of view of others makes the communication more meaningful and result-driven.
No wonder, the importance of listening has been inculcated in us from the very beginning of marketing. We all have been told while growing up to always listen before we speak. Learnt and practised effectively, this lesson could go a long way in helping today's digital marketers devise effective marketing campaigns. Here, we call it social listening.
What is Social Listening and why is it important?
It is a simple act of analyzing the conversations and trends that happen around your brand and industry and bringing those insights on the table to make informed marketing decisions.
The social media has 3.4 billion active users, which makes it the best place to get the most relevant insights and capture people's reactions from. Social media platforms allow consumers to express themselves in multiple ways, including posting, commenting, tagging, tweeting and retweeting, and social communities to name a few. The data generated by these actions is a goldmine for marketers, as it says a lot about the perception of brands and their offerings.
In a nutshell, social listening is about drawing valuable insights about your brand from the conversations happening around it on the social media channels. This proves to be a great help while planning your future campaigns and content strategy, countering your competition and building a strong brand.
Social Listening is not Brand Monitoring
Social listening is an act of capturing valuable insights on the consumers' perception of your brand and offerings, as well as that of your competitors. It is different from brand monitoring, which is about engagement and shares rather than sentiments.
In case you aren't doing social listening, chances are that you're leaving a few blind spots in your marketing strategy. People are endlessly talking on social media about your products and that of our competitors, and you would surely want to listen to them. Don't you?
Social Listening Tips
- Identify your potential consumers
- Learn from the competition
- Collaborate with other teams
- Never miss a change in trend
- Never overlook the data
The most successful and best social media campaigns are the results of social listening and planning accordingly. It helps you engage your customers and allows you to make changes in your strategy in time. From spotting a change in the sentiment to getting a sense of what triggered the change, social listening can be your guide in realizing what has played in your favour and what went wrong.
Take advantage of social listening and draw maximum mileage out of your marketing strategy. Click here to get in touch with the experts today!
