Social Listening: Why it's important and how you go about it?

One of the biggest challenges for brands and businesses is to find out what your target audience are saying about everything related to your product or service.

However, this doesn’t simply involve looking at your own reviews and what people are commenting on your Social Media posts.

This is where Social Listening comes in.

Social Listening allows you to engage with what your audience is saying, find keywords relating to your brand, as well as discover potential leads and industry ambassadors.

There are a number of free tools you can use to do this:

1.       Google Trends

 Completely free, this handy tool shows you not only what people in your country are searching for, but how they are searching for it.

For example, if your product is bags and you’re looking at the percentage of people in the UK using this search term, Google Trends shows you what type of searches people are making related to bags, e.g. ‘Easter bags,’ ‘tote bags for women,’ ‘tool bags,’ etc.

You can also see the rate that people are searching these terms at, and how it has increased/decreased over the year.

2.       Google Keyword Planner

 This tool is often used as part of online ad campaigns; however, it is a free process and can be used for Social Listening.

By entering your website URL or a word related to what you’re selling, you can see the most common words/phrases people are searching for.

This can help you to see what people’s main wants/needs relating to your business are, and through this, you can ensure that the way you are talking about your business is relevant to these keywords, increasing the probability of it being noticed by potential customers.

3.       Hashtags

 Hashtags are known for their ability to reach a wider audience on social media; however they can be used to perform your own research too.

 By looking at hashtags relating to your product/service, you can gain an insight into what your audience is saying and keep up to date with trends relating to your business.

 You can also look at the people using these hashtags and start to build up a customer profile to target your audience more effectively.

4.       Competitor Analysis

 Competitor analysis is often used at the start of the business process, to see what others are offering and how you can differentiate yourself from these businesses.

 However, it can also be used for social listening, as by looking at similar businesses, you can see who their audience are and what they are saying about their offering.

This can show you what the customer’s main pain points are relating to your product/service, and what your competitors aren’t offering that you can.

By looking at your competitor’s audience, you can see the typical demographic they fall into and potentially their habits, making it easier for you to understand how your product/service can fit into their lives.

5.       Social Media Analytics

Social Media analytics are often used to see engagement rates and follower rates.

However, they can also show you which of your content is the most popular, which will help you to get an idea of what your audiences’ interests are.

By seeing what they positively affirm the most, you can see what you can invest more time in, for example, if they tend to appreciate customer testimonials, you can provide an incentive, or spend more time encouraging previous customers to leave reviews or send you feedback.

You can also see the demographics of your audience, the average age and gender as well as what days they’re most active on a particular platform.

With this knowledge, you can ensure that when you have big announcements or promotions relating to your business, these will be posted on the days/times where more of your audience are likely to see it, leading to a better chance of a higher conversion rate.