Your Audience Is Speaking, Are You Listening?

“The ear of the leader must ring with the voices of the people.”
Woodrow Wilson

 

All companies understand the importance of tracking marketing results.

In businesses, pulling up a report (along with a chair and a cup of coffee 😊) to monitor and analyze your marketing campaign(s) and ROI is basically second nature.

It is a must.

We base ourselves on numbers to understand who, what, where, when and why and to adapt in order to optimize and maximize results.

As such, the magic is all in the interpretation of data, am I right?

*Insert a resounding AMEN 🙌 here*

Data can come from different sources and channels, can be of different types, collected in different ways and serve different purposes.

This brings up the question of what information offers a real-time, clear-cut understanding of your #1 asset – your audience/customers – and where do you collect it from?

Wouldn’t your company benefit from as much insightful, accurate, and valuable information as possible on what your audience and customers want, need, believe and are saying about your brand, your products, your customer service, the competition, etc.?

Wouldn’t it be best to get all this information straight from source?

Whoa, slow down Natasha!

How am I supposed to reach out to every single person out there, globally or locally, and ask them to provide me with feedback about my brand, products, service, etc. ?!? Do you know the work that would imply? Do you know what I would have to do to achieve that?

Oh, glad you asked! 😊

It is easy and it is called Social Listening!

Social Listening is a way to easily monitor and have access to public conversations that people are having about your brand and products, your customer service, your marketing attempts, your public relations, the competition and everything in between (hashtags, key phrases, topics, trends, events, etc.)!

Social Media provides the platform where all these discussions are happening and all those insights are waiting for you to discover them.

Social Listening tools are the gateway to insights that ultimately allow you to define and refine your brand strategy, offer higher quality products and services, and deliver optimum and valuable customer service and content to your audience/customers.

A few of the available Social Listening tools are:

• HootSuite (www.hootsuite.com)
• Sprout Social (www.sproutsocial.com)
• Sprinklr (www.sprinklr.com)
• Mention (www.mention.com)
• Brand24 (www.brand24.com)
• BuzzSumo Agency (www.buzzsumo.com)

There are plenty more out there that likewise offer you a lot of features – it all depends on which one works best for you and your needs.

Through Social Listening you can access information/data that answers questions such as:

Where is everyone?

Social Listening data reveals what social media channels your audience and your potential/existing customers are using (which ones they prefer and use most) and how they interact through them.

What is everyone saying?

You can monitor public conversations about your brand which offers valuable feedback you can take advantage of and act upon as well, which also reveals who your advocates and critics are and why.

Simply put you can encourage and foster conversations and create advocates and supporters.

What is everyone looking for?

You can easily track what your audience and customers are looking for, what they need, what resonates with them, what problems they might be having and how your products can help them and offer them a solution.

In other words, you can use this information to recognize where opportunities exist.

How is everyone reacting?

You can get insights and feedback on how a certain news, event, trend, problem, situation, etc. might be affecting your audience/customers, how they are reacting to it and how it might ultimately affect your brand.

What about the competition?

You can access news about your competitors, what they are doing, what events they are taking part in, monitor their social media strategy implementation and effectiveness, observe what differentiates them in their message, learn what people are saying about them and why they might be choosing their brand over yours, etc.

What about Customer Service?

Customers are relying more and more on Social Media as a channel to reach out to companies when they are having issues or questions about a company’s product(s).

Through these social listening tools you can get notified when your brand name, products, hashtag, etc. are mentioned and your customers are requesting support so that you can assist them within a timely and efficient manner. It allows for immediate presence and access to your support team and the opportunity for you to offer prompt and quality customer service.

Where’s the finish line – social selling?

You can join conversations (yes strategically, but please refrain from doing so intrusively) and invest in engaging with people so as to offer value and assistance regarding any issues they might be having or within any topic you can offer your insights about and help them with.

Key phrase: offer value.

Down the road, after establishing a solid relationship, you might guide them to becoming a lead given your product is what they are looking for and can be a helpful solution to them.

Who’s your tribe?

You can find those people that know your brand, that use your products, that support your brand, and that can bring more recognition to your brand and further spread your brand message (also known as Influencers) – that way you can benefit from establishing a collaboration with them and offer additional value to your audience/customers.

These and many other questions can be answered through this method.

There is a wealth of information out there in the social media world 😊 that can allow you to establish an effective marketing strategy but most importantly a deeper sense of trust and understanding and a more valuable and enduring relationship with your audience/customers, simply by listening.

 

Would love to hear your thoughts on this topic in the comment section!

Good vibes only and have a great day!
Natasha

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