What is Social Listening? Tips for Online Brand Presence

Consituting 53% of the world’s population, statistics suggest 4.2 billion people are social media users. With such a vastly counting appearance, it is safe to consider social media as a major aspect of brand presence and online visibility. 

These strongly influencing platforms hold a form of power that can be greatly advantageous, or in some cases, even detrimental to your professional reputation. 

In this article, you will learn:

• What exactly is social listening
• How it differs from and compliments other strategies
• What exactly it is used for
• How it keeps social media conspiring in your favor
  
  

What is Social Listening

Social listening is a form of analysis which deals with how and why your brand is publicly perceived in a certain manner. Differing from social monitoring, which mainly provides quantitative information, social listening provides qualitative conclusions. 

You will find out:

• What is said about your brand (constant updates) 
• When your brand is mentioned on any main social channel
• What tone the audience is using when communicating about your brand
• The reach of this communication
• Trends and related data 
• A conclusive overview of your general public status 

‘Mention’ is an online tool which reliably serves both purposes: social monitoring and listening. 

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Why use Social Listening

The presence of social media has grown tremendously throughout the past decade. Who would have thought such platforms would be a main part of your marketing strategy someday? 

Times have changed, and this new age adoption suggests social media is more than merely a chatting tool between friends. In fact, most businesses worldwide do possess an active social media presence, at the least to stay connected and interact with customers via chat. 

Social media channels allow for marketers to keep a constant grip on unfolding trends, as well as keep an eye on what competitors are partaking in. With Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Youtube becoming major sales tools, it is hard to grasp the amount of information that travels between users on a daily basis. 

Here are some mind boggling statistics:

• Five new Facebook profiles are created every second. Boom. Five new ones, just now!
• Over 300 million photos are uploaded daily on Facebook
• 20 billion messages are sent on Facebook between businesses and customers monthly 
• 500 million tweets are sent on Twitter daily
• Over 130 million users engage with shopping related uploads on Instagram monthly
• 81% of Instagram users report using the platform to search for new products and/or services
• 90% of Instagram users follow a minimum of 1 brand on Instagram
  
  

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Now that perspectives have been set, simply imagine how many times your brand has possibly been spoken of, and in what way. 

You might be able to gather a few occasions by searching manually, however the extensiveness of social media deems it highly possible to miss a few valuable discoveries. 

• 31% of mentioning occasions on Twitter don’t even include the official @ username, making it difficult for you to manually reach this information

This is where social media listening tools such as ‘Mention’ come in handy! It is a tool that absolutely every brand can benefit from, whether a small or large business. ‘Mention’ will automatically sort out each occurence in which your brand is spoken of and effectively provide you with useful analytical information. This will help you achieve a clearer understanding of how your brand is perceived the way it is and why. 

Can Social Media Hurt my Brand?

Read carefully: it is absolutely possible for social media to have a negative impact on your brand image. With vast and speedy communication between users, one negative comment can spiral in visibility and spread uncontrollably. 

It is a known fact that people tend to complain a lot, and it is no different on social media. Studies have shown that 47% of users directly reach out to brands simply to complain online. If you fail to remain attentive and responsive to such matters, it is possible for social media to take an unpleasant curve against your reputation. 

Further studies suggest that 80% of customers expect an answer within 24h on social media chats. The question is, how can social listening be helpful in this situation? 

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Pinpointing Social Media Threats Before it’s too Late

How can you prevent negative information from going viral? Let’s have a closer look at ‘Mention’s’ built-in tools. 

So called Pulse Alert notifications will maintain you updated in the case of any sudden increase in brand mentioning. You will be informed via text or email and have a timely chance to step into the matter and jump into those conversations. This is your chance to provide resolution and cleverly maintain your credibility. 

Conclusion

Social media platforms are quickly moving channels. With staggering user statistics, it is conclusively important for every brand to possess an active social media presence and practice optimization methods such as social listening. 

Making use of this tool, you will not only possess valuable data, but will also be able to usefully formulate evolutionary conclusions and improve your online status as a brand. 

Social listening will tell you:

• What is said about your brand (constant updates) 
• Each time your brand is mentioned online
• What tone the audience uses when mentioning your brand
• Communication reach
• Trends and data 
• General public status 
• Competitor information on equal topics 

By keeping constant track of each mentioning occurrence, it is possible to adapt accordingly and take action in your favor whenever it appears necessary. 

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by Julia Arguello Busch – Ninja Partners