Whether your business is new or established, an SME or a large enterprise, a few common goals are shared. 

Some of these goals include sustainable growth,  targeting the right customers,  remaining profitable, providing excellent customer service and staying ahead of competitors.  

Additional goals include attracting and retaining the right employees and using the best resources for the job. 

Through effective digital marketing, many businesses have been able to accomplish some of these goals.  

From email marketing campaigns to content marketing, increasing visibility on search engines to social media marketing – these companies have created and implemented digital marketing strategies that work. 

They tapped into their customers’ buyer personas and strategised with marketing tools and resources to achieve the desired outcomes. 

By using social listening tools, some of these businesses could better understand and manage customers’ needs, expectations and preferences. 

So, what is social listening? 

Before we look at some of the tools that help with social listening, let’s look at what social listening entails. According to Hootsuite, social listening is a process that allows you to monitor social media channels for mentions of your brand, competitors, products, and more. 

An example of social listening could be that your business has a new product rolled out, and you are interested in how your customers are receiving that product. 

Social listening gives your brand the opportunity to find feedback via comments/messages, track, analyse and respond to conversations about that product on social media. 

Based on the data you collect, you can then strategise how to upgrade or improve marketing efforts related to the product effectively, if needed. 

An improved product or greater access to it tells your customers that you have been listening and value their input. This also helps to increase your engagement with them and can build customer loyalty. 

What are some of the available social listening tools? 

There are many social listening tools available, so finding the right fit for your brand isn’t difficult. Some tools are considered social media management tools since they are included in software or on a platform that integrates social media listening, analytics, and tracking. 

Some of the social listening tools to consider are Hootsuite, Sprout Social, HubSpot Social Media Management Software, BuzzSomo, and Awario. 

Hootsuite: Hootsuite’s dashboard is concise and easy to navigate. You can use it to view and respond to all comments, messages, and brand mentions across several social media channels. It also lets you monitor trends, track influencers and leads, and you can use it to protect your brand’s reputation. Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest and LinkedIn are all compatible with Hootsuite, allowing you to evaluate success across several platforms. 

Sprout Social: If you need a social media management platform that provides comprehensive and robust solutions, Sprout Social may be right for you. Sprout offers solutions for social listening and analytics, employee advocacy, and customer care. Marketing and social media teams can create, plan, schedule and collaborate on social media content and campaigns.  

HubSpot Social Media Management Software: The HubSpot social software is dynamic. It allows you to use time-saving tools that help to prioritise social media interactions, and you can control your entire social media strategy in one place. The software also helps to connect your brand with the people you are targeting. You can build campaigns and publish them to social media channels, and stay abreast of conversations that your audience is engaging in. According to HubSpot, their software integrates with your CRM (customer relationship management), allowing you to easily report social media ROI (return on investment). 

BuzzSomo: They say, ‘content is king’ and to have a great content marketing strategy for social media, you may want to check out what BuzzSumo has to offer. This tool also allows you to monitor trends and comments so you can seize opportunities as they happen. You can use it to identify influencers, analyse data and discover high performing content.  

Awario: An essential aspect of marketing is brand awareness, and as luck would have it, Awario is a social listening tool that prioritises this. If your company is trying to grow its online presence and increase engagement, this tool can help. This tool has you covered, from monitoring to responding to comments, and building meaningful relationships with your audience. You can also use it to create and keep an updated list of new leads you can use in your sales strategy. Awario allows you to connect with several social media profiles (Twitter, YouTube, Reddit, Instagram and Facebook). 

Note: Other social listening tools include Mention, Buffer, Keyhole, Brand24, SumAll, Tailwind and TweetReach. 

How can social listening help your business? 

With the help of social listening tools and digital marketing strategies, businesses can gain an intimate look at what is happening within their industry.  

These tools also allow you to capture, collate and use data collected from social listening to successfully craft marketing messages that align with their brand’s overarching goals. 

This is supported by HubSpot’s breakdown of the two main functions of social listening.  

One part of the process entails monitoring and tracking conversations and mentions about a brand. The second part of the process involves analysis and actionable responses that may help you to make improvements that will benefit your customers.  

Brands can use social listening tools to:  

• Identify the causes of social conversations, so they can implement changes or strategies that can position their brand favourably.  
• Improve customer relationships by being transparent, showing awareness and providing possible solutions/recommendations when responding to customers’ messages. 
• Keep track of the success of marketing campaigns (altered messages) and their brand’s overall growth. When you know how your messages (campaigns) are received, it can guide your next steps.  
• Create new products or resources for customers that enhance customer experiences with the company’s products and services. 
• Gain the attention of potential customers and stay relevant. 
• Manage and protect your brand’s reputation if there are unfavourable mentions online. 
• Identify social media influencers you can work with, as well as top talents for the company. 
• Stay abreast of industry trends, changes and what’s happening with competitors. 

Now that you have a better idea of what social listening is, why your brand should practice using social listening and the tools that can help, we hope you will include some in your digital marketing tool kit. 

If you found this article helpful, then you may be interested in knowing some of the crucial social media etiquette rules that your brand should keep in mind. 

We know that operating a business has many layers and can be time-consuming, so we’d like to help. 

If you need help with creating the right digital marketing strategy for your business, our team of marketers and certified Google and Facebook experts can help with a Complete-Done-4-U Service. 

Sources: Hootsuite, Brand24, Convince and Convert, Investopedia, and HubSpot.