What is Social Media Listening?
Social media listening, sometimes known as social media monitoring, is the process of investigating what is being said about a company. The process requires tools that use artificial intelligence to search for key phrases or keywords that are relevant to a company’s niche.
Monitoring tools primarily work by crawling through a long list of websites and indexing each one. The software involved applies boolean logic to decrypt strings and search for the key phrases from there on. All the complex mathematical manipulation is handled through the software. There are many social media listening tools that provide a simple-to-navigate interface so that all information can be easily accessed. The tools can mine text and link it to keywords. The information is transposed into numerical data that can later be analyzed using data mining methods. Almost all of the analyzing is done in real time. Some sites have software in place which prevents the tools from analyzing specific data or running in real time.
Social media listening is best paired with other information-gathering methods such as asking for feedback on an application. A management review team should focus on designing the user experience to interact with audiences. Customers are more receptive and more likely to give feedback for products that are more engaging.
What are the Areas of Application?
Social media listening is versatile and can be applied to a wide range of areas. The primary use for such tools is for trend analysis and product health. A business must stay updated about the success of their services or products. A trend analysis reveals metrics that relate to audience behavior towards the business. This helps a business determine which demographics are the most receptive and engaged. Monitoring tools allow a business to strategically determine the most ideal development for their product based on previous trends. Businesses can also see how much influence their products have across different demographics.
Social media searching provides insight into the campaign. The tools can help determine whether a marketing campaign has a positive or negative impact on customer experience. Competitive intelligence applies the monitoring tools to learn more about the social media status of competitors. The tools show detailed information on strategies and campaigns that are run by competitors. Businesses can also learn about who are the biggest competitors in the industry and what is said about them.
What is the Difference Between Social Monitoring and Listening?
The two names are used interchangeably quite often. There are however small differences between the terms. Social media monitoring is data-driven. The monitoring algorithm focuses on collecting and returning relevant metrics. Listening provides a more holistic view. The data is inspected upon searching and a strategic plan is created based on the results of the search.
Another way to look at it is that social monitoring is considered to be reactive. A customer contacts a brand on social media and the business reacts by responding to the customer. This interaction can be recorded for improving the quality of future interactions. Social listening is proactive. A company bases its plans on previous interactions. It’s good practice to use social monitoring techniques with social listening.
The Importance of Listening
A business can build its credibility with its audience by taking initiative and finding out what the audience wants. Sites like Netbase offer a complete package of tools that can dig deep into almost any social media platform. Social listening is the most convenient way to go about this. In the long run, social listening can improve the quality of services and save money on training.
