DON'T JUST POST, LISTEN

All too often, we hear from brands who are questioning the effectiveness of their content strategies. They’re struggling to understand why engagement is low or why their fan base isn’t growing. Often, these symptoms are accompanied by a generic, overflow of content that, let’s face it... may or may not be relevant to their audience.  

It seems some brands have forgotten that content is in fact a two-way conversation. The nature of social media and the internet means it’s never been easier for your audience to reach out and talk directly to you. It’s the brands that are actually listening to that voice – the voice of their collective audience – who are kicking goals in their content strategy and garnering a loyal, engaged fan base.  

So, how can you take advantage of what’s being said online to strengthen your brand’s digital presence? Introducing your new social listening strategy.  

Think of social listening as your new strategy that will help you track, analyse and respond to pretty much anything to do with your company or industry. By adding social listening into your regular marketing repertoire, you’re essentially giving your brand the tools to get to know your audience and engage with them on a level that’s going to resonate.  

Social listening can include anything from comments on your Instagram page, tracking mentions of your brand on stories and hashtags, new research about an ingredient used in your brand’s products, and everything in between! 

Look at what’s being said about your brand and industry – this can be done through hashtag monitoring, Google searches, exploring trending content on Twitter and LinkedIn and even by asking your customers directly. Make sure to track regularly and note any changes. It’s important to make changes as deemed necessary in order to be actively demonstrating social listening- not just social monitoring! 

Without a social listening strategy, it’s hard to gauge where your company stands - in the industry, amongst your competitors, and with your customers and clients. Your social listening strategy is where you’ll find the answers to the hard questions and discover authentic opinions and genuine sentiment within your brand and its broader industry and competitor landscape.  

Think of social listening as a total quality management method- allowing you to detect flaws in your content, content strategy or maybe even in your logistics department! Assessing and renewing process is key to success and social listening is a simple and accessible vehicle in delivering high results.  

If you’re still not convinced, we’ve shortlisted a few benefits of social listening below... 

• Learn about your company and industry sentiment  
• Identify flaws in your entire business chain  
• Identify new sales leads 
• Establish a two-way channel between your business and your audience where they’ll feel heard. 

If you think your brand may need help listening, or if you’re feeling a little stuck in your content strategy, get in touch! We’d love to hear from you.