Tips to Act on Social Listening; The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

With 90% of marketers reporting that social media is important to their businesses, keeping a watchful eye on what the customers are saying on social is crucial.

If a negative comment goes unnoticed, it can quickly turn into an ugly mess for the brand as it spreads virally with the potential for others to jump onboard with their own negative comments. Positive comments are just as important as they are the eyes and ears to the customer; what they’re thinking, what they like, what they don’t like and what they want. Consumer comments have a wide variety of uses, but the key is to pay attention to every word.

Last month, brands that ran Super Bowl ads had plenty of social fodder to work with as millions viewed the commercials and took to social to share their thoughts with their social communities. Social listening played a key field position in measuring and understanding how viewers really felt about their brands allowing brands to take action.

Around the same time, Mexico-based baked goods company Grupo Bimbo, which did not have a Super Bowl spot but diligently tracks social conversations was catching wind of negative sentiment on social. It had launched a new product Gansito Red Velvet in the U.S. but not in Mexico. Soon Mexican consumers were out in force on social demanding that the new product be available to them too, and soon it was. Within 2 months sales jumped double digits.

A striking 63% of marketers use social media for six hours or more per week and 39% are on social for 11 or more hours each week, according to the 2016 Social Media Marketing Industry Report. Another set of marketers (19%) are really into social, spending 20 each week on social. The longer the time spent on social media activities the more experienced the marketers in the channel, an indicator that the channel works.

Respondents reported that the top two benefits of social media marketing are increasing both exposure and traffic. Sixty-eight percent use social for reach out to and groom loyal fans with 66% use it to gain marketplace intelligence.

This article from Entrepreneur shares three ways comments on your social channels can help improve business, as well as how to respond to comments, both positive and negative.

For example, what customers talk about can be the impetus to craft marketing messages that will be relevant to you audience. Still others may point to the development of new products that fill a need customers are talking about. Read the article …