Did you know that there are 3.397 billion active social media users that have on average 5.54 social media accounts? As you can see from these first few statistics, the digital marketing landscape has changed drastically in the past 20 years. 

I remember standing outside of grocery stores asking customers as they walked in to take a survey about how they felt about their shopping experience or why they chose to eat the foods that they eat and what would help change their buying habits.

At that time, our college marketing class was trying to figure out the buying habits of customers, their likes and dislikes, and how they felt about things like customer service that a brand offered, etc. 

Today,  you can get all of that from just listening to the feedback on social media channels like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and review sites such as Yelp.com.

What’s interesting is 96% of the people that discuss brands online do not follow those brands’ owned profiles. People love to “talk” online and make their voice heard.  You just have to make sure you are listening – for good or for bad.

Many business owners that I’ve talked to complain about the negative impact of comments on the sites that I mentioned above. 

But in reality, the reason the comments seem negative is that the business owner typically does not understand how to properly respond or effectively use these comments to improve their business practices.

So, if you really think about it, when you listen to what your customers are saying about your product or service on various social media platforms, it can really help you sustaining with your customer community and possibly growing it.

With that said, I wanted to discuss ten benefits you have to gain from social listening.

1. Get An Edge On The Competition

Listening to what other people are saying about your competition is the best way to get an edge up.  

For example, you can easily start following your competitor’s Facebook and Instagram page then read the posts and comments that come from their activity.

This will help you determine what is working and not working in your industry.  Let your competitors make the mistake first. 

You may also find new business opportunities as you spot situations where you can help provide a solution to an angry customer’s problem that your competitor couldn’t solve.  

You can use tools like Tweetdeck as seen below, or Mention.com to listen not only your own social mentions but also your competition.

2. Determining What Clients Like

Social listening can help you understand what type of products or services your clients like. 

You can use tools such as BufferReply or Socialmention to monitor what your followers are saying about your brand or any time someone mentions your name anywhere online.

(Image Source: Sprout Social)

The higher the demand, the more you will know how to market your products and what to focus on. 

3. Determining What Clients Dislike

Let’s face it. Social media is never going away.  Can you believe that 60 billion messages a day filter through Facebook and Whatsapp alone?  That’s amazing! 

This is why Facebook is such a great way to find out what your clients dislike about your products. You can use social listening to determine what your clients don’t like.

You want to look at any type of complaints about your product or service as an opportunity to improve them.

4. Improving Customer Service

With social media monitoring, you can improve your customer service.  You can find out what people are specifically saying about your customer service. 

Most people love to complain online through review sites like Yelp.com.

Research by Sprout Social found that 34.5% of people prefer to reach out through social media, beating out other channels like live chat (24.7%), email (19.4%) and 1-800 numbers (16.1%).

The problem is that almost 90% of social messages aimed at organizations are ignored.  Don’t let this be you.  Use social media platforms as a way to create a better customer service experience for the potential client as well as your current clients.

5. Higher Repeat Business/Increased Lifetime Value of Client

By understanding what people like and dislike and improving customer service, it will improve the relationship with your clients and keep them coming back over and over again.

The likelihood of you increasing your referral-based clients improves at the same time. 

Simple gestures such as responding back and paying attention to what people are saying can make all the difference in the world.

6. Getting To Know Your Target Market

Social listening helps you understand your target market.  Who is talking about you?  What are their hobbies?  Do they tend to be older or younger?  

Believe it or not, you can find this out just by monitoring the way people are talking about your brand.

Many people make the mistake of thinking that the “younger” generation are the primary ones using social media today. 

But this couldn’t be further from the truth.  As a matter of fact, people aged 55-64 are more than twice as likely to engage with branded content than those 28 or younger

You can find a lot of your audience on Facebook and YouTube according to a  2018 Pew Research Study that concluded a majority of Americans are using Facebook and Youtube. 

7. Interact With Your Top Brand Advocates

Wouldn’t it be nice to pick the brain of your top brand advocates?  To find out why they love your brand so much could help you with your marketing efforts and determine which direction to take your social media efforts.

Your advocates may be able to explain about your organization better than you can. These advocates can be your “word-of-mouth” marketers that really promote your brand.  Make sure to keep track of them and interact with them through your social media channels.

8. Win Back Customers

If a customer leaves a bad review, it’s a great reason to jump in and comment and tell your side of the story. 

This way you can calm down the situation and contain the person from spreading anything else. 

You may just have a chance to gain them back as well by offering them a specific coupon, for example.

9. Discover And Follow Up On Sales Leads

If you are monitoring your social media profiles as you should be, you will notice lots of people like to communicate through these channels. 

Many potential clients who are interested in buying will ask questions on your Facebook page or Instagram

Use your social media platforms as a place to engage with your customers and draw them closer to a sale.

10. Demonstrates Your Authority In The Industry

If you are watching your brand correctly, or what people are talking about in your, it can give you opportunities to put your two cents in about your views, which in turn shows your expertise in your field.

11. Cut Down On Product Cost

Social listening not only helps achieving you on marketing front but it is a great source of feedback that works wonderfully well to cut down on product development cost.

Customers often leave their comments on how good or bad your product is. Even if their claims aren’t true, it gives you an opportunity to test your product for efficacy. This means you continually review it for improvement.

Conclusion

I’m sure you’ve heard the adage, “There’s a reason God gave us two ears and one mouth.” Remember this when you are managing your social media campaign.

Don’t forget to constantly monitor what your customers are saying about your brand.

Your brand is precious to the growth and reputation of your business.  Guard it with your life. 

Don’t let someone else steal your integrity by writing a bad review or talking badly about your company through social media channels.