Social Listening vs. Social Media Monitoring | Part 2

Part 2 is here!

In my previous post, I break down the difference between social listening and social media monitoring. I also provide an example of social listening, so go back and check it out because I will be expanding more below:

Okay — let’s get back to the example. 

Que the lights! We’re rolling in 1…2…3! Action!

Once you are in your social listening tool like Brandwatch, you can log in your terms and be as specific as you want. For example, let’s say you want to exclude specific search terms, similar words, or even accounts to get a more narrowed result. The term “anti-aging” may not give you the right result as you want, so you want to be precise as possible. You may want to add “serum”, ingredients, your company’s name, and/or play around with the Boolean to get the right result.

So, once you are done plugging in all the necessities for your search, press “go” and watch the results flow. You will receive a report detailing exactly what you’re looking for. There may be information that is unsurprising like the demographic being majority female, but there can be surprises, like the countries or languages your product is being spoken about. One thing that always tends to shock me when I’m listening in the platforms the term is being spoken about. Most of the time, Twitter is in the top, but then you get a pleasant surprise when you see people using Reddit, Blogger, or even Facebook the most. Who would have thought?

What’s next? Now that you have a wealth of information, what can you do now? Well, as I mentioned inn my first post, it’s preferable to go into social listening with a plan, so when you tracking you findings, you can start planning for your next steps. 

Let’s get back to your favorite anti-aging serum example again. Let’s say this social listening endeavor aimed to see how well your new product is performing. Your company launched the product with a new packaging and changes to its ingredients for sustainability purposes. Your company’s competitors have been making great advancements to make all of their products green, and your company needed to make a stand in the industry.

So what’s a better way to see how customers are actually talking about it? Why wait for a survey when you can see when and where they are talking about the product.

For this example, I will break down two findings–the good, the bad, and the super ugly: 

The Good: The best-case scenario! When social listening, you see the majority of the conversations around your product are positive. Customers are loving the new packaging and appreciate your efforts in sustainability. And because of the green intitiative, you are gaining a new popularity with the Gen Z market, who you’ve been struggling to reach in the past. Great job!

The Bad and super ugly: Oh no! When social listening, you see the majority of the conversations around your product are negative. Customers are hating the new packaging and demand the old packaging. And regarding the sustainability efforts, customers are accusing you of green-washing. What do you do?!

Omg, I got too excited and made this blog too long again. So, in part three, I will explain the following steps after each result. Stay tuned!