Your step-by-step social listening strategy
Brands and creators interested in making the most out of social listening need a solid strategy in place for the best results. If you don’t have any experience with these tools, it may be intimidating. However, having a simple plan can go a long way.
1. Know your goals
The first step is to determine your goals. There are several reasons why individuals and teams use social listening. Deciding what’s most important will focus your plan.
You may want to gauge the overall feeling people have toward your content or brand. Or you could use listening data to find unique angles for your content.
Brands might take advantage of the tool to spot issues and complaints before they become real problems. Creators may conduct a competitive analysis to see where they stand.
2. Pick a focus
Once you understand your objectives, you need to figure out where and to what you’re going to listen to get the data you need. Casting too wide a net can waste your time with details that aren’t important. You want to focus on the social media platforms you’re actually using, such as Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, or TikTok.
Then, define what you’re looking for. Come up with keywords, hashtags, slogans, and product names to keep an eye on. List the competitors in your niche that you want to follow. Find online communities that may discuss your brand, product, or content.
It’s important to note that some users may mistype or misspell your brand name or handle. Tracking common misspellings can lead to some hidden gems that help you level up even more.
3. Organize the data
When the data starts coming in, you need a way to organize it. Come up with a system that categorizes the information by theme, attitude, or department if you’re in a large organization.
Top social listening tools include built-in features to help organize the data coming in. For example, assigning tags and labels can make it easier to sort material and filter information later on.
4. Review and adjust your strategy
The next step is reviewing the data consistently. If you’re working with a team, have short weekly check-ins. Then have more thorough reviews once a month.
It’s important that everyone working on the project knows what they’re supposed to do. Different people need to gather the data, make reports, test content, and come up with the messaging. When teams have clearly defined roles, everything works more smoothly.
As with any business strategy, it’s unlikely that everything will work perfectly on your first try. The important thing is to get off and running, then make adjustments and scale up as needed.
You may want to start small, tracking a few keywords on two or three platforms to get a sense of how social listening works. Continue to expand the operation and make changes as you become more comfortable with this tool.
