No business can exist in a vacuum; you need interaction and feedback to make your business grow and prosper. In these days of social networking and existence in the virtual world, listening to your market and monitoring your reputation is as important as it has ever been. The difference is that now you have to do it online. Too many companies think that once they've created their Facebook and Twitter profiles, all that's left to do is push out posts regularly. Nothing could be further from the truth, and social listening is developing rapidly into a communication medium with significant value. Here's how it can help your business.
Get the Message
To be able to use the information you get, you have to hear it in the first place. The quantity of social media noise and data available makes it difficult to separate the junk from the good stuff, so you should use technology to help you uncover conversations about your company brand and industry. You can use one of the monitoring tools available online to keep an eye on your business' reputation, measure the trends in social media and analyze mentions of your brand, products or services. This will help you to keep abreast of what is being said about you out in cyberspace.
Hear the Call
Once you hear what's being said, the logical thing to do is to start answering. By doing so, you can avoid the situation that clothing retailer Lululemon found itself in when it ignored comments on its social media pages about the transparency of women's pants. While customers were posting complaints, the company tweeted about other product lines. Not only did it lose out on sales through bad publicity, but it was shown up for not paying attention to customer issues, and it sacrificed a valuable opportunity to show that it was in tune with followers. If your customers are calling for a particular product, modification or even just an answer to a common question, you should respond to them by using the same communication medium.
Build Brand Ambassadors
There's nothing that benefits sales as much as a satisfied customer who promotes your product or service. Research shows that 79 percent of consumers trust online reviews as much as they would a personal recommendation. Getting a customer to write a review isn't always easy, however. Most people simply don't think of it, and those who do largely only get around to it if they have a complaint. By using professional social listening tools, you can identify communities and users who talk about your brand and then find ways to get them sharing on your behalf. But first, you have to hear what they are saying, and social listening is your only way to do so.
Follow the Buzz
Trends change rapidly in the digital era, and this affects your visibility. Keep track of the ever-evolving vocabulary and content requirements in your industry by using listening technology and adapting with the times. Creating content that users want to share and engage with doesn't happen on its own—it takes knowledge of what people want to enable you to give it to them. Following the buzz keeps you up to date with developments and helps you to focus less on your company's message and more on the needs of your customers and the community.
Becoming a good listener in the social space is easier with the tools available to businesses. Keep track of commentary about your company and use the information you get to inform your actions. Don't ignore your followers; connect with them and take what they have to say to heart.
*Image courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net
