Using Social Media to Gather Customer Insights

99% of businesses are small businesses. And most small business owners do not have a large enough brand presence, or the financial resources, to invest in expensive data tools. So what should you do? How can you remain innovative and relevant to your target market? 👉️ Social Listening Social listening is the 🔑 to strengthening or maintaining your brand. Social listening is the process of monitoring and analyzing content and online conversations related or relevant to your product/service. Doing this allows you to find out more about your target audience so you can improve outreach and your customer lifetime value. Here's what I recommend: → Define Your Objective(s) Are you trying to identify trends, gather feedback, monitor brand mentions or understand customer sentiment. Clearly define the goals you want to achieve through social listening. → Identify Keywords & Topics It’s important to determine the keywords, hashtags, and topics relevant to your brand, industry, and products/services. This could be your brand name, product names, industry terms, competitor names, and related keywords. → Monitor Conversations Pay attention to what people are saying across platforms relating to the keywords and topics you identified. Identify common themes and issues that emerge. → Engage With Your Target Audience Regularly respond to comments, questions or feedback that your audience shares. Have a system for tracking & action on the information. → Track Trends & Insights Keeping an eye on emerging trends or topics & insights relevant to your industry helps you refine your marketing strategies, develop new products/services, and adjust your messaging. → Monitor Competitors Look at what your competitors are doing, but don’t copy what they’re doing. Instead, look for areas of improvement and opportunities to differentiate your brand. → Measure & Iterate Develop a personal method for tracking and analyzing your social listening data. Identify what’s working well and areas for improvement, then adjust your strategy accordingly. If you’re a small business owner, skip the expensive tools, and invest in developing your own Social Listening strategy using the tips above. 💥 #smallbusinesstips #marketing #sociallistening

I was just interrupted during our onsite innovation sprint… “I’m sorry, but I don’t think that’s what our customers want.” We’ve been mapping our innovation roadmap all week, and something fascinating keeps happening: Our social team (who absolutely has a seat at the table) continuously brings a critical perspective: “The conversations on social are focusing elsewhere...” “Our listening tools show this is the actual pain point...” “Here’s what customers are saying in real-time...” Their insights can shift our next steps. And they are backed by data from thousands of real customer conversations flowing through social channels every day, unfiltered and honest. So the most valuable question we kept returning to during our onsite was: → Are we building what WE think matters, or what our CUSTOMERS say matters? Your social team isn’t just executing your social strategy - they’re sitting on insights that should be shaping your entire business strategy. How are you integrating social intelligence into your product roadmap? The answers might surprise you.

Here's how I got my client to listen to her community instead of just her business My client, an owner of a local coffee shop, was puzzled. Despite active social posts, her coffee shop stayed quiet. She was shouting into the digital void. One day, she overheard customers: "I wish there was a quiet place to work with good Wi-Fi and late hours."  Lightbulb moment! She shared with me over the discovery call that she'd forgotten to listen to her community. I changed her approach. 1. Tuned In: Followed local hashtags, joined community groups. 2. Read Between Lines: Noticed discussions about study spaces and late-night coffee needs. 3. Adapted: Extended hours, upgraded Wi-Fi, created quiet zones. 4. Engaged: Joined conversations, shared tips beyond just promotions. 5. Measured: Tracked mentions and sentiments. Result? Her shop became the go-to spot. Revenue doubled, engagement soared – all from posting smarter, not more. Most businesses focus on sales rather than social listening, so here's why social listening matters to all brands: 1. Uncover needs 2. Improve offerings 3. Manage crises 4. Gain competitive edge 5. Build authentic connections For those of you who are missing that vibe in your business, I would like to set a challenge: 1. Observe your niche for a week without self-promotion. 2. Find three surprising audience insights. 3. Plan strategy adjustments based on these. Share your biggest revelation! How will you transform your approach? #SocialListening #DigitalMarketing #BrandStory