Social media monitoring or listening to social media conversations

Every business whether they are currently involved with social media or not should have a

 

Are you listening to the social media conversations?

procedure in place to monitor or listen to social media conversations that their customers or potential customers are having about their brand or products.

Social media monitoring in the UK is still fairly new but here are 6 reasons why you should be listening:

1. To find new customers – by searching for the conversations around your brand/product you will identify potential customers who are asking their friends/followers for advice about a potential purchase.

2. To identify key influencers / thought leaders in your industry sector – who are the key individuals who are talking about the issues that your company can solve, or who are likely to make recommendations to potential customers.

3. Contribute to the relevant social media conversations – people will be talking about you, can you start to listen in to these conversations and then when appropriate contribute to the conversation, ask questions or point them to other relevant content.

4. Identify happy customers – if you find a happy customer talking positively about your brand – thank them, and then try to keep the conversation going by asking their opinion about why they liked your product, what made them decide to purchase your product.

5. Identify unhappy customers – this allows you the chance to solve their problem and turn them into a happier customer. If you don’t know what they are saying because you are not in the social media monitoring space then you could be loosing customers.

6. Identify useful content to share with your customer or future customers.

There are range of social media monitoring tools – some are free such as Hootsuite and Tweetdeck for the functionality that most business need to start with through to those with a small monthly fee such as Splashcube that not only monitors conversations but makes recommendations for your activity on social media in order to maximise your coverage.

 

 

 

Cape Town capitalises digital marketing – Destination News – etravelblackboardasia.com

I am always searching the internet for great examples of companies/organisations who are using digital and/or social media to drive their business forward.

Here is a great example in the Tourism sector from eTravel Blackboard.

Cape Town Tourism’s focus on digital marketing has shown positive results following the recently hosted the 5th annual E-Tourism Africa Summit to collaborate with key influencers in the tourism and media industries.

Cape Town’s online presence includes a website that reached 1 million unique visitors; a Facebook profile exceeded 250,000 fans and a Twitter campaign that received 36 million impressions [more]

Read the full article:  Cape Town capitalises digital marketing – Destination News – etravelblackboardasia.com.

Lack of analytics and budget is holding back social marketing: report | Econsultancy

All companies are struggling with how to measure the effectiveness of their social media and then use the findings to influence their future activities.

This article from Econsultancy based on research carried out with Adobe looks into this issue:

There is a huge amount of social data out there that brands are trying to tap into, but seeking out the conversations worth listening to is only the first step.

You then have to translate the seemingly endless waves of data into something meaningful that can be integrated into marketing activities.

New research carried out by Econsultancy and Adobe shows that 41% of organisations feel that a lack of tracking capabilities and analytics is preventing them from harnessing social data as effectively as they would like [….]

Read the full article: Lack of analytics and budget is holding back social marketing: report | Econsultancy.

 

Luxury brands use social media to sell in real time | GulfNews.com

Interesting article that I spotted in Gulf News, the Middle East is now starting to take notice of what global brands are doing with social media.

Luxury labels demonstrated the instant selling power of social media during London Fashion Week like never before with videos broadcast live online to the world from shows crammed with tweeting, blogging designers, editors and celebrities.

Retail clothing chain Topshop reached the largest online audience for a live-streamed London fashion show on Sunday, with 2 million viewers tuning in from more than 100 countries to see Topshop Unique’s latest collection.[….]

Read the full article: Luxury brands use social media to sell in real time | GulfNews.com.

 

Why Ignoring Social Media Complaints Is a Huge Mistake – article from Forbes

Is your business monitoring complaints and comments made by customers via social media?

I use the social media channels to get in contact with companies if I have an issue especially if it is difficult to reach them via the call centres!

This article on Forbes.com shows how some large brands are failing to take notice of what is happening on these social media channels.

 

It amazes me that even in today’s social media savvy business environment there are still big companies that fail to engage with their customers, particularly customers that are frustrated and unhappy. In fact, a variety of research shows that ignoring those customers is the worst possible strategy.

United Breaks Guitars, But Not Their Silence My personal nominee for the “Stony Silence Award” goes to United Airlines, who has never responded to my tweets about destroyed luggage, flight delays, and indifferent personnel. I probably tweeted a few good things about United along the way, and had no response to those, either. (Of course, lack of response to complaints doesn’t mean the social media conversation about the brand doesn’t keep right on going. The United Breaks Guitars video, produced by an unhappy customer, has garnered over 12 million views to date.)[….]

Read the full article: Why Ignoring Social Media Complaints Is a Huge Mistake – Forbes.

 

Scheduling and Targeting On Facebook: A Marketer’s Dream

With 955 million active users on Facebook, it’s likely you have a Facebook Page for your business and use it to post updates and interact with your customers.

Recently, Facebook rolled out some new features designed to make your life even easier as a small business marketer.

This article from Aweber Communications gives you the background on what those tools are, and how to use them for your business.

Read the full article: Scheduling and Targeting On Facebook: A Marketer’s Dream.

 

Reality Check: 10-15% Of Brands’ Social Media Fans, Likes And Reviews Will Be Fake By 2014, Says Gartner | TechCrunch

Is this a problem that businesses need to be concerned with?

Fake fans, fake “likes” and fake reviews are some of the worst aspects of social media — or at least for those of us earnest enough to take user-generated content and the will of the crowd seriously. Now, new research from Gartner lays bare the fact that it’s only going to get worse, as paid social media interactions become a more established industry unto themselves. The analysts predict that by 2014, some 10%-15% of all social media reviews and other forms of engagement will be fake, paid for by the companies getting endorsed. […..]

Read the full article: �Reality Check: 10-15% Of Brands’ Social Media Fans, Likes And Reviews Will Be Fake By 2014, Says Gartner | TechCrunch.

 

Should I Invest In SEO Or Social Media? | Business 2 Community

This is an interesting article on investing in SEO or Social Media from the Busines2Community website.

Prospective clients often ask me if they should invest in SEO (search engine optimization) or social media. Their company only has so many marketing dollars to spend, and they want to spend them as wisely as possible. They have heard a lot about both SEO and social media marketing, and know they should probably be doing at least one of them, but they do not understand either one enough to make the decision on their own. So they ask me.SEO or Social Media: Which is the Wisest Investment?

Read the full article : �Should I Invest In SEO Or Social Media? | Business 2 Community.

via Should I Invest In SEO Or Social Media? | Business 2 Community.

Social is now integral to business strategy: report | Econsultancy

Most companies now look at social media as a key part of their marketing and overall business strategies, according to new research by Econsultancy and Adobe.

66% of digital marketers surveyed working for companies with an annual turnover of more than £100m agreed that ‘social media is integral to business strategy’, while 67% said that social media activity was ‘integral to their marketing mix’.

Read the full article:  Social is now integral to business strategy: report | Econsultancy.

Choose social marketing platform wisely: Different demographics use different networks

A report from the Association of Magazine Media found that varying demographics behave differently on the social web, which can help marketers inform their efforts more effectively. Much like other web strategies, social content’s value for a business is heavily predicated on reaching the right audiences.[…]

Although based on US figures, it has some interesting findings which should make us all think about which Social Media platforms our customers are using.

Read the full article: Choose social marketing platform wisely: Different demographics use different networks.