Have you ever mentioned a product, brand, or service on your personal social media account? If you are like the majority of internet users, you probably have. Companies who “listen” for these mentions can learn a lot about how to grow their business. This sort of research is called social media listening, and there are several ways that it can improve your business marketing plan and accelerate growth. To understand how, it is important to first understand a few key terms.
Social Media Listening
Tracking and analyzing social media posts in order to understand consumers’ mindsets, identify key demographics, and gauge the efficacy of marketing strategies.
Social Media Optimization
Enhancing a business’s website to encourage social media use. Two key features of SMO website design are engaging content that readers want to share and links or widgets that allow them to easily do so.
Social Media Marketing
Sometimes used to mean “Social Media Listening.” Here, we will use it to refer to company posts or ads on social media sites.
Social media listening is often compared with focus groups and surveys. The advantages of social media listening, however, are far more numerous. Here are just a few:
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It involves larger sample sizes.
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Its results are almost immediate.
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It gathers unfiltered, natural reactions from consumers.
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It answers the questions that researchers would not even think to ask.
- It gives marketers the ability to change strategies on the fly.
What Is the Purpose of Social Media Optimization?
If you want to use social media listening to find out what consumers think of your brand or product, they must first be talking about it. Social media optimization encourages discussion, increases brand awareness, and provides the base for a social media listening campaign.
How Social Media Marketing Fits In
The point of social media is an interchange of thoughts and ideas. Listening to consumers allows a company to market its brand or product through social media in a way that is most appealing to its target demographic.
Some estimates state that there are more than 2.3 billion social media users in the world. That makes social media sites the perfect platform for both listening and being heard. If your business does not yet have a social media listening and marketing plan, contact Webmaster For Hire today and let us help you get set up for success.