A Complete Guide to Social Listening: Tools, Strategies and Tips for Marketers

Updated on: 24th Dec 2024

Today, interaction and information exchange is constant and social media has become a crucial channel for brands and consumers alike.

In such a context, social media listening is a fundamental strategy that enables companies to capture, analyse, and respond to conversations surrounding their brand, products, and services. It’s not just about monitoring mentions or comments; it’s about deeply understanding consumer opinions and sentiments, identifying emerging trends, and anticipating potential crises. As competition intensifies and consumers become more discerning, investing in social media listening has become an imperative for any effective marketing strategy.

In this article, we will explore the importance of social media listening, its key benefits, and how to implement it effectively to enhance engagement and improve brand perception.

Listening, in general, is a crucial part of all good communication, and it is no different online. Social media listening pertains to the surveillance of conversations that are going on about your brand or product or regarding relevant industry topics that could affect and market your business really well.

That’s why social listening has become an essential tool for marketers. Recent surveys show that 58% of marketers plan to increase their social listening budget in 2023 (Source: Social Media Today). The global social listening market is projected to reach $4.2 billion by 2025, growing at an annual rate of 24% (Source: MarketsandMarkets).

According to a Sprout Social report, 97% of consumers read online reviews before purchasing. This highlights the importance of monitoring brand mentions and reviews online through social listening.

UK retailer John Lewis has successfully leveraged social listening in their marketing strategy. By tracking brand and product mentions on social media, they gained insights into customer feedback and sentiment, which enabled them to identify issues proactively and improve customers’ omnichannel experience.

John Lewis also uses social listening to detect emerging trends and influencers. During the Christmas holiday season in 2021, their social listening team detected an uptick in mentions of cheeseboards on TikTok and Instagram. They quickly launched a festive cheeseboard range, which sold out within days.

Here are a few more case studies of businesses that have successfully used social listening:

Dell: Uses social listening to track customer feedback and identify potential problems. By monitoring social media for mentions of Dell products and services, Dell can identify and address customer issues quickly and efficiently.

Starbucks: Leverages social listening to learn about customer preferences and develop new products and services. By monitoring social media for mentions of Starbucks products and services, Starbucks can identify trends and customer demand.

Amazon: Utilises social listening to improve customer service and develop new products and services. By monitoring social media for mentions of Amazon products and services, Amazon can identify customer problems and develop solutions.

So, yes. Tracking mentions and notifications is key to an effective engagement strategy. However, analysing the context and larger trends around those conversations through social listening can give you valuable insight to better speak to and serve your target audience.

But you may ask: What social conversations should I listen to?

Let’s take a look at X/Twitter. Over 25 billion social interactions take place on the platform each day, so it offers a breadth of consumer, industry and cultural insights unlike anything else. With that type of volume, most companies don’t have the ability to go through every post/tweet about their brand or industry.

Plus, looking at these posts/tweets individually makes it difficult to see larger trends or themes.

That’s where listening comes into play with a three-step process that allows you to make the best out of these online conversations. Here’s a breakdown of each stage:

Data Collection

At its core, social listening tools gather massive amounts of data from a wide range of online sources. The process begins by setting up the tool to track specific mentions, hashtags, keywords, and competitor names across various platforms.

Social Media: Platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok are where much of the brand conversation happens. Tools can track mentions of your brand, products, or relevant hashtags.

Review Sites: Monitoring sites like Yelp, Google Reviews, and TripAdvisor can give insights into customer satisfaction and common complaints.

Blogs and Forums: Discussions on blogs and niche forums, like Reddit or Quora, are valuable for gathering unfiltered customer opinions and deeper insights into industry topics.

News and Articles: Media outlets or news sites that mention your brand, competitors, or industry trends can also be monitored.

Brands can set up tracking for a variety of keywords to gather valuable insights. This includes tracking their own company name and product names to monitor brand mentions, as well as keeping an eye on competitor names to assess their performance and public perception.

Add to this, tracking popular industry keywords or buzzwords helps brands stay informed about emerging trends in their niche. Monitoring campaign-specific hashtags also allows companies to measure the performance and engagement of their marketing efforts.

Data Analysis

Once the data is collected, social listening tools move into the analysis phase, the most crucial of them all, where data is processed and turned into actionable insights, allowing companies to understand the “why” behind the mentions.

Analysing raw data happens along a set of key dimensions.

One of the most valuable components of social listening is understanding the tone behind mentions. Sentiment analysis tools use natural language processing (NLP) to categorise mentions as positive, negative, or neutral. This helps brands gauge how their audience feels about their products, services, or campaigns.

For example, if a new product launch is getting a lot of mentions, sentiment analysis can quickly show whether the feedback is mostly positive or if there are recurring complaints.

Beyond basic sentiment, more advanced tools assess the emotional tone behind messages. Are customers excited, frustrated, or indifferent? This emotional insight can be crucial for crafting responses or adjusting marketing strategies.

Then we have volume analysis which tracks the frequency of mentions over time. Spikes in mentions might indicate the success of a marketing campaign or the start of a potential PR crisis. Analysing the frequency of mentions helps brands understand when there is a surge of interest—either positive or negative—that they need to address.

Some social listening tools provide insights into the geographic location, age, or other demographic details of those talking about your brand. This helps brands tailor their responses or campaigns to different regions or audience segments. For instance, if most negative reviews are coming from a specific region, the brand can tailor their communication or even offer localized solutions.

Last but not least, brands can get insights into emerging trends by analyzing which keywords and topics are being mentioned frequently. This can reveal shifts in customer interests, allowing brands to pivot their strategies accordingly.

A clothing brand, for example, might notice an uptick in the use of “sustainable fashion” in its mentions, prompting the company to promote its eco-friendly products.

Reporting

The final stage of the social listening process is reporting, where the insights from data analysis are summarised and presented in a clear, actionable format. The goal of reporting is to provide decision-makers with the information they need to adjust strategies and respond effectively.

Many social listening tools offer customisable dashboards where companies can view their metrics in real-time. These dashboards often include visualizations like graphs, charts, and heat maps that make it easy to track mentions, sentiment, and trends over time.

Example: A dashboard might display the total number of mentions, sentiment distribution, and a timeline of conversation volume.

Reporting tools synthesise the analysis into actionable recommendations. For example, reports might suggest addressing recurring customer complaints, highlighting opportunities to engage with influencers, or recommending a shift in marketing focus based on emerging trends.

Example: If sentiment toward a new product launch is trending negative, the report may recommend issuing a public statement or offering customer support solutions.

Some reports include comparative analysis, showing how your brand stacks up against competitors in terms of mention volume, sentiment, and share of voice. This benchmarking allows companies to see where they stand relative to industry peers.

Many tools allow for automated, scheduled reporting, ensuring that teams receive regular updates on brand mentions, sentiment, and emerging trends without needing to log into the platform each time.

Best Social Listening Tools

There are many social listening tools available, each catering to different needs and business sizes. While some tools are comprehensive and include a wide range of features, others focus on specific functionalities like influencer tracking, sentiment analysis, or content performance.

Here are the five most popular social listening tools, elaborated with key features and benefits:

Hootsuite

Hootsuite is one of the most widely used social media management tools, and its social listening capabilities are highly effective for tracking brand mentions and industry conversations. This tool is best for brands and businesses looking for an all-in-one solution to manage, monitor, and engage across multiple social platforms.

Key Features

Comprehensive Monitoring: Hootsuite tracks brand mentions, hashtags, and keywords across multiple platforms, including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube.

Customisable Streams: Users can create custom streams for tracking specific keywords, competitors, or campaigns in real-time, all within a single dashboard.

Engagement and Analytics: Beyond listening, Hootsuite allows you to engage directly with customers and provides detailed analytics on audience sentiment, trends, and the performance of your posts.

Integration: It integrates with over 200 apps and tools, allowing seamless workflows with CRM systems, project management tools, and more.

Sprout Social is a user-friendly platform known for its powerful social listening features, detailed reports, and excellent customer support. It’s designed especially for small to mid-sized businesses and marketing teams that want a streamlined interface with powerful analytics and engagement features.

Key Features

Advanced Listening: Sprout Social tracks keywords, hashtags, and industry topics to help brands understand customer conversations and overall sentiment.

Sentiment and Trend Analysis: It analyzes conversations for sentiment and helps brands spot trends by showing which topics are gaining traction over time.

Social CRM Integration: The tool links social interactions to individual profiles, helping businesses manage relationships and improve customer service.

Content Strategy: The platform provides insights into what content resonates most with your audience, allowing brands to tailor their social content based on engagement patterns.

Brandwatch

Brandwatch is a top choice for large enterprises due to its in-depth, AI-powered social listening capabilities. It provides brands with deep insights into customer behavior, industry trends, and competitors. This tool suites large enterprises more or brands that need in-depth insights, trend forecasting, and comprehensive competitor analysis.

Key Features

AI-Powered Insights: Brandwatch leverages artificial intelligence to analyze sentiment, customer emotions, and conversation themes with precision. This allows brands to get a clearer picture of how customers feel about their products.

Data Visualisation: Brandwatch offers detailed and interactive visual reports, allowing teams to analyze trends and share insights effectively.

Competitor and Market Analysis: Brands can track competitors and market trends, identifying opportunities and threats early on.

Advanced Customization: The tool provides highly customizable dashboards and reporting options, tailored to the specific needs of each brand.

BuzzSumo

BuzzSumo is a leading tool for tracking content performance and identifying trending topics across social media. It is particularly popular with content marketers and PR teams for its ability to discover high-performing content and influencers.

Key Features

Content Discovery: BuzzSumo helps brands identify which topics are trending and what type of content is resonating with audiences. This is essential for creating timely and relevant content.

Influencer Identification: It helps brands find key influencers and thought leaders in their industry who are driving engagement around specific topics.

Competitor Analysis: BuzzSumo allows brands to see what content is performing best for their competitors and how they can improve their own content strategy.

Backlink Analysis: It provides insights into which content is generating the most backlinks, helping brands optimize their SEO and link-building strategies.

An effective social listening team plays a crucial role in understanding customer sentiments, tracking brand reputation, and identifying emerging trends. To achieve these goals, the team requires a diverse mix of skills and collaboration across various departments. Here’s a breakdown of the essential skills and team structure needed for success in social listening:

Key Skills Required

Skills are essential for social listening team members because they directly impact the effectiveness and efficiency of the team in achieving its goals. Here are some of the most important ones:

Social Media Monitoring: Team members with monitoring skills track relevant conversations about the brand, industry, competitors, and customer sentiment. This effective monitoring keeps the team informed of real-time discussions, enabling quick responses to customer inquiries or concerns and helping maintain a positive brand image.

Analytics: Data analysts within the team focus on analyzing the collected data to identify insights, trends, and patterns in customer behavior and sentiment. By leveraging analytics, the team can gain a deeper understanding of audience preferences, measure the impact of social initiatives, and inform strategic decisions.

Content Creation: Content creators are responsible for crafting engaging social content in response to customer feedback, trends, or specific campaigns. Timely and relevant content helps to foster engagement, build community, and reinforce the brand’s voice across social platforms.

Community Management: Community managers interact with followers, customers, and influencers, facilitating conversations and addressing concerns. Strong community management builds trust and loyalty, encouraging positive interactions and enhancing the overall customer experience.

Reporting: Team members responsible for reporting document findings and present actionable recommendations based on insights gathered through social listening efforts. Clear and concise reporting helps stakeholders understand the effectiveness of social strategies and guides future initiatives.

Team Structure and Collaboration

To effectively leverage these skills, the social listening team should consist of members from various departments, including:

Marketing: Collaborate on content strategy and promotional campaigns based on social insights.
Customer Service: Share feedback and concerns from customers, ensuring timely resolutions.
Public Relations (PR): Manage brand reputation and address any potential crises by leveraging insights from social listening.
Social Media: Implement engagement strategies and respond to customer interactions in real-time.

Utilising Dedicated Tools

Implementing dedicated tools, such as a social command center, can significantly streamline collaboration and communication within the team. A social command center offers:

Centralised Monitoring: Access to real-time social media feeds, enabling team members to monitor conversations from one platform.
Analytics Dashboards: Visual representations of data, allowing for quick interpretation and analysis of trends and insights.
Collaboration Features: Tools for team members to share insights, assign tasks, and manage responses, enhancing teamwork and efficiency.

Social listening is an invaluable tool for brands seeking to navigate the complexities of today’s digital landscape. By effectively tracking and analysing conversations surrounding their brand, competitors, and industry trends, businesses can gain deep insights into customer preferences and sentiments. This proactive approach not only enhances engagement and fosters stronger relationships with audiences but also empowers brands to make informed strategic decisions.

As social media continues to evolve, integrating social listening into marketing and communication strategies will be crucial for staying ahead of the curve, identifying opportunities, and addressing challenges in real time. Ultimately, brands that embrace social listening will not only strengthen their market presence but also cultivate a loyal community that feels heard and valued.