There are over 500 million messages sent on Twitter every day. Do you have time to find all the ones that apply to your brand? Nope. That’s where the trusty robots come in. Automation, i.e. social monitoring, can truly be your best friend in modern business. It allows you to leverage the conversations that matter the most and white noise everything else.
Digital Marketing Institute
There are very few instances where social monitoring may not work for a business but for most brands, it is essential to staying on track with consumer needs. In fact, 54% of B2B marketers state they have generated leads from social media, so it’s also important for driving revenue. Here are some ways in which the strategy can be right for your business:
Customer Needs
In the age group of 18-34, 95% of adults follow a brand they like on social media. That means, as a business it’s easier than ever to meet customer needs. All the data is being offered by consumers for free. Social monitoring helps a business meet customer requests by immediately identifying any issues or useful suggestions.
The number of messages that require a brand response has increased by over 77% in the last few years and yet, 5 out of 6 messages still go unanswered. A business that is socially savvy will use monitoring tools to identify these queries as they come in. Just wait for a ping and answer in real time.
Lead Acquisition
A recent survey found that 44% of B2B marketers have generated leads via LinkedIn, 39% through Facebook, and 30% through Twitter. Of those leads, over 40% led to revenue. Social listening can guide a business in the right direction when it comes to lead acquisition. A company can ascertain where a consumer is in the sales funnel and help them along the buyer journey accordingly.
On the contrary, social listening can also tell sales and marketing teams where their leads have gone cold. This saves from running lengthy campaigns with ill effect or wasting time on a disinterested market. Social monitoring is the compass of modern business. It can tell you exactly where to go.
Competitive Analysis
Social monitoring can help a business be mindful of their competition. There is no rule against setting up social alerts for your competitor brands. There are a variety of things you can track about your competition to give you an extra edge, like:
- Brand name and label
- Customer reviews
- Complaints
- Successful marketing campaigns
- Unique tactics
The list continues. Basically, the best way to know what your competition is doing is to pay attention and listen. What are their successes? What are they failing at? Use this data to strategize your marketing approach.
NetBase
Is a social monitoring strategy the right move? The true answer is that it is almost always right for your business. The entire world is connected. Even rural farms have their own websites.
Most basic social monitoring tools are free, as are social media platforms. Only the most driven of brands will maximize a social monitoring strategy to the fullest effect. Those that do will discover data-driven insights that will not only drive revenue, but establish brand loyalty and create a lasting community of customers.