Monitoring social media is essential for any business, as it helps improve customer service, prevent social media crises, and identify potential leads. However, simply having the right tool is not enough; a good strategy is also required. In this regard, we have put together some effective strategies that cater to different objectives, and we explore the importance of social media monitoring, the most critical aspects, and how to define appropriate keywords.
Social media monitoring involves observing social media platforms for relevant information and analyzing the data collected to create measures that unlock the full power of monitoring. Social media monitoring and social listening are often used interchangeably, although the latter involves observing conversations and trends affecting the industry as a whole and using the results to improve marketing strategies.
The benefits of social media monitoring and listening are numerous, including crisis prevention, better customer service, competition analysis, brand monitoring, improved image, lead generation, and more influencer interactions. Monitoring with a clear strategy is more effective than merely tracking keywords, as it involves deciding objectives in advance, identifying the appropriate platform, defining keywords, and establishing key performance indicators (KPIs).
To achieve different objectives, we have outlined nine key social media monitoring strategies that can boost online visibility and enable businesses to listen to their customers. These include setting up monitoring manually or using monitoring software, clarifying the team’s objectives, defining queries that consist of keywords and operators, testing queries to refine monitoring strategies, and using sentiment analysis to collect online conversations and classify them.
Other strategies include finding user-generated content by tracking brand names, product names, and slogans, generating leads by monitoring keywords and making contact with potential clients, and identifying influencers by tracking relevant keywords and collaborating with them to increase reach and promote trust.