At a time when influencers and brands are being called out left and right, we’re not far off the mark when we say that Social Listening on Social Media Or, as it's also called, social listening is more important than we think.
Numerous Influencers are losing followers and partnerships with brands simply because they are unaware of the real lives led by their users and the rest of us mere mortals. Living detached from that reality has ultimately created a barrier between them and their followers, and that is now taking its toll (a phenomenon that, moreover, coincides with The Changes Brought About by the New Regulations on Influencers in Spain).
How could they have avoided this situation? By listening to and observing their audience. And this is where We recommend social listening not just influencers, but also any brand or profile that manages its social media.
What is social listening?
This is the a process by which we search for and analyze what is being said online about a brand, a product, or a topic, that is, what conversations are taking place regarding a specific topic.
The goal is understand why those conversations are taking place, what feelings they evoke and whether the tone is positive or negative.
Keeping close track of these conversations allows you to:
- Anticipating a Reputational Crisis before they become a bigger problem.
- Analyze the Competition and identify what's working in their strategy.
- Assess the impact for a launch, a campaign, or an event.
- Get to Know Your Audience Better to provide you with a message that truly resonates with you.
What social listening platforms are available?
There are numerous tools that can help you with social listening for your brand. Here, we've compiled a list of the best-known and most-recommended ones.
Brandwatch
Brandwatch It is the recommended option for large companies, since it allows handle large volumes of mentions. Its services include:
- Consumer Intelligence, which helps you gain a deeper understanding of your audience
- Social Media Management, to develop a social media strategy
- Influencer marketing, to discover, manage, and analyze influencer campaigns.
To find out their prices, you need to request a demo.
Lumen by Talkwalker
Similar to Brandwatch, but specialized by industry and with strong capabilities in brand and reputation analysis. Lumen by Talkwalker It also stands out for detecting conversations beyond conventional social media platforms.
This tool is integrated with Hootsuite, the platform originally designed for scheduling social media content, which has become a much more comprehensive solution thanks to these types of integrations.
Meltwater
Meltwater, in addition to providing data about your brand, It helps you identify emerging trends and conversations related to other topics. It has incorporated artificial intelligence into its platform to improve the accuracy of its results.
Brand24
The most affordable option, with a free trial available. Brand24 It's a good option for small brands: it offers monitoring of mentions, sentiment, reach, and influencers. Its main limitation is that it does not allow for benchmarking against the competition.
Mention by Agorapulse
Focused primarily on track mentions of a brand, product, competitor, or keyword. Mention by Agorapulse It doesn't offer as in-depth an analysis as the previous ones, but it is more accessible and easier to use.
Bonus track: two free alternatives
If none of these tools appeal to you because of the price or because you find all this information overwhelming, there are two options that don't cost a thing:
- Search for that brand, product, or topic using the site's internal search engine on each social media platform and simply listen and see what people are talking about.
- Read the comments and messages that users send you. They won't always be right—there's also baseless hate out there—but, especially when it comes to brands, they can provide a lot of valuable information.
Social listening isn't just another tool—it's the foundation for making content and branding decisions based on real data, rather than assumptions.
In the end, social listening is nothing more than a way to avoid surprises: Listen before the conversation forces you to react. That's exactly the kind of work we do at Geotelecom from our social network management: Stay vigilant so the brand doesn't always fall behind.
