Posted in Advertising, Branding, Business Communication, Business Marketing, Business Opportunities, Customer Relationship Management
Social media monitoring and why you need it
There is a big difference between social media monitoring and measurement , and there is a certain degree of importance to doing both. But taking the first step in this direction can be mildly intimidating. Just when do you know to stop listening and start doing something? Just who do you engage? And when you do engage your audience, how do you go about engaging them? To ensure that your efforts at social media monitoring are successful, here’s what you should do.
Define your objectives
What exactly are you focused on monitoring? Don’t do it just because everyone else is doing it and its “hip”. Do it because you know what you want. Do it if you want to know what people are saying about your brand. Do it if you want to know what people are saying about something. Knowing what you want will help you allocate your resources better.
Know where to monitor
Social media is all about conversations and as such there is a lot of chatter in the space. At its core, social media is all about relationships. And you can’t talk to everyone at once, so pick and choose where you want to hang out. Digitally speaking, of course. And be wherever your audience generally is.
Know what to monitor
Social media monitoring is keyword-based, and so pick the right keywords. Try keeping a track of company, brand and product names. Even competitors can be tracked as also key executives. Keep a handle on what to track because it’s key to success.
Pick and choose
There is a lot to social media. It is voluminous. There’s just so much happening that you can’t be in every place at one time. So make your social media monitoring more intelligent. Be savvy in your choices and focus on whatever is important.
Plan
There has to be a contingency plan in place. In addition, you need to have a plan on how to engage your audience even in more routine scenarios rather than just in isolated cases. When a blogger praises you, use that to benefit both parties. Create a customer advocacy program if you can. Deal with irate customers in a fixed manner and listen to feedback about your competitors too. Think about all of this and have plans in place to deal with everything.
