Listen closely: how to monitor your brand's online presence using social listening

Imagine you could listen in to conversations your customers were having about your brand, would you find that useful? Yes, we thought the answer would be yes. Staying tuned in to the conversations happening around your brand helps you gain valuable insights, identify potential opportunities, and address customer concerns.  

Today, we'll explore the importance of social media listening and share tips on how to effectively monitor your brand's online presence. We'll also look at the impact AI, such as ChatGPT, has on the industry and its potential to enhance your social media listening efforts. 

Define your social listening objectives 

Before you can dive into social media listening, it's important you establish clear objectives. If you define your goals, you can focus on the right conversations and use the insights you gather more effectively. Your objectives might include monitoring brand sentiment, tracking competitor activity, identifying industry trends, or detecting potential customer service issues. However, these goals should be determined based on the nature of your industry.  

Choose the right tools and platforms 

Selecting the right social listening tools and platforms is essential for gathering accurate, relevant data. Various tools, both free and paid, can help you track mentions of your brand, monitor specific keywords, or analyse conversations in real-time.  

Here are some tools you might want to check out: 

• Sprout Social 

• Brand24 
• Brandwatch 
• Tweetdeck 
• Awario 
• Buffer 

• Keyhole 
• Talkwalker 
• Hootsuite 
• Buzzsumo 
• Hubspot 

There’s also a trend for AI-powered solutions like ChatGPT being integrated into social media listening tools, allowing for more efficient data analysis and insights generation.

More on that later...

Monitor relevant social keywords and phrases 

To keep track of the most relevant conversations, you need to create a list of keywords and phrases related to your brand, products, and industry. Don’t just focus on your own brand name. You’ll uncover goldmines of data on your audience by tracking product names, competitors, industry-specific terms, and hashtags.  

For example; a sustainable eco-friendly clothing brand might follow hashtags such as #SustainableFashion #EcoFriendlyClothing #EthicalFashion. It would also make sense to follow Sustainable materials, Organic cotton, Fairtrade, and Zero waste fashion. 

As AI continues to influence the industry, it’s important to make the best use of the resources available to help streamline the process. Tools like ChatGPT are invaluable for generating keywords based on your brand and industry. 

Analyse sentiment and trends 

Social media listening is not just about tracking mentions; it's about understanding the sentiment behind those conversations. By analysing the tone and emotions expressed in social media posts, you can gauge customer sentiment toward your brand and identify areas where you excel or need improvement.  

AI advancements, like those found in ChatGPT, are making it easier to process large volumes of data and analyse sentiment more accurately, helping brands make informed decisions based on customer feedback. 

Respond and engage proactively on social 

Actively engaging with your audience is crucial for social media listening. Respond to comments, address concerns, and thank your followers for their feedback. This way, you'll not only demonstrate that your brand is responsive and attentive but also foster a sense of community and loyalty among your customers. 

Track and measure social listening results 

To ensure your social media listening efforts are effective, it's essential to track and measure your results. Analyse the data you collect and identify trends, patterns, and areas for improvement.

There are several areas you might want to look at:  

• The number of times your brand is mentioned 
• The overall sentiment surrounding your brand 
• Key industry figures or influencers who mention your brand, products or services 

• Your brand’s share of online conversations compared to competitors 
• Top performing content (what content has the most likes, shares etc.) 
• Customer feedback 
• Emerging trends and topics (think hashtags) 
• Competitor analysis 

As AI becomes more prevalent in the industry, leveraging tools like ChatGPT can help you identify key insights more efficiently.

If given the right data ChatGPT can assist with sentiment analysis, trend detection, content suggestions, keyword and hashtag recommendations, influencer identification and so much more. This will allow you to adjust your social media strategy based on data-driven decisions. 

Harnessing social media listening for brand success 

Social media listening is a powerful discipline that helps brands to stay connected with their audience and maintain a strong online presence. By following these tips and embracing the potential of AI solutions like ChatGPT, you'll be well-equipped to monitor your brand's online presence effectively and use the insights you gather to make strategic decisions.  

As you stay in tune with the conversations happening around your brand, you'll be better positioned to meet your customers' needs, identify opportunities, and foster a loyal and engaged social media community.  

It just so happens that we have the perfect resource to help you achieve your brand listening goals: “The social media ChatGPT cheat-sheet".  Our cheat sheet contains a host of prompts you can use for everything from content suggestions to influencer identification. 

Remember, all good conversations start with listening.