Social listening is the first step to creating content that goes viral on social media.
“What did you say?” mark the question. dad is kidding!
But in all seriousness, social listening can be the difference between an extraordinary social media strategy that drives thousands of new eyes to your content and, subsequently, your brand.
In this article, I will show you why social listening is critical and how it has helped many of the clients I coach at The Social Cliq.
What is Social Listening?
Before we discuss why social listening is so important, let’s define it.
Simply put, social listening is the practice of monitoring and analyzing online conversations.
This includes reviewing comments on your content, how your content is being viewed and engaged with, sharing examples, and any pointers your viewers give you.
It also involves spending time looking at what’s happening on social media, such as what content competitors are producing, how their followers are interacting, and what the ‘best in show’ looks like.
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Why is social listening so important?
When done right, social listening can be incredibly effective for planning content strategies that are more likely to succeed.
Social listening isn’t just about watching your personal feed or your ex’s Instagram Stories.
For example, if you’ve seen how your competitors are creating viral content in your niche, you can research that content, look for commonalities between posts, and start using that information to influence the type of content you produce.
Social listening can also keep your customers and audience more engaged with your brand, especially if you use their comments to dictate the type of content you create. Influencer dancers Cost n’ Major are a great example of this, often capturing user content and responding to it in their short videos.
Finally, effective social listening can also help you avoid creating content that offends or disturbs your audience. By staying in touch with what’s happening on social media, you can begin to better understand your audience’s thought process and avoid potential pitfalls.
Continue learning: Brand Reputation and Customer Relationship Management in Social Media
How to implement social listening to create viral content
To conduct effective social listening, set aside some time in your schedule each week to analyze the interactions you receive with your content. It’s best to do this about 48 hours after you post the content, as this time frame allows your audience to see what you’ve posted, but it’s not long before the review no longer seems useful.
Waiting 48 hours also allows room for genuine interaction in the comments section, and you can observe where conversations are going before jumping in.
You should also compile a list of competitors and monitor their content and engagement on a weekly basis, picking out what their audience loves and what they don’t seem so excited about.
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Social listening is just one of the many aspects of content creation that can contribute to social media success.
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