If you’re focused on growing or maintaining a brand, you’re probably wondering, on some level, how you look in the eyes of the public. If not, you should be.
Luckily, understanding public perception of your company doesn’t require you to read minds or jump to conclusions on your own. Social listening—a system for tracking, analyzing, and responding to online conversations about your brand or business—is here to save the day. In other words, you’ll have insights upon valuable insights that can help you keep your customers happy and ensure your company continues to thrive.
But how do you actually utilize social listening to monitor your online reputation? There are a number of both free and paid tools out there to help you track public perception of your products, brand, and company—and some can also help you keep an eye on your competitors. If you’re looking to cultivate your online reputation, read on.
Why Social Listening Matters
Social listening is much more than scrolling through Google My Business reviews or glancing at how you appear in Google’s search results. The key difference is that you’ll be taking an active approach to this feedback. Maybe that means shifting your entire marketing strategy based on the buzz surrounding your product. Then again, active social listening could involve something as simple as responding to a customer review
Customers are the backbone of every company. And those customers have been spreading the word about your product online, both good and bad. Genuinely engaging with them—showing that you care by your continued efforts to improve your business—goes a long way toward keeping your customers engaged and happy.
3 Social Listening Tools to Try
Remember those free and paid tools we mentioned earlier? There are some pretty snazzy ones out there to assist you in social media reputation management. Let’s take a look at some of our top picks!
Sprout Social
Over 20,000 brands all over the world use Sprout Social, and with good reason. It’s something of a one-stop-shop for social media analytics, publishing, and engagement across every social media profile your brand operates.
Think about it: it’s far easier to have all your analytics in one place, rather than logging into multiple accounts and becoming disorganized in the process. As a growing company, you’ve already got a prolific amount of data to keep straight—why not make the social listening aspect of your marketing that much more straightforward? Sprout Social is a paid tool, but it does offer a free 30-day trial for companies looking to test it out.
Hootsuite
Hootsuite is an immensely popular social media reputation management platform. You’ve probably heard it mentioned alongside other programs that have become staples of office culture—Slack, Outlook, and the like.
But what makes Hootsuite so unique? Again, it’s all about having access to data in one convenient place. You’re given a user interface—essentially a dashboard—where you can integrate your big-name social media handles, including Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, and YouTube. Pretty handy, right?
Similarly to Sprout Social, Hootsuite allows you to manage your online reputation and keep your customers coming back for more without laboriously logging into multiple social media accounts. That means a lot of extra time on your hands to develop other aspects of your company, and happy customers who get smart answers to their questions quickly.
Hootsuite also offers a free 30-day trial and a pricing plan based on the number of integrated sites you’ve set up. If you’re looking to accelerate your brand’s positive social media press today, take a peek!
GoFish Digital Complaint Search
Looking for a way to monitor online chatter about your business without spending money? We’ve got a tool for you—GoFish is a free service that allows you to track negative reviews on over 40 “complaint websites” like Yelp and the Better Business Bureau.
Why does this matter in terms of reputation management, you ask? Those negative reviews may very likely be ranking in Google’s search results, which can quickly mean bad press. Finding those negative reviews with GoFish is step number one. Responding to them—i.e., addressing the customer’s concerns and showing that you’re taking steps to improve their experience—is step number two.
Grow Your Online Presence With Snap
The majority of your customers will be looking you up online before making a significant purchase, so cultivating a positive online presence is a must. Snap’s here to help with that.
Who are we, exactly? We’re a digital marketing agency committed to creating strong strategies and powerful content that will allow your company to succeed. We utilize social listening across multiple channels to determine where you’re doing well, and where your brand may need a little extra polishing. For even more insight into the social listening process, contact us today!