With the increased use of social networks, companies have increasingly sought ways to analyze their online presence and understand the public’s perception of their brand. In this context, several social media analysis techniques have emerged, such as Social Listening, Social Monitoring and Social Performance.
While these terms are often used together, they refer to distinct practices that offer different insights into a brand’s social media presence.
According to the study of NTT DATA, 70% of Latin American companies say they have increased their investment in digital marketing in the period of 2022. Of the companies surveyed, 10% say they allocate more than 60% of the investment to the digital marketing department and hope to increase it to more than 85% in the future.
With most companies investing in digital marketing, it’s worth understanding the difference between this type of marketing and standard marketing because, instead of taking your brand, product or organization to other people (think TV ads, billboards, radio or even banners on websites), you make it part of a conversation that people voluntarily participate in.
Given the fact that without measurement there is no management, a well-developed marketing strategy depends on a lot of research. Learning about different methodologies will help you make fact-based decisions, increasing brand awareness and satisfying your buyer persona from start to finish.
In this text, we will explore the differences between Social Monitoring, Social Listening and Social Performance, and how each of these techniques can help companies improve their social media marketing strategy.
What is Social Monitoring?
Social Media Monitoring is a strategy that allows, in practice, to find, track and respond to mentions of brands, products, sectors or specific topics on any social media platforms. This technique is used by companies, organizations and individuals to keep track of what is being said about them on social media and make informed decisions based on this information.
It is a strategy that starts from a micro action and involves monitoring several social networks, including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and others. This allows companies to track what is being said about them across multiple platforms, gain insights into public perception of the brand, and identify marketing opportunities.
There are several social media monitoring platforms available that allow businesses to monitor brand mentions, relevant keywords, and industry-related hashtags. Companies can also create alerts to receive notifications whenever their brand is mentioned on social media, as an automation, allowing them to quickly respond to positive and, especially, negative feedback.
Social Media Monitoring is important because it helps companies with valuable insights about their audience for marketing strategies. This includes identifying, for example, market trends, monitoring the competition, evaluating the effectiveness of marketing campaigns and obtaining feedback about your products or services.
With monitoring, it is also possible to identify reputation crises and act quickly to minimize damage. For example, with Brandwatch it can detect that negative conversation is forming around the brand, helping the company take immediate action to respond to negative feedback, correct problems and clear up misunderstandings.
In short, Social Media Monitoring is a valuable marketing technique for companies or individuals to monitor social networks for important mentions about a brand, product or sector. It is fundamental, as it allows and helps the responsible professional to build connections and create relationships with clients quickly and on an individual level.
What is Social Listening?
In another strategic way, Social Media Listening goes beyond monitoring brand mentions, as it uses interaction data and other metrics provided in analysis – whether from a campaign or not – to obtain insights and draw conclusions, in addition to allowing companies discover influencers, develop new products or services, find, track and manage crises.
Social Listening involves using a social media monitoring platform to track mentions in text, images (logos and contexts), at signs, urls and relevant hashtags, such as Brandwatch, leader in the segment and which also included other important resources in a complete ecosystem for digital marketing.
Companies can set up alerts to receive notifications whenever their brand or product is mentioned on social media. This allows them to quickly respond to negative feedback, resolve customer service issues, and build stronger connections with their followers.
In addition to monitoring mentions themselves, Social Media Listening also involves observing trends and relevant conversations around the brand’s industry or niche. This may include tracking relevant hashtags and keywords to identify key market trends and adapt your marketing strategy accordingly.
For example, if companies notice that many people are dissatisfied with a certain aspect of their product, they can take steps to correct the problem and improve customer satisfaction.
Additionally, Social Media Listening can also be used to identify relevant influencers and partner with them to promote the brand. Companies can find influencers who have already mentioned their brand on social media and use them as brand advocates in future campaigns.
In short, Social Media Listening is an important marketing technique that allows companies or individuals to monitor the internet for relevant mentions of their brand or industry. Allowing the identification of trends and valuable insights about the audience to take action to improve the marketing strategy and online presence.
What is Social Performance?
Social media performance is a term that refers to a company’s ability to manage its accounts and campaigns on social networks effectively, obtaining success metrics to evaluate the performance of different actions. This includes creating compelling content, engaging with the community, analyzing results, and adapting strategy as needed.
One of the main indicators of success in social media performance is engagement. This means that people are interacting with the brand’s content, commenting, liking and sharing posts. Engagement is an important factor because it helps increase the organic reach of content, causing more people to be exposed to the brand.
Another factor that contributes to performance on social media is consistency in publishing content. This means having a regular posting schedule so that the community can expect and engage with the content. Knowing that the quality of content is as important as quantity, it is necessary to create publications that are relevant and interesting to the public.
Data analysis is another important point of social media performance. Through Brandwatch’s personalized dashboards, you can evaluate campaign performance and identify areas for improvement. Metrics that are commonly monitored include reach, engagement, website traffic, conversions, and return on investment (ROI).
It is important to remember that social media performance is not something that can be achieved quickly, it is a constant and continuous process that requires constant monitoring and adjustments, like the famous AB tests. Creating a solid strategy and carefully executing that strategy are critical to success on social media.
Social media performance is, in short, the ability of a brand or individual to manage their accounts or campaigns successfully, creating attractive content and interacting with the community in the most effective way possible. It is a continuous process that involves data analysis and constant adjustments to improve the results achieved.
To keep in mind and practice
It is clear that Social Listening, Social Monitoring and Social Performance are distinct approaches, each with its own unique purpose and benefits in managing a brand’s online presence. Social Listening allows companies to track consumers’ conversations and sentiments, gaining valuable insights to improve their marketing strategies and make informed decisions. Social Monitoring, in turn, focuses on observing and analyzing direct brand mentions, allowing you to quickly identify problems and opportunities in real time. Social Performance, with the help of platforms such as Brandwatch, offers a comprehensive and in-depth view of the brand’s performance on social networks, providing precise metrics to evaluate the impact of campaigns and the effectiveness of the strategies adopted.
When we talk about Brandwatch, we are talking about a platform that stands out as a powerful solution for companies looking to maximize their presence on social media. With its advanced monitoring, data analysis and reporting functionalities, Brandwatch allows brands to track, analyze and optimize their social media marketing strategies.
By bringing together qualitative and quantitative insights, the platform enables companies to better understand the impact of their actions, adjust their approaches as needed, and drive tangible results.
Therefore, Social Listening, Social Monitoring and Social Performance, with the support of Brandwatch, play complementary and essential roles in the effective management of any brand’s online presence. By adopting an integrated approach that leverages the advantages of each strategy, companies are better equipped to understand and meet the needs of their target audience, enhance their online reputation and drive business growth.