Social listening is the first step to creating content that goes viral on social media.
Cue the “What did you say?” dad jokes!
But in all seriousness, social listening can be the difference between an underwhelming social media strategy and one that draws thousands of new eyes to your content and, subsequently, your brand.
In this article, I will show you exactly why social listening is critical and how it has helped many of the clients I have coached at The Social Cliq.
What Is Social Listening?
Before we discuss why social listening is so important, let’s define it.
In simple terms, social listening is the practice of monitoring and analyzing online conversations.
It involves reviewing comments on your content, how your content is viewed and engaged with, sharing patterns, and essentially any cues that your audience provides you with.
It also involves spending time looking at what is actually happening on social media, such as what content competitors are producing, how their audiences are interacting, and what “best in show” looks like.
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Why Is Social Listening So Important?
When done correctly, social listening can be incredibly effective for planning content strategies that are much more likely to succeed.
Social listening is NOT just mindlessly scrolling through your personal feed or monitoring your ex’s Instagram Stories.
If, for example, you have seen how your competitors have produced viral content in your niche, you can dissect that content, search for commonalities between posts, and start to use that information to influence the type of content you produce.
Social listening can also make your customers and audience feel more engaged with your brand, especially if you use their comments to dictate the type of content you create. Influencer dancers Cost n’ Mayor are a great example of this, often pulling up user content and answering them in their short videos.
Lastly, effective social listening can also help you avoid creating content that offends or upsets your audience. By keeping in touch with what is happening on social media, you can start to understand your audience’s thought process better and avoid any potential issues.
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How to Execute Social Listening to Produce Viral Content
To conduct effective social listening, carve some designated time in your schedule each week to analyze the interactions you are receiving with your content. It’s best to do this about 48 hours after you have posted content, as this time frame allows for your audience to see what you have posted, but not too much time has passed that the feedback no longer seems beneficial.
Waiting 48 hours also allows space for authentic interactions in the comment section, and you can observe where the conversations are going before jumping in.
You should also make a list of competitors and track their content and engagement weekly, picking out what their audience loved and what they didn’t seem as 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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