Social listening isn't just brand mentions and pop culture trends but it can lead to real-world impact, if done wright. When we saw a trend of corona pet adoptions we drove #AdoptDontShop after a deep dive into what people were looking for. Turns out, many wanted info on local shelters and adoption events. We did a kibble-flip on our content calendar and started featuring adoptable pups in need of loving forever homes on social media handles of DogwithBlog.in. We used heartwarming stories and adorable pics and we've seen a surge in shelter visits and many of our featured pups have found their forever families. Social listening = happy endings for rescue pups – that's the kind of content we love to see go viral! We also earned media mentions from originating from the tweets and this helped us gain more traction for our fosters and adoptions.
Back in 2019, during COVID times, while working with a B2B SaaS firm offering customer support solutions (live chat, chatbots, etc.), I noticed that customer experience (CX) was booming. I positioned myself as a CX leader on Twitter and LinkedIn, engaging with influencers like Shep Hyken and Dan Gingiss. By sharing content that highlighted our product's impact on CX, our posts gained traction and were reshared by industry professionals. It boosted our brand's visibility and organic traffic. This led us to launch a dedicated CX blog, further establishing our presence in the CX community.
During the preparation for one of the product launches, our social listening efforts revealed a significant concern among cybersecurity professionals about the complexity and resource intensity of implementing those products/systems. Recognizing this, we pivoted our earned media strategy to emphasize our solution’s ease of deployment and efficient resource utilization. We developed case studies and whitepapers highlighting successful, straightforward implementations. Additionally, we engaged with key industry influencers discussing these issues, resulting in influential endorsements. This strategic shift led to increased engagement and positive sentiment on social media, enhanced our media coverage quality, and significantly boosted demo requests and inquiries, demonstrating the power of adaptive, listening-driven marketing.
At Innovate, we closely monitor social media conversations to inform our earned media strategy. In one instance, we noticed a surge in discussions about sustainable business practices within our target audience. Although our initial strategy focused on promoting our design and development services, we saw an opportunity to align our messaging with this trending topic. We quickly pivoted by creating content highlighting our commitment to sustainability, such as case studies of eco-friendly projects and tips for businesses looking to adopt green practices. We also engaged with influencers and media outlets known for their focus on sustainability. This shift increased our media coverage and enhanced our brand's reputation as a socially responsible company. The pivot, driven by social listening, significantly boosted our engagement and reach within the target audience.
We initially launched a social media campaign for our new fitness tracker, promoting its calorie-counting features. We used social listening platforms to monitor the online conversation about fitness trackers. Through sentiment analysis, we found that a massive part of the conversation sought activity trackers to help users holistically achieve fitness with sleep monitoring and stress management features. This data revealed a disconnect between our messaging and the actual needs of the target audience. We adjusted our earned media strategy to focus on the device's holistic wellness capabilities. This resulted in increased positive brand mentions and significantly increased traffic to the website from key demographics. Social listening provided incredibly valuable insight that enabled us to modify our outreach and garner even more engagement from our target audience.
Certainly!We were handling the Facebook and Twitter accounts of a food delivery client when we saw that there was an increased amount of talk in the social media concerning a certain type of diet known as plant-based diet. We learned soon through social listening about the great demand for plant-based foods in the United States and demand for restaurant suggestions. From this perspective, the authors suggested a shift in the scope of earned media that emphasized the client’s choices of plant-based meals. To further expand on these sales, we reached out to influencers within the health and wellness niche to market the products and designed specific social media adverts that highlighted the proprietor’s multi Channel approach to satisfying its clients’ food requirements. Consequently, the client registered a 30% boost in activity level on the social media platforms and a 20% increase in the number of orders by customers regarding plant-based meals within one month of this reshuffle.
A peer of mine in the marketing industry shared an insightful example of how social listening led to a pivot in their earned media strategy. Their company, a mid-sized consumer goods brand, noticed through social listening tools that there was a rising conversation around sustainability and eco-friendly products within their target demographic. This trend indicated that their audience was becoming more environmentally conscious and preferred brands that demonstrated a commitment to sustainability. In response, my peer's team decided to shift their earned media strategy to highlight their sustainable practices and eco-friendly product lines. They collaborated with influencers and thought leaders who were passionate about sustainability to help amplify their message. This strategic move not only enhanced their credibility but also attracted significant media attention from publications focused on environmental issues. They also used the insights from social listening to refine their content and messaging. They developed detailed articles, infographics, and case studies that addressed the specific environmental concerns and questions their audience had raised. This approach not only boosted their earned media efforts but also deepened their connection with their community, showcasing that they were attentive and responsive to their audience's values and needs.
One particular instance that stands out is when I was promoting a high-end real estate project and decided to use social listening to better understand the target audience and their interests.At first, we had planned to market the property through traditional channels such as print ads and direct mailings.After conducting some social listening, we discovered that there was a growing trend among wealthy individuals to invest in eco-friendly and sustainable properties. This was a valuable insight that we wouldn't have been able to gather through traditional market research methods.With this information in hand, our team decided to pivot our earned media strategy and focus on promoting the property's sustainable features through social media channels. We highlighted the use of energy-efficient materials, the property's LEED certification, and its proximity to public transportation options. We also incorporated relevant hashtags such as #sustainableliving and #greenrealestate in our posts.The results were astounding. Our posts gained significant traction and engagement from potential buyers who were interested in eco-friendly properties. We even received inquiries from local media outlets about featuring the property in their sustainability and lifestyle segments.