Monitoring social media for market intelligence: beyond getting started

In a post I wrote more than a year ago, I explained that one of the core values of social media is to monitor the conversations on the social web for market intelligence. The information that you find can be very valuable because it will provide you with discoveries and insights that will help you to respond effectively, and ultimately increase your chance of success with your social media marketing campaign. In that piece, I gave an explanation on how easy it is to get started, using any of the available monitoring tools that are currently available to “listen” what people are talking about on the social web.

A very strategic way to monitoring the social web makes use of more complex and technical tools available that will provide you with opportunities for your business. This way of monitoring will happen only have if you have a strategic plan on how social media will help you attain your business objectives.

Social media monitoring at a deeper level of market opinion, influence, and activity will help you determine where the most market sentiments affects your business online. Find below a couple of tips you can use to monitor your target audience at deeper level. This approach is not set in stone and will vary depending on your needs, which target market you are trying to reach, and your business goals.

Identifying

With your monitoring research, identify the changes that will affect your business that occur within the short-term. Do you need to increase leads quickly? Do you need to build brand awareness immediately regarding your services? Do you need to repair your online reputation?

Determine what information you need from your monitoring strategy that could impact your business objectives. Your focus should be on the general topics that are the most relevant to your business. If you want to stay ahead with any new product launches, who are the influencers online that you can use to help you get the word out online? When you are armed with this information, you will be able to create a magnetic content marketing plan for your social media campaign.

Measure your target audience

Determine who you are going to engage with on the social web. Identify the key influencers for each business objective that you will use to initiate conversations. In plain English; if one of your business objectives will be to decrease the time it takes for your company to resolve issues, you will want use individuals that have a very strong vocal influence on their social circles.

Understand what makes the people tick that you will be targeting. This will make it much easier for you to identify the type of conversation that will take place.

Which channels to use?

On which social media channels can the people get found that you want to target? Is there a specific Facebook Page or Group that covers a topic that is related to a business objective you have? Is there someone on Twitter that tweets about your topic, and does that person carry any influence? Are there any blogs or forums where these people discuss any issues related to your business? Gaining access to what is being said about you on these channels will provide you with good insights that you can use.

By refining the process of listening on the social web for conversations related to your business, you will be able to use the insights gathered that can make a big difference on reaching your business objectives.

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