Why social listening matters a lot

If you're in the digital space right now (as you should be), you might have come across the phrase "social listening". So what does this mean exactly? Social listening tracks trends and conversations around the industry you are in with the goal of better understanding your target audience and competitors, uncovering potential leads, engaging with your audience, and identifying key potential influencers and brand ambassadors within your industry.

SummaryHow to use social listening to identify influencers and industry advocatesWhat you should look for in an influencerHow to contact influencersWhat a business should expect from an influencer

How to use social-listening to identify industry-influencers and advocates industry

Now that you know what it is, it's important to know how you can leverage it to identify advocates and influencers to improve your brand's digital presence. Social Listening will help you keep track of the keywords you should be using in your blogs, posts, and website to rank higher on Google and other search engines.

When you can track mentions of your business, it also allows you to provide excellent customer service; the possibility of finding a tweet about your products or services or even a bad review allows you to recognize and respond in a timely manner, which can potentially boost your reputation.

As many as 59% of Americans believe that access to customer service on social media has made it much easier to solve their problems and answer their questions. (Lyfe Marketing, 2018) . That's enough to tell you that in the digital space, there's a lot of potential for growth using social listening.

What you should look for in an influencer

Ready to go down this road and essentially become an online sleuth for your business? That's great, and that's where NetbaseQuid comes in. NetbaseQuid gives you the most accurate and fastest social media analytics, so you can focus on building your brand on other fronts.

Fluent in 42 languages ​​and giving you real-time reports, you don't have to spend precious minutes or even hours waiting for a report to know what next step for your brand to take.

Influencers, on the other hand, are the human connection to your program. They are essential to make your brand more personal and they act as a face that visitors to your online store can identify with.

When trying to find an industry influencer for your business, you need to find one that:

• Is friendly and has built an excellent reputation online. This shows that they will most likely do the same for your brand.
• Is passionate and keeps abreast of the latest trends.
• Actively engages with his audience and knows how to keep the conversation going.
• Is genuine and has established a relationship of trust with his audience, so his followers really care about what he has to say.
• Is a good marketer who can seamlessly integrate your content into their timeline, so they don't hijack their audience.
• Is authoritative and has a well-organized website or other online presence.
• Has a personality that matches your brand well, which will help you connect with the right audience.

How to contact influencers

It's good to understand that influencers, even those without a large online presence, are likely to receive a lot of emails asking for their services. Here's how to make sure your pitch to influencers doesn't get lost in their emails:

• Research their background so you know exactly what you're about to get into.
• Check their numbers; including followers, engagement rates, post cadence, and comment relevance.
• Interact with those you care about to get their attention and break the ice.
• Find out their motivation which could be community building, money, fame, free products or even a strong desire to change the world.
• Decide how much compensation you are willing to give them for their time and be prepared to negotiate.

What a business should expect from an influencer

You need to outline what you expect from an influencer to make sure you're not setting yourself up for failure. You can do this by:

• Increased reach and brand awareness.
• Generate higher revenue for your goods or services.
• User-generated content from both the influencer and their audience, further enhancing your brand presence.

If influencer marketing sounds like something you'd like to try for your brand, then check out NetbaseQuid for a range of solutions for your brand or business marketing needs!