May 30, 2013

How Businesses Can Benefit from Monitoring Social Media

Social Media Strategy Posted by 2 Comments

Why you should monitor social mediaRight this minute, in another corner of the Internet, your customers (and prospective customers) are instagramming what they ate for lunch, tweeting about their upcoming camping trip, pinning pictures of destination wedding dresses, and “liking” one of your competitors on Facebook.

Sounds great right, so why should you care?

The answer is simple: By sharing so much, your connected customers, potential customers and even your competitors are telling you everything you need to do to be more successful. If you listen, they’ll tell you what to sell them, how to sell it to them and even (in the case of your competitors) how to beat them at their own game. All you need to do is look for key social signals with a social media management tool and use that information to move your customers and prospects to the next stage of the customer lifecycle..

We have created an eBook that will walk you through the details of using customer relationship signals through monitoring social media and using a social media management tool like Rignite to engage your customers and drive sales.

Download Now >>

Social Signals Type 1: Customer Relationship Signals

Chances are, after someone buys your product, they don’t go into a black hole forever (unless, of course, you are selling black hole tours). What really happens is that your customers use your product, buy upgrades or replacements and even talk about it with their friends. You can take advantage of these signals by listening and learning, then acting in a way that resonates specifically with their needs and desires. Watch out for these kinds of signals from your existing customers:

  • Anticipate Buying Signals – What do they want to buy and when?
  • Customer Service Signals – What issues do they have with your product?
  • Customer Satisfaction Signals – How happy were they with your product?
  • Customer Personality Signals – What will an individual react strongly (and positively) to?
  • Customer Segmentation Signals – What will resonate with all (or most) of your customers?

Social Signals Type 2: Prospective Customer Relationship Signals

Not everyone is your customer – but they can be. Social media is full of people who need and want your product, but just don’t know it yet. By monitoring for prospective customer relationship signals you can learn what they want/need as well as how to best show them the problems you can solve for them. Prospective customers will show these kinds of signals that you can react to:

  • Market Research Signals – Where is your industry going? What can you do to stay ahead of the curve?
  • Anticipate Buying Signals – What problems do people have that your product can solve?
  • Conquest Customer Signals – What can you do to help out when a customer of your competitor is unhappy?
  • Prospect Personality Signals – What will entice an individual to try your product themselves?
  • Prospective Customer Segmentation Signals – What campaigns or promotions will appeal to your entire market segment?

Social Signals Type 3: Competitor Signals

Very few businesses exist without competition – and frankly, that’s a good thing. The idea that your competition will drive you and help you grow is alive and well in the social media landscape. Using your social media management software and analysis of competitor signals, you can not only see what your competition is doing, but what you can do to improve yourself and your product. Look out for this kind of information from your competitors:

  • Competitor Market Signals – What are your competitors doing? Can it hurt/help your own marketing efforts?
  • Competitor Customer Service Signals – What are your competitors’ customers unhappy/happy about?
  • Competitor Research Signals – What needs does your competitors’ product meet/ not meet?

All of these types of signals, as well as specific examples, suggestions and how to avoid being creepy (yes, it’s a real concern) are covered in our new eBook:

Power of Social Signals How Monitoring Online Conversations Is Driving BusinessThe Power of Social Signals: How Monitoring Online Conversations is Driving Business Results

 

 

 

 

What are some creative ways you use monitoring social media to benefit your business?

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About the Author
Glen Kosaka

Glen Kosaka is the CEO and Founder of Rignite. He’s the guiding force behind Rignite’s mission to help businesses grow through social media.


  • Likesage

    Completely agreed with your article. Social media use to advertise and get more visitors to websites. But small business owners also can use promote their business. Most of people don’t use social media for advertising local businesses.

    • Kim

      Thanks for your comment. Glad you like the article!