Four reasons why agencies should employsocial listening

2020has beenan eventful year for change.It is becoming increasingly clear that the brandswehave come to know and loveare beingaskedto play an even more significantrole in shaping the worldwelive in.

Like never before,agenciesrequire a better methodto listen.Inourmost recent report on industry trends,companies that use social listeningcan assist their clients in creatinghigher value, knowtheircustomers, and providebetterwork.Conversely, agencies that choosetonot use itareforced to rely on thesame old heuristics , and their instinctsall by themselves.

Stillnot convinced?Here are four reasons youragencymust invest in social-media listeningtoday.

1. Finding valuable consumer insights

Intoday’s connected world the brands mustbeaware of their customers desires, needs,and even their own opinions.

A good example: themost discussed topicofour digital marketing agency report wasthe interactionbetweenconsumer insights and brands.Consumers have their own concerns thatagenciescan solve and are becomingmoreactive than ever before.

Conversation Clustersisan easy-to-use datavisualization toolthat allows you toquickly understand, discover,andvisualise the context surroundingany subject in aglance.

Equipped with social-listeningdata, agencies are able to helptheirclients in establishingmore lasting, deeper relationshipswith their customers.

Social listeningassists agencies in identifyingdetails that givethem anadvantage.It may be thesolution toa problem inan under-researched segment or a fresh perspectiveon a product to supporta creative pitch.

For one agency, it was a cleverresponse to the recent lockdown craze.In leveraging the hugesuccess of thegame Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Ogilvy Toronto delivered oneof the most impactfulcollaborations oftheyear.Five days in, the playerswere ableto trade their turnips –one ofthe game’s most valuable itemsin real food donations(asum of $20,000 worth).

Ultimately, agencies that use social listening to gather consumer insights are better placed to frame their client’s goods and services in a contextually-relevant way.

2.Bettermeasurement

Prior to the advent and growth ofsocial media, most advertisingor communication agencies relied onbottom-line metrics like salesto determine the successin their advertising campaigns.Although there’s nothingwrong with this,it can be a bitofa blunt instrument.

These days, agencies requiremore sensitive ways to modelandmeasure the valuetheybring totheir clients.Monitoring social media carefullywill give your agency morecontrolover the campaigns of clients,and instant feedback from multiplesources.You can also segment, stratify, and prioritizechannels thatprovide themost relevant information needed.

Foran example, you’ll be able to finda high-level viewabout the potential impact of acampaign, hashtag,orother talking point that includesan engagementmeasurement like thepotential reach.You can thendig deeper.The ability to focuson the valuable data streamstaken fromFacebook, Instagram, Twitter (plusseveral otheroffline sources)can give you an extensiveinsight into how people feelabout you and your creative.

Being able to pinpointthe individuals who are expressing what opinions and -as important – whattheythink of your clientswith the help of a software like an analysis of the sentiments, can bean excellentway to demonstrate how effective the processoffeedback via social mediacan help organizations stay ahead of the curve.Our industry report foundclearly a link betweenpositive reviews for an advertisingcampaign like Nike’s “You Can’tstop Us’ adand the agencythat developed it, as aninstance(Wieden+Kennedy).

Topic analyticshelp you findconnections between topics, givingyou an extremely visual waytoconvey important relationships.

3. Crisis management

Consumers are more vocalthanthey have ever been.In addition, their voicecan be heard everywhere,inreal-time.

Like you’d expect,crisis management is a keypart of social listening.Companies that spot problems beforetheydo arise will have an edgeover theircompetition.Additionally, they will be able toprotect their clients better.

A sound social listening strategyaids agencies in aspectrum of crises management situations.Complaints about faulty products becomereal-time conversations which can help address issues or gather information torectify negative sentiment.Changes in public opinion that are suddencan be managed.The feedback on creatives that don’t get a good reception becomesa way to make changesor, inthe case of serious issues take a different direction.

Social listening ultimately helpsagenciesbecome guardians forbrands theyworkwith. Itkeeps clients informedabout any problems they mayhave missed , and gives thefacts needed fora well-considered and educatedreaction, working together.

4. Competitive intelligence

Our report on the agency industry looked attheissues facing the marketin 2020.In the wake of the pandemic that plunges worldeconomies intouncertainty, agencies are increasinglyfinding new ways to innovateandthrive. Competitive intelligence isamongthem. Inessence, social listening agency allows you toget into the most importantconversationspeople aren’t having aboutyour company.

Yourcompetition hastheir own systems and strategiesto be successful.Just likeyou, they’veinvestedtime and money to develop them.Through social listening, companiescan be a part of the conversationabout the factors that makeother brands are successful:

• What’s the driving force behind the successof aspecificcampaign?

• How are brands leveragingspecific media in order to makethebiggestimpact?

• What is your benchmarking strategyagainst the market?

With an effectivesocial listeningsystem and a competitive intelligence platform, you can have itseamlessly integrated into your go-to marketstrategy. Without it youwill be compelled to actwithout all the data neededto navigate the ever-changingworld.IfDarwincould have taught us anything, it’s that only thoseorganisms that are able to adaptremain.