What's happening?

Many businesses are on social media just for the sake of it – with the intention of monitoring and engaging with their followers on a regular basis. This however, normally goes out of the window after a couple of weeks.

But its these people who are missing out, while the more proactive of us reap the rewards of consistent social listening and keeping a close eye on what their industry is doing.

Respond to negative feed back

A lot of people take to social media to vent their frustration about a product or service. They love nothing more than to let everybody know of their poor experience and to rouse a debate. Negative press spreads like wildfire and with the simple like and share buttons it can become devastating for brand reputation.

By not responding it shows customers that you don’t care – so you really need to be on the ball. The easiest way is to set up alerts which notify you if there is a comment, particularly a negative one. By acknowledging these types of responses your brand and company can be better represented as well as providing a solution to a problem.

Keep a close eye on the competition

Focussing solely on your own business is fine but if you really want to corner the market it pays to keep an eye on the competition. There is no way of getting the upper hand if you don’t know what they’re up to?

Following or liking a competitor Facebook page for example is a great way to be alerted to what they’re up to. From this you can plan a strategy that does similar or to better effect. The same can be said for Twitter, use hashtags and people tagging to be alerted to what competitors are doing, and don’t be afraid to step in if you can do it better.

Monitor industry changes

Times change fast, as does industry, so when your brand is mentioned on social media you should be on it in a flash. Many social media managers will spend hours searching for their brand or keywords relating to their brand on social media.

It might be that someone is having a discussion about a particular product or service, when that happens its a chance to generate new leads and potentially drive sales or traffic to your website.

You may not be everyone’s first thought but at least you’re putting your brand in front of them and at the same time creating a nice bit of digital PR for your business. In the long run this could be hugely beneficial, not too mention profitable.

Conclusion

The social media opportunities are endless when you can engage with people in real time. If you don’t have the man hours then you need to make time, make a plan where you can dedicate a portion of your working week to social media, the benefits if done correctly are endless.