Social media isn’t a one-way conversation. As well as responding to followers, successful event planners listen to what they’re saying. This is known as social listening. Tuning into comments about your own events, your event business, and your chosen niche is an invaluable way of understanding your customers and their preferences.
In this post, we’re going to share tips on understanding your social media data to truly understand what your customers want.
Good news! Your social media data is easy (and free) to access.
You probably have a good idea of what’s going on with your social media followers, but facts and figures are your best friends when it comes to making the most of this marketing tool. Familiarize yourself with the admin pages for your social media platforms. Without spending a penny, you’ll see
- How many likes and followers do you have?
- How many people have viewed your content?
- Engagement (such as re-posts and comments)
- Audience demographics
- Your spend so far, if you have chosen to spend money on social media
- Popular keywords and hashtags
Did you know there are other sources of information too?
If you use a scheduling platform to plan your social media, check out the analytics options offered there. Sites that allow you to shorten links are a source that can be overlooked when it comes to insights. You’ll quickly gain an understanding of which types of posts are the most popular. If you regularly post new blogs, this is invaluable when it comes to planning the type of content your followers are interested in.
How to become BFFs with your followers.
Analytics platforms give you access to information about your followers’ habits and interests. This is vital for putting together an effective social media marketing strategy. By understanding when they spend time online, you can schedule the majority of your posts for this time too. By seeing what their interests are, you can tailor your content to match. Likewise, if you want ideas for an event that will resonate with your audience, familiarise yourself with this data.
Understand what people are saying about your event business.
Negativity can bring down a business. If someone chooses to express their dissatisfaction on social media, it’s essential to address this quickly. If This Then That (IFTTT) is a free service that allows you to create simple automated tasks: if this happens, then do that. It has many uses for your personal life (try the chain that gives you a reminder if you haven’t hit your Fitbit goals by the end of the week), but is even more useful when it comes to social listening.
For example, you could set up a chain to scan an RSS feed of industry websites, and then notify you if your business has been mentioned:
If someone mentions my business name on my RSS feed [the ‘if this’ part], then send me an email alert [the ‘then that’ part]
If your business name is commonly misspelled, set up searches that take this into account too.
Keep an eye on your competitors.
Using IFTTT, set up a recipe (this is the term that IFTTT has chosen to mean ‘rule’) that alerts you to your competitors’ actions. You might even want to know when your competitors are failing to impress their customers. This allows you to reach out to them, provide assistance, and start building a relationship. Try creating recipes like the ones below:
“Joe’s Event Biz can’t” or “Joe’s Event Biz won’t” or “Joe’s Event Biz failed”
Tune into social media and you’ll understand your customers’ needs much better.
Social media works best when business owners treat it as a two-way street. It’s a great resource for shouting about how great your organization is and the exciting events you have planned, but that’s only half the story. Customers are increasingly using social media to interact with businesses for everything from asking a question about an event, to sharing feedback.
In order to cultivate genuine, lasting engagement with your target market, your social media marketing strategy has to listen and respond.
Do you have a social listening strategy? Share your tips below or on Twitter!
