What is Social Listening? We explain the method

Social media has long become a billion-dollar business. This calls for new methods to better understand and optimize what's going on. We explain what social listening is all about.

Social listening is the foundation for an even more effective social media strategy.

Social media brings people together - and that means big profit opportunities. Social listening is about better understanding digital platforms.

What is social listening and who benefits from it?

Social listening is about listening closely to what's happening on the social media channels of companies, brands or individuals to draw insights.

• On the one hand, the focus is on the company's own position: Based on the followers' reactions to things like new products or news, conclusions can be drawn regarding the brand reputation.
• On the other hand, the competition as well as the entire market are also observed, including the users' reactions to them. New trends can thus be identified at an early stage.
• In consequence, social listening should help to respond even better to the needs of followers. This applies to all aspects, starting with customer service and general communication to finding ideas for new products.

Since social media analyses consist of large, unstructured amounts of data, professional tools are used in social listening. Because of the need, specialized agencies have emerged to take on this task. Looking at the growth rates of networks like Instagram, it seems clear that social listening will play an increasingly important role in the future.