Ever had a chance to see brands pouring love on posts that mentioned them? Unless you are just starting out, who has the time to dig out social mentions of their brand?
Almost nobody! But that shouldn’t stop you from carrying on this crucial endeavor. There are tons of benefits to tracking social mentions and bridging the gap between you and your target audience.
In this blog, we’ll find answers to what it is and how you can track it in one click without wasting much effort. Let’s get started!
What are social mentions?
Social mentions are posts that reference your brands either by tagging you in captions or just mentioning you in their post.
Tagging is a more common practice when the user wants to win your attention and waits for a response from your brand. In contrast, untagged social mentions are about general opinions, news, or conclusive statements about your brand.
Now the important question is it worth responding to every social mention? Well, the answer is a big yes. Let’s see why!
Why are social mentions important?
Social mentions indicate how your target audience perceives you as a brand. Are they talking negatively about your customer service, or are they happy with your latest feature updates?
Moreover, social mentions give away a handful of insights. Some of them are:
1. Act as social proofs
When a brand or individual is mentioned positively on social media, it can serve as social proof for others considering engaging with or purchasing from that brand or individual.
Here’s how a happy Audi customer used hashtags and shared his clicks, which the brand later reposted as social proof. Social proofs exhibit positive experiences about a particular service or product, making a brand more trustworthy.
They also act as social proof of credibility and authority. When a brand or individual is mentioned frequently on social media, it can establish them as a trusted and respected source of information or expertise in their field. This can lead to increased visibility, recognition, and influence within their industry or community.
2. Channel for customer service
Customers may use social media to express their opinions or seek help when they have queries, complaints, or concerns about a good or service.
Brands that monitor social media mentions can use this data to quickly identify and address customer issues, offering essential customer support. Additionally, outsourcing customer service to specialized providers can streamline the process and enhance overall efficiency.
In essence, integrating customer service outsourcing companies into your business strategy is not merely a cost-saving measure but a strategic move to enhance efficiency, elevate customer satisfaction, and ultimately foster the long-term success of your business.
See how Burger king uses their Twitter profile to solve queries of distressed customers when tagged. This demonstrates how brands can use social mentions to get customer feedback and learn more about their preferences, wants, and problem points.
By customizing your offerings to fit the changing demands of your clients, you may use this information to improve your products.
3. Role in reputation management
By tracking social mentions, brands can gain a better understanding of how they are perceived by their audience and identify any issues or areas for improvement. Brands can use this information to adjust their messaging and marketing strategies and address negative sentiment or feedback.
Here’s an instance when Amazon replied to a user and addressed the issue. A quick reply from them further makes a brand more approachable.
Social mentions can also be used to build and reinforce a positive reputation. Brands can leverage positive social mentions by sharing them on their social media channels, website, or other marketing materials. Potential clients become aware of your brand, giving you more credibility.
They help brands interact with their audience and develop relationships with consumers. By responding to social mentions promptly and thoughtfully, brands can demonstrate their commitment to customer satisfaction and strengthen their reputation as a customer-focused organization.
4. Impactful engagement with the audience
You should always quickly respond to queries and comments from your audience by using social mentions. Your audience is more inclined to interact with your brand when they believe their opinions are valued and their issues are being handled.
Here’s a screenshot of a BlackPink fan sharing K-pop snacks by Oreo. The user has also tagged all brands to share a bite of his happy moment.
Moreover, responding to social mentions in a personalized manner helps to humanize your brand and build stronger relationships with your audience. Tagging your audience’s profiles and responding to their problems will produce a more genuine interaction that encourages them to engage with your brand more frequently.
A social mention is essential for audience engagement since it helps you listen to, communicate with, and engage with your audience on social media. Social mentions will help you strengthen connections with your audience, increase engagement, and eventually advance your business.
5. Tab on competitors’ moves
Besides tracking your own mentions, monitoring those of competitors gives you unfair advantages. Once you have identified your competitors, you must identify relevant keywords related to your industry or products. This could include brand names, product names, industry terms, and common phrases used in your industry.
Set up alerts for specific keywords or phrases in social media monitoring tools. Like in this screenshot, social mentions of Adidas and Puma are tracked. Providing you notifications when they are discussed on social media allows you to keep up with what your rivals are doing and how your audience feels about them.
As soon as you start seeing your competitors’ mentions on social media, it’s essential to analyze them and respond appropriately. To learn more and enhance your social media approach, keep an eye on their social media activity, examine their material, and interact with their followers.
Now that you know it is super important to track social mentions, let’s dive into the process of tracking them.
How to track social mentions?
In this section, we have explained the rookie way and smart trick of tracking social mentions. Let’s start with the rookie one first!
Step 1: Start identifying the social media platforms where your target audience is most present. This might include social hotspots like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and others.
Step 2: Leverage the search function on each social media platform to look up pertinent terms associated with your business, products, or industry. This can include the names of your company and products and generic terms and expressions common to your industry.
Step 3: Review the search results and monitor any social mentions of your brand or industry. This could include mentions of your brand or products, comments on your posts, or mentions of your competitors.
Step 4: Once you have identified social mentions related to your brand or industry, engage with your audience by responding to comments and questions. It fosters bonds with your followers and expresses your gratitude for their feedback.
Tip: Observe your competitors’ social media activity by looking for their brands, items, and relevant hashtags or keywords. It aids you in keeping track of their actions and how your audience views them.
While tracking social mentions manually can be time-consuming. Nevertheless, it might be a viable strategy if you are on a budget or want to grasp your target market and rivals quickly.
Yet, social media monitoring tools can make the procedure more successful and efficient. One such tool that assists you in doing that is Keyhole. Here’s how:
1. Click on “Add New Tracker” under the Listening & Campaign Trackers. Type in the search terms or hashtags you want to monitor. Also, select the date range, the social media platforms you want to monitor, and other options.
2. After configuring your search, Keyhole will monitor social media mentions of your keywords or hashtags. Analyzing important metrics like reach, engagement, and sentiment is possible while viewing the results in real-time. The data can also be exported in multiple formats for extensive review.
3. By entering your rivals’ brand names or offerings as keywords, Keyhole also enables you to keep tabs on them. This enables you to monitor their actions and how your audience views them.
4. Tap into the insights you receive from Keyhole to interact with your audience by answering their questions and comments. This fosters ties with your followers and demonstrates your appreciation for their input.
You can improve your social media strategy by learning more about your audience and rivals using Keyhole to track social mentions. It is a powerful tool that can help you save time and effort monitoring social mentions and analyzing key metrics.
Now that you know how to track social mentions, let’s look at the best ways to respond to those.
Read More: Social Listening: Best Practices For Growing Businesses
How should you respond to social mentions?
It’s crucial to keep in mind that each case may be different and call for a different response when responding to social mentions. Here are some general pointers on how to reply to social mentions, though:
Respond in a timely manner: Try to respond to social mentions as quickly as possible, especially if they are related to customer service or support. A prompt response shows that you value your followers and are committed to providing excellent customer service.
Be amiable and optimistic: These are key attributes when responding to social mentions, regardless of how favorable or critical the remark may be. This lessens the potential for negative feedback and signals your approachability and willingness to interact with your audience.
Address the issue: If the social mention is related to a problem or issue, address it directly and provide a solution or explanation. Be transparent and honest, and offer to take the conversation offline if necessary.
Show appreciation: If the social mention is positive or complimentary, show appreciation and thank the person for their kind words. This helps to bridge the gap between you and your followers and shows that you value their support.
Use humor (if appropriate): Adding a pinch of humor in your response can be a great way to connect with your audience and show off your brand’s personality, provided the circumstance permits it. Be mindful not to offend or be insensitive, though.
Personalize always: Whenever possible, personalize your response by mentioning the person’s name or a specific comment they made. It makes a deeper emotional connection with your audience and demonstrates that you are considering their particular needs and issues.
Overall, communicating with your audience and developing relationships with your followers will require a leg-pulling effort. It’s best to respond in an uplifting, helpful, and effective manner by implementing these tips.
Which are the top three social media monitoring tools for keeping track of social media mentions?
The top 3 social media monitoring tools are listed below:
1. Keyhole
Keyhole is a complete social media monitoring tool that enables you to track and evaluate your brand’s social media presence on several different platforms. You can also schedule unlimited posts using Keyhole’s publishing feature.
It presents real-time insights into your online performance and shows you engagement, reach, sentiment analysis, and benchmarking data. You can also download customizable reports and share them with stakeholders, teammates, and clients immediately.
2. Agorapulse
Agorapulse is a social media management and monitoring tool that provides in-depth analytics and insights into your social media performance.
Agorapulse also allows you to categorize your social media mentions by topic, making tracking and analyzing your brand’s online conversations easier.
3. Meltwater
Meltwater is a media monitoring and social media listening tool that allows you to track and analyze your brand’s online reputation across various social media platforms and news outlets.
It provides media intelligence solutions for public relations, marketing, and executive teams to make data-driven decisions.
Read More: How To Grow Your B2B Social Media ROI In 2024?
Conclusion
Tracking social mentions is essential for brands to understand customers better, spot emerging trends, and enhance their online reputation.
You can get analytical information about your brand’s performance across different social media platforms and make data-driven decisions to optimize your marketing efforts using social media monitoring tools like Keyhole.
Take advantage of Keyhole’s free trial to learn more about the benefits of social media monitoring. Don’t miss the chance to make your social media presence more visible!
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Why is it important to track social mentions for my business?
Brands should keep track of social mentions because it enables them to monitor their online reputation, gain customer insights, and identify situations that require their immediate attention. The only way to keep up with emerging trends in your field and modify existing marketing tactics is by monitoring social mentions.
2. Which social media platforms should I track for my business?
Your choice of social media channels for brand promotion and mentions depends mainly on your industry. However, including the top social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn is a good way to start. If you want to thoroughly understand how your brand is perceived online, monitoring all social media sites where your customers are active is crucial.
3. How can social media monitoring tools help me track social mentions?
Social media monitoring tools use advanced algorithms and analytics to track social mentions across various platforms. These tools offer competitive benchmarking, sentiment analysis, and engagement analytics and can provide real-time insights into your social media presence. Social media monitoring solutions are real-time-savers as they automate the tracking process and send findings to their dashboard for your extensive review.
