{"id":6229,"date":"2015-08-24T14:30:00","date_gmt":"2015-08-24T12:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mention.com\/blog\/?p=6229"},"modified":"2023-12-18T11:16:39","modified_gmt":"2023-12-18T11:16:39","slug":"social-listening-market-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mention.com\/en\/blog\/social-listening-market-research\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Use Social Listening for Your PR Agency's Market Research"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The client is always right…right? Probably not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When bringing on a new client, you need to learn everything about them: their products, their customers, their competition, their industry, their favorite food and pet\u2019s name…you get the idea. It\u2019s a lot of information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[Tweet “When you talk to your clients about market research, they may not have all the answers.”]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While you can (and should) talk to your agency’s clients when doing market research for them, they won\u2019t have all the answers. But the thing is, they don\u2019t know that. You\u2019ll ask them, \u201cWhat is your competitor\u2019s biggest weakness?\u201d And they\u2019ll tell you what they believe that is. But it\u2019s always good to get a second opinion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What your client believes, and what their audience for PR initiatives believes, might not be the same thing. It\u2019s your job to know every opinion<\/a>, then use smart campaigns to shape and shift them to align with your client\u2019s goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How do you find out everything about your client\u2019s industry without asking your client? With social listening, which we happen to know a few things about. So grab a snack, take a seat, and get ready for sharing time! You\u2019re about to learn how to use social listening<\/a> and media monitoring<\/a> to supplement your market research.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

[Tweet “5 ways social listening can supplement your market research”]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Want to improve your client campaigns and win new business? Download our free guide to media monitoring for PR agencies.<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

5 ways social listening can supplement your market research<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

1. Find out what your client\u2019s customers really<\/em> think<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When your client talks about their business, take things with a grain of salt. Don\u2019t worry – it\u2019s not that they\u2019re lying to you, they just might see things a little differently. We all have trouble seeing ourselves as others see us, from time to time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your client\u2019s reality may not be the same as their customers\u2019 reality.<\/strong> What does that mean? Well, let\u2019s look at an example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Say your client just spend a year developing a new product. They probably have a lot of confidence in it and would say it\u2019s their biggest strength, because that\u2019s what their goal for it is. But their customers might see things differently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plus, your client might not be getting the best feedback from their customers in the first place. All too often we tell people what they want to hear. \u201cThe new design is perfect<\/em>! Not a thing I would change!\u201d Not one<\/em> thing, really?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their customers are going to be more honest about your client when they\u2019re not talking directly to<\/em> your client. So, for example, on social media. That\u2019s where the truth is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[Tweet “Use social listening to get honest feedback from your client’s customers.”]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By using social listening<\/a> to hear your client\u2019s customers, you\u2019ll be able to get more accurate feedback and opinions than if you had gone through your client.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Re-evaluate clients\u2019 strengths and weaknesses<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Raise your hand if you\u2019ve ever felt awkward when you had to answer \u201cWhat\u2019s your greatest strength\/weakness?\u201d in a job interview?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019re not alone. Evaluating ourselves like that can be uncomfortable. And we can never be completely<\/em> objective while doing it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that\u2019s why your client\u2019s not the best person to ask this question to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[Tweet “Social listening will tell you for sure what the public thinks of your client.”]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While knowing what they consider their strengths and weaknesses to be is helpful, it can\u2019t be your only information. You need to know for sure<\/em> what other people think. That\u2019s how you decide what to play up and what to tone down in your PR campaigns. You obviously want to focus on the strengths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Supplement quantitative data with qualitative opinions<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Hard data is awesome, and completely necessary for every PR strategy. But numbers aren\u2019t everything – they don\u2019t tell the whole story. Often times, they tell you the \u2018what,\u2019 but not the \u2018how\u2019 or \u2018why.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[Tweet “Use social proof from listening and monitoring to add more context to your qualitative data.”]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Use social proof from listening and monitoring to add more context to your qualitative data. For this example, let\u2019s say your client is a fashion retailer. Qualitative data can tell you how many people choose their brand over another, what the most popular markets and styles are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But how much will that help you in planning a campaign or writing a pitch?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s not enough information. You need to know why<\/em> people choose your client\u2019s clothes over the brand one clothing rack over. Is it the price? The quality of the fabric? The trendiness? If you decide to focus on the price, when your client\u2019s popularity is really due to the fabric, you\u2019re making your campaign harder than it could be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Supplementing your market data with feedback and opinions from social listening will help you understand your client\u2019s true place in the industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Get honest opinions of competitors<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Once again, take what your client says with a grain of salt. I know it sounds like I\u2019m bashing your agency\u2019s clients, but I\u2019m not. All companies, all people, somewhat operate with rose-colored glasses on. We\u2019ll shift and tweak an outlook to better align with our own. Boom, psychology<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It wouldn\u2019t be unusual for a business to see their competitor a bit more negatively than an objective person would. You need objective opinions for market research, and you can get them from social listening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[Tweet “You need objective opinions for market research, and you can get them from social listening.”]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The press, people in the industry, customers – they\u2019re all great sources of information. You can also directly monitor competitors<\/a> in a media monitoring tool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. Find new campaign ideas<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Once you\u2019ve pulled together and analyzed your market research, it\u2019ll be time to start the fun work. Creating campaigns, pitching outlets, and generally getting stuff done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And how awesome would it be to have a bunch of campaign ideas up your sleeve before you even finished the initial client onboarding?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[Tweet “Immerse yourself in a client’s industry to help you brainstorm ideas for them.”]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Immersing yourself in a client\u2019s industry sooner rather than later will make it that much easier to \u201clive in idea mode<\/a>\u201d for their account. The more you know about their industry, the easier it will be to brainstorm ideas for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t wait until campaign planning time to learn what news angles are currently popular, what the hot issues are, and which trends are emerging. Start paying attention now to save time on campaign development later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[Tweet “How to use social listening for your client’s market research”]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to monitor for client market research<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When it comes to using media monitoring software, it can be easy to get overwhelmed. It feels good to have the power to monitor anything<\/em>. But remember what Uncle Ben told Peter Parker<\/a>. So just because you can<\/em>, doesn\u2019t mean you should<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your time is precious. Don\u2019t waste it monitoring for things that won\u2019t help you better serve your clients. Just monitor what matters.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are ideas for alerts you can set up to monitor your client, their industry, etc. on social media without all the noise<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Listening for general info<\/h3>\n\n\n\n