As a chatty youth, this was something that my teachers used to say to me all the time. 

AND, as a marketer, I strongly suspect that you and I are kindred spirits in this respect. Always the kid getting sprung for having a wee chat in the back of the classroom.

It’s not that we weren’t listening as such, we just had a million ideas going round in our brains, right?

But, when I graduated from my early years of school, I began to discover the wisdom in Mrs Grey’s words.

If I turned my ears on, I heard a lot.

So, I started listening.

I found out so much interesting stuff!

Beyond the playground talk of the latest scrunchie craze or who was dating who, I heard deeper things… useful things.

This conscious listening not only helped me form strong connections with people as I matured, but in a professional sense, it provided me with an absolute goldmine of valuable information that I could use as a marketer.

Today’s conscious listening happens on social media.

It’s called social listening.

And if you actually turn your ears on, you can hear a lot! So, listen up as this article is all about the wisdom behind my Grade 2 teacher’s wise words and how they can help you create marketing gold.

What Is Social Listening?

Social listening is monitoring the things that are said about your brand, products, services, competitors and industry in the online space. Now, that doesn’t mean putting a glass up to the door of all the Zoom meetings taking place worldwide! It means utilising social media and other digital tools to tune into the conversations happening around you.

In a simple sense, this monitoring can be done by tracking mentions of your brand, relevant keywords of competitors in the social sphere. In a more complicated sense, you can use specific tracking tools to gather every bit of available publicly accessible data that is relevant to your business.

By accumulating this data and the resulting insights, you can get a gauge of how people feel about your products and services, what problems they are experiencing and what they would like to see from your brand.

The best part is, you can use what you learn to not only make more informed marketing decisions, but also make better decisions about your overall business strategy and direction. 

Why Use Social Listening In Business?

While it’s normally frowned upon to listen to other people’s conversations, this is one form of eavesdropping that is strongly encouraged! That’s because social listening is a powerful strategic weapon. Here’s why:

Brand Reach

Is your brand known in the digital space, is anyone actually talking about it? And even more importantly, what are they saying when they do mention you on social media?

Ideally, your marketing efforts should be reaching all the right people in all the right places and encouraging them to engage. Sure you can check your analytics for some of these stats. However, you can learn even more by tracking those conversations online and see where you are getting the most action.

We are aiming for a deafening roar of positive vibe conversations here! So, if your listening is producing nothing more than the sound of crickets and a few tumbleweeds rolling by, that tells you it’s time to tweak your marketing strategy.  

Brand Feel

Being well known is one thing, but you can be known for ALL the wrong reasons. Social listening helps you gauge how positively your brand is performing in the digital space.

When you understand how people feel about your brand, you can create a better experience for them. People can be very vocal about any issues they have experienced when dealing with a business. Knowing if there are any issues with your products or services can help you develop solutions to prevent the same things from happening in the future.

You can also monitor how people’s feelings evolve and change over time. This helps you establish if any changes you make within your offerings are positively or negatively received and how you should position your solutions within your industry.

Analyse the Market

With your finger on the pulse, you can find an awful lot of useful information. 

In the first instance, you can take a peek at what your competitors are doing – see their strategies, how they interact with your clients and customers and what the responses to their offerings are like. By comparing your strategies to theirs, you can identify potential gaps and opportunities in the market.

Cha-ching!

Secondly, you can keep an eye on industry conversations to see what trends are developing in your industry. By staying ahead of emerging trends, you can make sure you are evolving to always meet the changing demands of your customers. 

Finally, you can use the information you gather to develop new products and services, or evolve your current ones, to ensure you are still meeting the needs of your ideal clients. This can really supercharge your offerings as the feedback will be based on the actual experience of your customers and whether you were able to meet or exceed their expectations.

Measure Your Effectiveness

As we’ve said many times before, social media marketing has evolved far beyond a throw-spaghetti-at-the-wall-and-see-what-sticks strategy. We all know that we need to be conscious in our marketing efforts, putting in research and strategising before posting. 

But, what if after all that strategising, things have evolved and your posts end up missing the mark? 

Panic not. Social media listening can prevent that from happening. If you are consistently tracking discussions and sentiment, you’ll get immediate feedback from your people. That allows you to adjust your strategy in real time and build an understanding of what your people are responding to.

By listening and responding, you’ll ensure your content always remains relevant and effective.

What Is An Example Of Social Listening?

How do you go about listening effectively? Well, the seemingly unlikely pairing of Bunnings Warehouse, What So Not, Kaila and Peking Duk recently teamed up for the ultimate example of effective social listening!

It all began when Sydney based DJ Kaila remixed the iconic Bunnings jingle with drum and bass. That soon progressed into him presenting a light hearted petition to hold a rave party at a Bunnings store. The idea quickly gained momentum on social media with electronic music acts Peking Duk and What So Not throwing their weight behind the petition.

What started as a laugh soon evolved into a viral TikTok campaign with millions of followers showing their support and wanting to attend a warehouse party at Bunnings. An absolute golden opportunity not to be missed, Bunning listened to the social media conversations and confirmed they would “give the people what they want” by playing host to a rave.

The end result… an epic carpark rave held at Bunnings Warehouse Preston attended by thousands! It combined all things iconic to the viral campaign – headlined by national music acts Kaila, Peking Duk, What So Not, Nay Nay and Lottie, all fuelled by a typical Bunnings Snagfest (sausages on the BBQ) and finished with a touch of Bunnings face painting and outstanding customer service.

The best part? Bunnings used the opportunity to support a worthy cause, raising $50,000 for Support Act, an Australian charity dedicated to creating a safe and thriving local music industry.

This event became the epitome of learning what the people want via social listening, then giving it to them in a truly iconic way. It had the desired effect for the businesses involved – raising money for a worthy cause while creating huge amounts of positive brand exposure for Bunnings and the associated artists.

How Do Brands Use Social Listening?

Don’t panic, your brand doesn’t have to go all in and host a carpark rave of your own! There are plenty of other ways you can utilise the power of social listening.

You just need to turn your ears on. Every business, whether it be large or small, should be listening to what their customers and prospects are saying about their products, services and brand as a whole. There is no better way to understand what you could be doing better and how you can improve your business strategies.

But, how do you activate those ears? Simply crossing your legs, sitting up straight and giving your Grade 2 teacher your full attention isn’t going to cut it these days! 

You need something a little more technical. Of course, manually scrolling social media is an option, but it’s one that will be time consuming and distracting. The better option is to utilise purpose built social listening tools.

That way, you can access the information you need quickly and efficiently, complete with analytic data, multi-language options and deep insights to help you understand those conversations intimately.

This is certainly a tool you could implement yourself, but wouldn’t it be more effective to let an expert handle the whole process for you?

At SO WHAT SOCIAL we are the ultimate listeners, not in a creepy way or anything, but we have the ability to hear all the things you need to know.

Get in touch with us now to chat about how we can turn your ears on and create social media magic with the conversations that we hear.

Are we right?

While magical Facebook and LinkedIn fairies are not lurking in the background of every successful brand strategy, there’s a really strong chance that a social media manager is.

And the results they can produce are every bit as magical as a fairy. Plus, they aren’t in danger of keeling over like Tinkerbell if people don’t clap loudly enough around them!

So, let’s take a peek at the answers to some key questions you might have about social media managers and whether hiring one is the right decision for your brand.

What Does A Social Media Manager Actually Do?

Great question! Let’s start at the beginning – this is often where many junior marketers kick off their careers, typically managing multiple social media accounts, either on behalf of an agency or by exploring the extensive realm independently. Alternatively, the responsibility for social media often lands in the lap of marketing roles by sheer necessity, as it’s integral to most businesses today.

Contrary to popular belief, social media managers do not spend their days scheduling pretty pictures on the Gram in between trips to Starbucks. And while many of us do enjoy a mocha—especially on the grid—a skilled social media manager knows that success involves more than just aesthetics.

It’s about deeply understanding your target audience and their buyer journey, then communicating the right message at the right time to achieve your desired business and marketing goals.

Sadly, this level of expertise isn’t usually taught in design schools or online masterclasses; it’s gained through real-world experience, years of industry engagement and a considerable amount of trial and error.

Social media has become a beast of its own and in recent years, requires a highly skilled marketer to execute it effectively without throwing your valuable time and hard earned cash down the drain.

Often, many businesses falter by underestimating the workload involved in effective social media management, leading to poor hiring choices or insufficient resources.

The truth is, social media management can be a giant blackhole. There we said it. It requires a robust framework of systems and processes for designing, messaging, dispatching, scheduling, community management, optimisation and importantly, analysing the results to make strategic adjustments that enhance business ROI for their investment.

Neglecting these essentials can severely impair a business’s ability to measure and improve their social media impact and growth.

But the difference between a good and skilled social media manager, is a skilled and experienced manager understands it’s not so much about the pretty pictures, but more so about the target audience, their buyer journey, the messaging and content to drive your business goals to achieve success – fortunately for you, we can help with just that.

Alright, we know that all sounds rather impressive, but what does it actually mean in practical terms?

Well, to put it simply:

• 5.17 billion users regularly frequent social media platforms.
• Considering 56.1% of internet users purchase something online once a week, there is HUGE potential for your business to gain brand exposure and make sales.

A skilled social media manager, in more senior cases a social or content strategist, will help you weed through those billions and connect with the ones that are your ideal customers so that you can maximise the return on your content investment.

This approach allows them to map out a strategic plan that not only aligns with your business goals but also fits your budget—because the best content strategy, is one you can afford to execute effectively. Anything else is just hearsay.

Is It Worth It To Hire A Social Media Manager?

Depending on your current business requirements and goals, the answer to this question might be yes or it might be no. The reason we say this is because you don’t want to jump into a contract with someone before being ready!

If you are satisfied with your current social media strategy and just need someone to handle the design or lift the burden of scheduling across your platforms, then you may get by outsourcing to a Social Media Manager, or in some cases an experienced virtual assistant, a graphic designer who offers this service, or a copywriter.

However, if you are experiencing flat or declining engagement despite posting frequently and consistently, finding your efforts to be reactive without a clear, strategic plan to guide your content creation and posting schedules, or seeing poor ROI from social media, it may be time to call in the experts. SO WHAT SOCIAL, unlike other agencies, lives and breathes strategy. We’ll underpin your clear point of view, identify your ideal customer, and even understand their daily habits to provide you with a comprehensive blueprint for content creation across social media channels.

This option is ideal if you need a deeper understanding of your target audience and where they like to hang out on social media, along with advanced targeting techniques and the ability to create a consistent brand voice across all your chosen platforms.

At What Point Should I Get A Social Media Manager?

There’s no one-size-fits-all answer to this question. The simplest response might be “when your business is ready,” but how can you truly know when that time comes?

There are three main reasons why brands and businesses outsource their social media marketing:

• To create a clear and consistent brand voice across multiple platforms that speaks to your target audience.
• To do the heavy lifting of content creation, scheduling and posting to free up time for other more important business, rightly so..
• To leverage, the often overlooked and yet vital aspect of social media management— aligning your content with and achieving specific business goals. Whether it’s increasing brand awareness, generating leads, or driving sales – social media is a powerful tool for business growth.

At SO WHAT SOCIAL, we excel in all areas. However, we place particular emphasis on the first point, which is often neglected in the industry due to its perceived complexity and the significant time investment required upfront to research and embed a sustainable social strategy in the first instance…

Our point of difference lies in our approach to socials. We don’t just take stabs in the dark – we apply the smart, killer instincts we’ve honed over years in this space, working alongside leading industry experts and household brands in New Zealand. We specialise in collaborating with businesses and brands to create custom social media strategies that go beyond cookie-cutter solutions to propel your brand forward.

Once this all important foundation is laid, then the heavy lifting becomes like a finely oiled machine. Not all social media managers offer this depth of strategy, so when you’re considering outsourcing, choose a social media manager who will provide you with a clear, measurable strategy aligned with your business goals. Opt for someone who offers an efficient process that won’t lead to burnout.

After all, you probably didn’t start your business to spend every day dancing and lip-syncing on TikTok – unless that’s your passion, in which case, you might consider running for the hills!

How Much Does It Cost To Hire Someone To Run My Social Media?

Like the saying goes, you pay for what you get. And if you only want to pay peanuts… well, you know the rest!

When you hire someone with years of experience who prioritises upskilling, and has proven success in their field, you can expect to invest more. But, this investment will often translate into a high quality of content, more effective strategies and better overall results for your business.

That’s not to say that choosing a less experienced or freelance social media manager is a bad thing. They can often offer you lower rates, but they may not be able to provide the same level of expertise or strategic insight to propel your brand forward.

Keep these things in mind when assessing who might be the right fit for your business. Think about your long term goals and the value that each potential option might bring to your brand. This will help make your investment decision more straightforward.

Is It Worth Paying For A Social Media Manager?

The answer to this question will depend on the season of your business. You might be considering whether employing someone is the best option or whether an agency can give you what you need. Like any decision, there are going to be benefits and drawbacks for each option.

Hiring a full-time social media manager might sound great as they can provide dedicated support and can become deeply integrated with your company and brand.

However, the drawback is that they may come with a high salary cost and the overheads associated with having a permanent employee. Plus, shock horror, what if they turn out to be the wrong fit for your business and you are stuck paying them!?

Alternatively, you could partner with a boutique agency like SO WHAT SOCIAL which offers all the dedicated support and integration with your business, along with specialised expertise and proven strategies to hit the ground running.

Unlike other brand or design agencies that often include social media management as part of a cookie-cutter solution, or saddle interns or juniors with the job of handling your content, we ensure your brand stands out in a sea of sameness.

SO WHAT SOCIAL has a network of trusted professionals with specialised skills, access to advanced tools and the ability to scale our efforts up or down depending on your business goals – this looks very different for each business. This approach can be more cost-effective and efficient, especially for businesses that require high-quality social media management without the commitment of a full-time hire and a better ROI for their investment.

Is It Time For A Social Media Manager?

Have we convinced you? Is it time to get serious about your socials? If you’re finding yourself spending a huge amount of time producing content yet, growth or sales are stagnant, or if you simply have no time to invest given the colossal size social media has grown to over the years, we absolutely get it. The overwhelm is real, the competition is fierce and the stakes are too high to get it wrong.

It might be time to request a chat.

Just like a magical fairy, we can devise a comprehensive strategy to get your brand where it needs to be and you don’t even have to clap your hands once! Drop us a line today and we can get started.