via EdgeWave

Recent studies show that 90% of companies are using social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn as part of their marketing strategy. A vital part of this social media engagement and the first thing organizations should do is start monitoring social media sites – here’s why:
 

1. Gain insight into how your organization is being perceived – There’s no better way to realistically assess your brand strengths and weaknesses than finding out what your partners, customers and competitors are saying about you. And monitoring can help you stay ahead of issues that might be developing under the radar. In one example, a vendor discovered that a customer was tweeting negative comments about their products because he didn’t feel his support questions were being answered. The vendor was able to contact the customer immediately and resolve his issues before it snowballed into a larger problem.
 

2. Build new relationships for your business – Monitoring can help you find other businesses that are compatible and available to become potential partners, clients and customers. Social networking for business gives you a great opportunity to build relationships that can lead to collaborative pursuits and ultimately increased revenue.
 

3. Gather new Information – Some organizations may expose information on their social media pages that you won’t find elsewhere. The more information you have on competitors, the better armed you are to gain an advantage.
 

4. Improve customer service – Social media monitoring provides another platform for you to have a direct and immediate one-on-one exchange with your customers and an opportunity to turn satisfied customers into brand ambassadors. A study conducted by Maritz Research shows that customers who received responses after tweeting about a company improved their perception of that company 83 percent of the time.
 

5. Achieve a competitive advantage – Being aware of what is being said about your brand and your competitor’s brands, allows you to assess your brand perception and address problems, as they occur, and also alerts you to opportunities you can leverage.
 

6. Manage your online reputation – The awareness gained by social media monitoring, can help you manage your online reputation in real time. The sooner you get out in front of unfavorable messaging, the better chance you have of protecting your brand.