How Listening Can Improve Your Social Media Campaign
Are you using social media to listen to what people are saying about your practice? Are you responding to those comments?
Social media, is just that, social. It’s important that your page isn’t one sided; interact and listen to your followers and social media could become a real asset to your marketing efforts. In this blog you’ll discover what social listening is, how it works and how responding improves communication.
What Is Social Listening?
Many people think that social listening is just paying attention to metrics such as how many twitter followers you have. However, social listening actually refers to being aware of what people are saying about you on social media, and then responding appropriately. Basically, social listening boils down to good communication.
Listening and responding has several important benefits. For example, you can find out how patients perceive your practice and you can improve upon your service where necessary. When you take suggestions seriously, you’ll build stronger customer loyalty.
Becoming a listener takes practice, time and patience. A good listener—both in person and in social media—is a good responder. The best listeners are also the most skilled conversationalists. They’re not talking all the time; they are listening first and taking cues from others’ feedback before they respond.
Become a Social Listener
There are many tools available to help you with social listening. Hootsuite for instance allows you to search for certain keywords on twitter, so you can be notified whenever your practice is mentioned on the social network, so that you can listen in and respond accordingly.
As you listen to conversations, you’ll likely find, that people are often asking for help. They’re looking for tips about how to do something and the best way to do it. One of the best ways to show that you’re listening is to refer to the social interactions you’ve seen elsewhere. For example, you can take someone’s feedback and mention it on your blog:
“A patient mentioned that she is having trouble getting her child to brush their teeth…”
Specifically mentioning something that was ‘overheard’ on social media, and then providing an answer others could benefit from too, deepens the trust of users, ensuring they stay connected and engaged.
Another tactic to show that you’re interested in a true conversation is to explicitly ask for feedback from your followers. Ask them what they think and what they want, then respond to their feedback. You’ll likely find that listening, responding and helping isn’t a one-way street. You’ll receive value from your audience when they comment and provide information on something you may not know.
Social media marketing isn’t just about publishing information and releasing updates. Gathering feedback, understanding its meaning and responding in an appropriate way enhances your brand as a whole. If you would like further information about social media for your dental practice, give Dental Design a call on 01202 677 277 and a member of our team will be happy to help you.
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