Social Intelligence in Marketing
When establishing effective connections between a brand and
its intended audience, the significance of social intelligence cannot be
overstated. It extracts valuable insights from social media platforms and other
online channels, uncovering relevant and valuable consumer intel. Brands
leverage this data to establish genuine, meaningful relationships—and we’ll
show you how! menfashdesign
Before delving into how social intelligence can be utilized
by a brand, let’s take a moment to review some social media usage statistics,
as it constitutes a significant portion of consumers’ online behavior:
And now, let’s explore social intelligence as a marketing
tool.
What is Social Intelligence?
Social intelligence, psychologically, refers to a person’s
ability to understand and manage interpersonal relationships. Likewise, a
social intelligence tool aids companies in understanding their consumers’ likes
and dislikes, wants, wishes, and needs – so you can connect on a deeper level
with your audience. And it does this by monitoring consumer activity across the
social web, including highly trafficked social media platforms.
Consumers are using Twitter to air out their grievances
about the world. On TikTok, they’re jumping on trend trains. They use Reddit
for a sense of community and investigation, and Tumblr is where they express
themselves and find solace in loosely formed communities while others meme
about things. How each is used changes over time, but one thing stands: These
social channels are used to talk about everything—including you. ethicmenvoguee
The Importance of Social Intelligence in Business
No one consumer is the same, which means a one-size-fits-all
marketing approach doesn’t work. Finding these little details and differences
that distinguish various segments of your audience and those that connect them
is critical. Social intelligence tracks online conversations and consumer
behavior to help brands:
And this is just scratching the surface. Social intelligence
can inform your brand in ways that help with product innovation, competitive
insights, influencer identification, etc.
How to Measure Social Intelligence
Think of social intelligence as the Swiss Army knife of
marketing tools. Its goal is always to do the job quickly and effectively for
your brand. And it has many ways it can do this for you. It’s an all-in-one
tool. These tools include:
Overall, measuring social intelligence involves analyzing
various metrics and data points to gain a comprehensive understanding of
customer behavior and engagement and the effectiveness of social media
strategies in achieving business goals. businessdirectorypc
Let’s look at some of the benefits that social intelligence
can give you.
The benefits of using social intelligence
Social intelligence provides a high degree of flexibility,
allowing brands to analyze data relevant to their specific needs and uncover
surprising insights that may not have been apparent otherwise. The potential
for extracting valuable information is virtually limitless with social
intelligence. Given the fast-paced nature of social media, it is crucial to
select the right social intelligence tools that align with your brand
objectives and are geared towards proactive preparedness. Let’s look at how the
right social intelligence can inform your brand!
Uncovering Market Trends to Inform
This is key because some brand marketing research is always
a good idea before jumping in with both feet.
Uncovering market trends and comparing conversations across
brands and organizations gives companies a well-rounded view of what is going
on in the overarching category. And this powerful social intelligence and market
research combo also reveals whitespace opportunities, which could put you in
lead dog territory.
As an illustration, social intelligence can expose the
current hot topics related to breakfast. These topics may hold greater
significance for brands: allinternetbuziness
The topic of global breakfast is interesting online.
Consumers are discussing the diverse range of breakfast foods available
worldwide and are becoming more adventurous in their breakfast choices.
These discussions can reveal valuable insights for brands wanting
to enter the breakfast market. It can also assist CPG companies in developing
new products. These conversations offer insights into consumer behavior and
attitudes toward breakfast, helping brands better tailor their offerings to
meet customers’ needs and preferences.
Better understanding of customers
Social intelligence helps businesses better understand
customers’ needs, preferences, and behaviors, which can inform product
development, marketing strategies, and customer service.
We’ve used social media monitoring to examine the popular
CPG company General Mills, which specializes in breakfast foods. By utilizing
the “personal narrative” filter, we can observe the number of posts, mentions,
or sentiments associated with narratives such as “I love,” “I want/need,” “I
hate,” “I wish,” or “My favorite.”
Accessing individual posts under the “my favorite”
narrative, we found a post discussing General Mills’ discontinued cereal,
Triples.
And that’s high praise from a consumer. It may indicate that
there is still demand for General Mills’ discontinued cereal, Triples. However,
further exploration may be necessary to determine if more cereal enthusiasts
share this sentiment.
Brands can utilize social media monitoring tools to analyze
the sentiment surrounding Triples and identify if other consumers also desire
its return. Based on this analysis, General Mills can decide whether
relaunching the cereal is viable.
And sometimes, you find what consumers don’t want or even
hate. And that brings us to our next section.
By using social intelligence to monitor and respond to
customer feedback and conversations, businesses can create more meaningful and
personalized customer interactions, increasing loyalty and engagement.
However, consumers may voice their displeasure about various
aspects of a brand, such as customer service, product quality, or marketing
tactics. These negative posts can harm a brand’s reputation and impact consumer
perception.
Businesses must address negative sentiment quickly and
effectively. Social media monitoring tools can help companies identify negative
posts and promptly address any issues or concerns consumers raise. By
responding to negative sentiment in a timely and helpful manner, businesses
demonstrate their commitment to customer satisfaction and turn a negative
experience into a positive one.
Competitive advantage
Social intelligence allows businesses to gain insights into
their competitors’ strategies and stay ahead of industry trends. Companies can
create targeted messaging that outperforms the competition by understanding how
their brand is perceived across social media and news outlets. By using social
intelligence and social media listening, brands can identify where consumers
are talking and what they are saying, helping them position their brand in
comparison to others in the market.
For example, a CPG company seeks to improve its standing in
the breakfast category, so it explores the conversation around it. Breakfast
foods constitute a significant portion of consumer grocery budgets, accounting
for approximately 20% of the total expenditure. Given that 95% of consumers eat
breakfast during the morning on an average of six times per week, it’s evident
that breakfast presents a massive business opportunity.
Below we have top trending terms when it comes to breakfast.
These terms may indicate emerging trends or shifts in consumer preferences
regarding breakfast. The fact that dumplings are mentioned as a breakfast
option suggests that consumers may seek more unconventional breakfast choices.
These trends may not be what our brand anticipated to
discover but given that our top topic in conversation was global breakfast,
it’s not surprising. And it could present a new opportunity. For brands to make
an informed decision, further investigation is necessary to identify which
conversations are most prevalent and relevant to the brand. Based on this
information, the brand can determine where to target its audience-focused
promotions.
