Tracking and analysing what people say online about your brand, competitors, products and topics, including posts that do not tag you. It looks for patterns, not just single mentions to reply to.
Example
Meera sets up tracking for her store's name, two competitor boutiques and 'Pune bridal shopping'. She learns that people complain most about trial-room waiting times in wedding season.
How you'll hear it
“Social listening shows people talking about our prices on Reddit even though no one tagged us.”
Don't confuse it with
- Social monitoring: watching for and replying to individual mentions; listening analyses the overall pattern.
Related terms
Want to use this at work? AI-led Social Media Excellence is aFactor's 16-week program for social media work.
Sources
- Social listening vs. social monitoring, Hootsuite, 2024
- Social listening: the key to success on social, Sprout Social