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The Benefits of Social Listening for SaaS Companies

Managing Digital Presence

Benefits of Social Listening for SaaS Companies

You’re a fresh-faced SaaS company with a brand-new piece of software. Great! But do you know what people are saying about it? Your analytics are looking good, and your social media mentions are through the roof. But what does the data really reflect?

Social listening for SaaS companies is vitally important for brand identity, reputation management, and overall customer satisfaction. It can give you a real insight into how your customers experience your service and software product.

The benefits of social listening are numerous. So keep track of what people are saying by using social media to listen.

What is Social Listening?

Social listening, or social media listening, is a process in which businesses monitor social media platforms to gain an insight into customer perceptions of the business and its services. This includes monitoring social media channels for mentions of the business and customer feedback.

Indeed, customer feedback can take many forms; a single comment on social media can provide you with a tonne of information on how your company is perceived and experienced by the customer. Additionally, social listening can shed light on what people are saying about your competitors in relation to your company. That is a major incentive, and we have only scratched the surface when it comes to the benefits of social listening.

But how does social listening work in practice? Social listening always begins with social monitoring that is, data collection. How many people are using your hashtags to engage with your content? Is your brand frequently discussed across multiple social media platforms? You can use this data as a springboard for further audience research. That is where social listening comes into play.

Using social media to listen is a more qualitative approach than that of social monitoring. Here, you should expect to find the meaning behind the data. How do people feel about your service? What is their experience of your software? Social listening for SaaS companies – or indeed, any company – is crucial simply because understanding your audience’s needs is integral to your company’s success.

How can Social Listening help my SaaS company?

Technology can be unpredictable, especially newly designed software. That is why user feedback and social listening for SaaS companies is so critically important. The last thing you want is to miss out on suggestions for improvement because you’re not paying attention to social media.

As a SaaS company, user experience should be at the forefront of your thinking. You can learn a range of things from your customers on social media, from concerns about website accessibility and customer service to the functionality of the software itself. Indeed, a major benefit of social listening is highlighting any pitfalls in your software that can negatively impact user experience.

Being aware of any software hiccups should be your main priority. Social listening is a great way of catching problems before they impact your company’s reputation. And yes, reputation is incredibly important when it comes to selling software. Social listening is a quick way of identifying problems with your company image and should form the basis of your strategy for improvement.

By effectively using social listening, you can analyse social media conversations and use your findings to improve your company strategy. For example, you can improve your company’s customer service by implementing changes based on comments and mentions on social media. This should enhance the relationship between your SaaS company and the customers you seek to service.

Once you have analysed the data from your audience research, you should seek to engage with your customers. Social media engagement is a great way of identifying your customers’ needs and solving any problems in the public spotlight. In turn, this will lend credibility and trust to your company. By directly responding to customer complaints, you will take back control of your company’s image.

Social Listening in practice

Kroger and Social Listening

It’s not just SaaS companies that are reaping the benefits of social listening. The American retail chain Kroger and their partner 360i conducted social listening to formulate a response to customer confusion caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

They found that social listening enabled them to address concerns and queries from their customers on social media, such as issues around opening times, sanitation procedures, and social distancing rules. This allowed them to devise an online communications strategy that best served the needs of their customers during a period of uncertainty and panic.

After an in-depth analysis of social media conversations, Kroger was able to garner customer feedback at a quicker pace and adapt their messaging accordingly. They were also able to implement changes based on customer demand, such as earlier opening times for elderly customers.

This is real-world evidence of how social listening can help companies improve their communication strategy and understand their audience.