In social media, it’s important to listen to what your audience is saying. Even more important is using the right sources of news to keep you in the loop of the industry you’re in. Here are my favorite listening and sources of news I use.
Social media trend listening/monitoring tools
Hootsuite
On my list of favorite social media listening/monitoring tools is Hootsuite. I love it because you can monitor all your social media channels at once.
A great Hootsuite feature is that it allows you to schedule and view your posts on your channels at the same time. Other features include, adding shortened links to your posts. You can do this right in the application instead of having to go to Bitly. You can also choose from a large selection of photos or videos from the media library. My favorite feature is that it allows you to respond to questions and like and comment on posts!
Facebook Insights/ LinkedIn analytics
Every social media platform has an analytics tool built right in. Although it can be tedious to check each platform, you can get some good analytics. I like to use Facebook Insights. This allows me to see various types of analytics such as:
Growth:
- How many members and member requests, denied
- Engagement
- Popular days/times
- Posts with the most activity
Tip: Check out what day and time most people are most engaged and post accordingly.
LinkedIn analytics allows me to see both growth and engagement.
Growth:
- Growth highlights
- Growth details
- Member demographics
Engagement:
- Engagement highlights and details
- Most engaging group posts
Best sources of news and updates
I use three types of sources for news and updates. One is subscribing to different news sources and magazines. This allows me to get the news delivered straight to my email inbox.
The second source is Feedly. Although you need to pay to follow feeds, you can use the free version. You can search for competitors and trends through Feedly AI feeds.
The third favorite is Google Trends. You can find the following:
- Interest over time
- Interest by subregion
- Related topics/Key words and inquiries
Whatever medium you use to listen in, it’s important to find out what matters to your audience. Using different sources of news to keep you in the loop will give you an advance on the competition.
What are your favorite listening tools?
What sources of news and updates are finding works well?
Resources:
Hootsuite (n.d) https://www.hootsuite.com/
Facebook (n.d) https://www.facebook.com/
LinkedIn, https://www.linkedin.com
Feedly, https://feedly.com/
Google Trends,
Algonquin College Social Media Certificate Program 