WordPress® All-in-One For Dummies®

Exploring Reasons for a Social-Media Listening Hub

When you begin to engage in the world of social media, one of the most important things you can do is monitor what Internet users are saying about your company, your blog, yourself, or your products. By investigating what Internet users are saying, you can find and participate in discussions about your blog or company, and come to an understanding about the way your community views your blog (or company). With this information, you can participate by responding to comments on other blogs, Twitter, or message boards, or by creating targeted content on your own blog.

The conversations happening about your area of interest or niche amount to really great intelligence. For a business, regardless of whether you participate in social media, social-media users are talking about your company, so you need to be aware what they're saying. If you're blogging about a particular topic, you can evolve your content by tracking what members of your niche are discussing about it.

Eavesdropping on yourself

By monitoring your niche you essentially can eavesdrop on thousands of conversations daily, and then pick and choose the ones in which you want to participate. The social-media listening hub you create allows you to follow various conversations going on through microblogging services such as Twitter, Facebook, blogs, news sites, message boards, and even comments on YouTube. If someone says something negative about you, you can respond quickly ...