First, we MUST remember that social media is a 2-way tool, and if you only use it to talk AT people, you’re not doing it right.

Whilst in principle, social media ‘listening’ is all about tracking, analysing and responding to customers comments and behaviour (often using third party software), this won’t necessary be the case for smaller businesses that won’t be experiencing the same kind of exposure, engagement and conversation, as a large brand.

So, we first need to encourage conversations and then we’ll be encouraging engagement. Which in turn, will provide valuable insight and free intelligence for future marketing campaigns.

 Here’s my top tips of how we can ‘listen’ to our target audience using social media:

1. Ask questions – what do your audience think about X? Are they interested in Y? If you did Z would they be interested?
2. Hashtags connect you with people talking about the same things. Try searching for relevant...

Question: What makes a business stand out and engage on social media?

Plenty of businesses make the fatal mistake of being non-human. And it’s surprisingly easy to do.

Being corporate is fine.

Being formal is fine.

However, being a brick wall made purely of corporate messages, sales promotions and business jargon is not. These businesses are using this brick wall to alienate their customers. They’re being the opposite of engaging, and the result is that they push their target market away.

It’s a fact: People buy from people. We all desire the ‘human’ interaction, and social media humanises our business and personal brand.

We MUST follow the golden rule: humanise your brand.

But how?

1. First and foremost, remember that everyone who will see you on social media is also a human. They think, feel and act like humans. Even your boss. It doesn’t matter if they’re using a personal or business account. They have interests, likes and dislikes, and a...