Methods for Utilizing Social Listening: Turning Voices Flooding SNS into Valuable Marketing Materials (Part 1)

In today's world, anyone can instantly share their opinions. Many people are adopting social listening precisely because "it's easy to gather diverse opinions just by searching," aiming to leverage it for product development, marketing, and branding.

But on the other hand, many people probably feel, or have felt, that "seeing so many different opinions just made me more confused" or "endlessly chasing every opinion posted online is pointless."

This time, we interviewed Marie Omura from the Social Media Division at Dentsu Digital Inc., who has managed numerous social listening projects. She collects and analyzes natural user conversations on social media and applies them to business processes like risk management and product development. We asked her about how to gather user voices on social media and effectively utilize them for business purposes. This interview is presented in two parts.

What do you want to gain by collecting voices on SNS? Defining your purpose is essential

Q. The term "social listening" has been established in the marketing world for some time now. Could you explain what it entails?

Omura: It might be easier to explain by contrasting it with "asking." Asking involves gathering opinions by having consumers respond to questions we prepare, like surveys or interviews. Social listening, on the other hand, involves "going out to listen" (hence the term "listening") to gather authentic voices by observing what users are spontaneously saying on SNS. Because asking relies on consumers answering pre-set questions, the responses often lack surprise or freshness. Social listening, however, reveals unexpected claims or sharp insights that capture consumer perspectives – that's where its value lies.

Compared to simply liking or sharing content, actively sharing one's own opinions or impressions has a significantly higher barrier to entry. Nevertheless, those who do actively share are likely to have a high level of "love" for that brand, company, or product – meaning they are likely fans. In terms of capturing this fan psychology, social listening is an extremely useful tool, isn't it?

Q. Many companies are adopting social listening to gather consumer voices via SNS, but some seem to struggle with effective utilization. What reasons do you think contribute to this?

Omura: Because there's such a vast amount of data on social media, if you don't clearly define your purpose – "what exactly are you trying to achieve?" – it's easy to end up in a half-hearted state where you don't know what to look at or what kind of voices from which people to capture.

Recently, more companies are using social media for risk alerts. Social listening often focuses on whether user comments are positive or negative. However, when dealing with negative opinions, it's crucial to properly understand the context: is it personal slander against the company or its employees, or is it directed at the company's business themes? When we provide support, we help companies identify which voices could be beneficial, distinguishing between "this opinion can be safely ignored" and "this opinion warrants attention."

Some companies even have executives actively conducting ego searches using their own names or the company name. Especially after shareholder meetings, social media posts increase significantly. We carefully monitor these to check for negative opinions and identify which statements garnered attention. Handling this solely by the executives or PR department members would be time-consuming and labor-intensive, which is why we provide support.

People over numbers. Thoroughly analyze users to enhance targeting

Q. As you mentioned earlier, what are the key benefits of having a professional like yourself involved in social listening projects? How do you approach client requests?

Omura: The key change professionals bring is the ability to design effective filters for necessary data. Less experienced analysts often focus solely on quantitative metrics like overall volume or reach. But marketing strategies sometimes benefit more from understanding: how much each user contributed, what elements motivated their engagement, or how topics spread organically without deliberate promotion. The value of professional involvement lies in not just viewing the sheer volume of comments on SNS, but in considering "what criteria should be set for analysis." Furthermore, the ability to adapt this approach based on specific objectives is key.

Specifically, Dentsu Digital Inc.'s Social Media Division excels at "digging deeper" into users. While general social listening often focuses on analyzing "What" users post or their engagement numbers, we meticulously analyze from the "Who" perspective. We examine details like which other accounts users mentioning a specific product follow, or what keywords they include in their bios. This allows us to deeply analyze the target users' age range and interests. Through social listening, target personas, behavioral traits, and customer journeys can emerge.

Q. So understanding who is posting is more important than the sheer number of posts. How can this be practically applied?

Omura: It can be used to sharpen targeting in marketing initiatives. For example, suppose your original target was men in their 30s and 40s, but social listening analysis revealed that reactions were actually higher from women in their teens and 20s. Based on that information, you can then consider how to improve your strategy going forward, setting a clearer user profile. This also makes it possible to effectively implement the PDCA cycle.

Social listening only truly delivers results when its purpose is clearly defined. At Dentsu Digital Inc.'s Social Media Division, where Mr. Omura works, they support corporate marketing by conducting meticulous user analysis and clearly capturing each individual's voice. In the upcoming second part, we'll delve deeper into the tools used, trends by industry and product type, and more, using several case studies.

• Methods for Utilizing Social Listening: Turning Voices Flooding SNS into Valuable Marketing Assets (Part 2)