Marketing AI Skill
Social Listening Monitoring
Monitor brand mentions, competitor activity, industry trends, and sentiment across social platforms in real-time. Use when setting up social listening campaigns, tracking brand mentions, monitoring competitors on social media, analyzing sentiment, detecting...
Social Listening & Monitoring
Track brand perception, competitor moves, and industry conversations at scale across all social platforms.
Workflow
- Define listening scope: brand names, competitor names, industry keywords, product names, executive names, and campaign hashtags.
- Configure monitoring platforms: set up social listening tools, define keyword queries, and configure alert thresholds.
- Establish sentiment analysis framework: define positive/negative/neutral classification rules and scoring model.
- Set up real-time monitoring: configure dashboards, alerts, and escalation protocols for urgent mentions.
- Aggregate and categorize mentions: daily/weekly review of volume, sentiment, themes, and influential voices.
- Identify trends and spikes: detect conversation shifts, emerging topics, and crisis indicators.
- Generate actionable insights: connect social data to business decisions, product improvements, and marketing strategy.
- Route responses: assign mentions to appropriate teams (social media, PR, customer support, product).
- Track share of voice: monitor brand vs. competitor conversation share over time.
- Report and optimize: weekly reports, monthly trend analysis, quarterly strategy reviews.
Listening Configuration
Keyword Matrix and Query Building
SOCIAL LISTENING KEYWORD MATRIX
==================================
CATEGORY 1: BRAND MENTIONS (Track All)
→ Exact brand name: "[BrandName]", "@BrandName"
→ Brand variations: "[Brand] company", "[Brand] product", "[Brand] app"
→ Common misspellings: "[MisspelledBrand]" (research from search data)
→ Abbreviations/nicknames: "[BrandABBR]" (if commonly used)
→ Product names: "[ProductName]", "[ProductName] [BrandName]"
→ Executive names: "[CEO Name] [BrandName]", "[CMO Name]"
→ Campaign hashtags: "#[CampaignHashtag]", "#[BrandCampaign]"
→ Negative variations: "[Brand] scam", "[Brand] complaint", "[Brand] bad",
"[Brand] review", "[Brand] vs", "[Brand] alternative"
→ Volume estimate (small brand): 50-200 mentions/week
→ Volume estimate (medium brand): 500-2,000 mentions/week
→ Volume estimate (large brand): 2,000-20,000+ mentions/week
CATEGORY 2: COMPETITOR TRACKING
→ Competitor brand names (5-10 direct competitors)
→ Competitor product names and features
→ "Alternative to [Competitor]": captures comparison-intent mentions
→ "[Competitor] vs [YourBrand]": captures direct comparisons
→ "[Competitor] problems/complaints/switch": captures competitor pain points
→ Competitor campaign hashtags
→ Competitor executive names (for strategic moves)
CATEGORY 3: INDUSTRY TOPICS
→ Industry terminology and buzzwords (20-50 terms)
→ Customer pain points relevant to your solution
→ Emerging technologies and disruptions
→ Regulatory changes and compliance discussions
→ Key industry events, conferences, and publications
→ Job titles of your target audience (for persona targeting)
CATEGORY 4: CAMPAIGN TRACKING
→ Campaign-specific hashtags and keywords
→ Influencer mentions and partnership tracking
→ User-generated content hashtags
→ Event-specific keywords (for trade shows, conferences)
QUERY BUILDING BEST PRACTICES:
→ Use Boolean operators: AND, OR, NOT, NEAR()
→ Use exact match: "[phrase]" for precise tracking
→ Exclude noise: use NOT operator to filter irrelevant mentions
Example: "email marketing" NOT "job" NOT "jobs" NOT "hiring"
→ Use proximity operators: NEAR(5,"keyword1","keyword2")
→ Group related terms: ("brand" OR "company" OR "app") AND "keyword"
→ Test queries: validate against sample mentions before full deployment
→ Maintain query library: document all queries and their purpose
Sentiment Analysis Framework
Multi-Level Sentiment Scoring
SENTIMENT ANALYSIS MODEL
==========================
SENTIMENT CLASSIFICATION (5-Tier Model):
POSITIVE (+1.0): Enthusiastic praise, recommendations, appreciation
Indicators: love, amazing, fantastic, recommend, excellent, best,
life-changing, "worth every penny", "game-changer", five stars
Example: "Just switched to @Brand and I love it! Customer support is
incredible and the product does exactly what they promised."
LEANING POSITIVE (+0.5): Mild praise, satisfaction, neutral-positive
Indicators: good, nice, works well, satisfied, helpful, decent,
"pretty good", "doing the job", "like it"
Example: "Been using @Brand for a few months. It's pretty solid and
helps with our workflow."
NEUTRAL (0.0): Informational, factual, no emotional valence
Indicators: "does anyone know", "looking for", "how does", "what is"
Example: "Has anyone compared @Brand with @Competitor? Looking for
feedback on features."
LEANING NEGATIVE (-0.5): Mild complaints, concerns, disappointment
Indicators: could be better, slow, disappointing, issues, problems,
"not great", "wish it had", "lacks", "hopes they fix"
Example: "@Brand's new update could be better. The interface feels
cluttered and some features are harder to find."
NEGATIVE (-1.0): Strong complaints, anger, warnings, reports of harm
Indicators: terrible, worst, scam, broken, fraud, lost money, hacked,
phishing, "avoid this", "waste of money", "do not buy"
Example: "@Brand charged me without permission and their support
won't respond. Do not trust this company."
URGENT/Negative Severity Scoring:
Level 1 (Standard complaint): General dissatisfaction, feature request
Response time: 24 hours | Owner: Social media team
Level 2 (Serious complaint): Service failure, billing issue, poor support experience
Response time: 4 hours | Owner: Customer support + social media
Level 3 (Crisis indicator): Data breach allegation, fraud claim, public complaint
Response time: 1 hour | Owner: PR + legal + executive team
Level 4 (Active crisis): Viral negative content, media pickup, regulatory mention
Response time: 15 minutes | Owner: Crisis team (CEO + legal + PR + comms)
AUTOMATED SENTIMENT DETECTION RULES:
→ Use NLP-based sentiment analysis (tool-level: Brandwatch, Sprout Social, Talkwalker)
→ Manual review for: mentions with 100+ engagements (high-visibility)
→ Escalation triggers:
- Negative sentiment score < -0.5 with 50+ engagements: auto-escalate
- Keywords "fraud", "scam", "lawsuit", "data breach": immediate alert
- Influencer/post with >100K followers: priority handling
- Same complaint from 3+ users within 24 hours: pattern detection alert
DAILY SENTIMENT DASHBOARD:
Total mentions today: ___
Positive: ___% (___ mentions)
Neutral: ___% (___ mentions)
Negative: ___% (___ mentions)
Overall sentiment score: +0.__ / -0.__
Sentiment trend (vs. yesterday): ▲ improving / ▼ declining / → stable
Top positive themes: [theme 1], [theme 2], [theme 3]
Top negative themes: [theme 1], [theme 2], [theme 3]
Unresolved negative mentions: ___ (age: ___ hours)
Share of Voice Tracking
Competitive SOV Analysis
SHARE OF VOICE (SOV) ANALYSIS FRAMEWORK
=========================================
DEFINITION: Your brand's share of total conversations in your industry/market category.
SOV CALCULATION:
Your brand mentions ÷ Total category mentions × 100 = SOV %
Where "total category mentions" = all mentions containing category-relevant keywords
(not just your brand and direct competitors — the entire conversation)
TRACKING CONFIGURATION:
→ Category keyword list: 20-50 broad industry/category keywords
Example for SaaS CRM: "CRM software", "customer relationship management",
"sales pipeline tool", "contact management", "lead tracking software"
→ Competitor list: 5-10 direct competitors by name
→ Measurement period: Weekly snapshots, monthly/quarterly reporting
→ Platform coverage: Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Reddit, industry forums, review sites
SOV DASHBOARD:
┌──────────────────────┬───────────┬─────────┬──────────┬───────────┐
│ Brand │ Mentions │ SOV % │ Trend │ Sentiment │
├──────────────────────┼───────────┼─────────┼──────────┼───────────┤
│ Your Brand │ ___ │ ___% │ ▲/▼/→ │ +0.__ │
│ Competitor A │ ___ │ ___% │ ▲/▼/→ │ +0.__ │
│ Competitor B │ ___ │ ___% │ ▲/▼/→ │ +0.__ │
│ Competitor C │ ___ │ ___% │ ▲/▼/→ │ +0.__ │
│ Competitor D │ ___ │ ___% │ ▲/▼/→ │ +0.__ │
│ Others/Unattributed │ ___ │ ___% │ ▲/▼/→ │ ___ │
│ ── TOTAL ── │ ___ │ 100% │ │ │
└──────────────────────┴───────────┴─────────┴──────────┴───────────┘
SOV TARGETS BY BRAND POSITION:
Market leader: 25-40% of conversations
Top 3 competitor: 15-25% of conversations
Growing challenger: 5-15% of conversations
New entrant: 1-5% (growth target: 5%+ within 12 months)
SOV IMPROVEMENT TACTICS:
1. Content amplification: increase content output on high-SOV platforms
2. Engagement strategy: actively participate in industry conversations
3. Influencer partnerships: collaborate with industry influencers for reach
4. Campaign-specific hashtags: launch unique, memorable campaign tags
5. Rapid response: respond to mentions quickly (increases conversation depth)
6. Competitive comparison content: create "vs" content targeting competitor keywords
7. Review management: encourage satisfied customers to leave reviews (review sites count in SOV)
8. PR and media mentions: press releases, expert commentary, thought leadership
SOV INSIGHTS REPORTING:
Monthly SOV report includes:
→ SOV trend (12-month rolling chart)
→ SOV by platform (Twitter, LinkedIn, Reddit, etc.)
→ SOV by topic/theme (product, brand, industry, competitive)
→ Correlation analysis: SOV vs. website traffic, leads, revenue
→ Competitive wins: instances where you gained SOV from competitors
→ Strategic recommendations for SOV improvement
Crisis Detection & Response Protocol
SOCIAL MEDIA CRISIS DETECTION AND RESPONSE
============================================
CRISIS SEVERITY CLASSIFICATION:
LEVEL 1 — LOW (Monitor):
Indicators:
→ Negative mentions on single platform
→ Limited reach (< 100 engagements per negative post)
→ Isolated incident (1-2 similar mentions)
Response:
→ Response time: 2-4 hours
→ Team: Social media manager
→ Actions:
- Acknowledge and respond publicly
- Move conversation to private (DM, email, phone)
- Document incident and resolution
- Update social listening filters if new pattern emerges
Resolution target: 24 hours
LEVEL 2 — MEDIUM (Alert):
Indicators:
→ Negative mentions across 2+ platforms
→ Growing engagement (100-1,000 engagements per post)
→ Multiple similar complaints (3-10 within 24 hours)
→ Blog/media mention (not mainstream)
Response:
→ Response time: 1 hour
→ Team: Social media + PR + customer support + management
→ Actions:
- Draft public response statement
- Internal assessment: scope, impact, root cause
- Escalate to appropriate internal teams
- Increase monitoring frequency (hourly checks)
- Prepare holding statement if escalation likely
Resolution target: 4-8 hours
LEVEL 3 — HIGH (Escalate):
Indicators:
→ Viral negative content (> 1,000 engagements)
→ Mainstream media pickup (major news outlets)
→ Customer outrage or organized complaints (Twitter storm, Reddit thread)
→ Regulatory body mention or inquiry
Response:
→ Response time: 30 minutes
→ Team: Crisis team (CEO, legal, PR, marketing, customer support)
→ Actions:
- Publish holding statement on primary platforms
- Prepare press release (coordinate with PR team)
- Prepare executive statement (CEO video or written)
- Brief customer support team with FAQ
- Pause all scheduled marketing content
- Set up dedicated monitoring war room
- Legal review of all public statements
Resolution target: 24-48 hours
LEVEL 4 — CRITICAL (Full Crisis):
Indicators:
→ Active boycott or organized movement
→ Regulatory investigation or legal action
→ Major data breach or security incident
→ CEO/executive scandal
Response:
→ Response time: 15 minutes
→ Team: Executive crisis team + legal counsel + external PR firm
→ Actions:
- Immediate public statement (transparent, accountable)
- Consider pausing all marketing and promotional activity
- Engage external crisis PR firm if needed
- Prepare for media interviews and press conferences
- Legal counsel reviews all communications
- Customer notification plan (if data breach)
- Continuous monitoring (real-time alerts)
Resolution target: 1-7 days (depending on severity)
CRISIS RESPONSE CHECKLIST:
[ ] Internal assessment complete (scope, impact, root cause identified)
[ ] All stakeholders notified (executives, legal, PR, customer support)
[ ] Public response drafted, reviewed, and approved
[ ] Response published on all affected platforms
[ ] Social listening increased to hourly/real-time monitoring
[ ] Customer support team briefed with FAQ and talking points
[ ] Media monitoring active (newspapers, TV, radio, online news)
[ ] Internal communications sent (employees briefed)
[ ] Recovery plan drafted (how to rebuild trust and reputation)
[ ] Post-crisis analysis scheduled (within 7-14 days of resolution)
CRISIS RECOVERY METRICS (tracked post-crisis):
→ Sentiment recovery timeline: days/weeks to return to baseline
→ Mention volume normalization: return to pre-crisis levels
→ Share of voice recovery: SOV return to pre-crisis level
→ Customer retention: churn rate during and after crisis
→ Revenue impact: sales/revenue decline during crisis period
→ Brand health tracking: brand awareness and perception post-crisis
Reporting & Insights
Regular Reporting Framework
WEEKLY SOCIAL LISTENING REPORT
================================
1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY (3-5 bullet points):
→ Key sentiment shifts vs. prior week
→ Major conversation themes and trends
→ Competitive insights and notable competitor activity
→ Actionable recommendations
2. VOLUME OVERVIEW:
→ Total mentions: ___ (vs. prior week: ▲/▼ ___%)
→ By platform: Twitter ___%, LinkedIn ___%, Reddit ___%, Other ___%
→ Peak mention day: [day] at [time]
→ Top 5 mentioned topics: [list with mention counts]
→ New keywords discovered: ___
3. SENTIMENT BREAKDOWN:
→ Overall sentiment score: __ (prior week: __)
→ Positive: ___% | Neutral: ___% | Negative: ___%
→ Sentiment trend: ▲ improving / ▼ declining / → stable
→ Top positive themes: [theme 1 with count], [theme 2], [theme 3]
→ Top negative themes: [theme 1 with count], [theme 2], [theme 3]
→ Notable sentiment shifts: [describe any significant changes]
4. SHARE OF VOICE:
→ Your brand SOV: ___% (prior week: ___%)
→ Top competitor SOV: [Competitor] ___%
→ SOV trend: ▲ gaining / ▼ losing / → stable
→ Competitive wins: [specific instances where brand gained ground]
5. INFLUENCER & ADVOCATE TRACKING:
→ Top brand advocates by engagement: [name, platform, engagements]
→ New influencer relationships identified: [name, audience size, topic]
→ Influencer campaign performance: [campaign name, reach, engagement]
→ Negative influencer mentions: [name, issue, status]
6. UNRESOLVED MENTIONS:
→ Total pending responses: ___
→ High-priority (100+ engagements): ___
→ Age of oldest unresolved mention: ___ hours
→ Trending complaints requiring escalation: [list]
7. ACTION ITEMS:
→ Immediate (this week): [list specific actions with owners]
→ Short-term (next 2 weeks): [list actions]
→ Strategic (next quarter): [list actions]
MONTHLY TREND REPORT (additional sections):
→ 30-day sentiment trend analysis (chart)
→ SOV trend analysis (chart, 12-month rolling)
→ Top performing content by social engagement
→ Competitive landscape changes (new competitors, market shifts)
→ Industry trend analysis (emerging topics, technology shifts)
→ ROI analysis: social listening impact on business metrics
QUARTERLY STRATEGIC REPORT:
→ Full conversation landscape analysis
→ Brand perception trends (12-month)
→ Competitive positioning analysis
→ Content strategy recommendations based on conversation data
→ Crisis risk assessment
→ Budget and tool recommendations
Edge Cases
- Multi-brand portfolio companies: Set up separate listening profiles for each brand; track cross-brand mentions ("[Brand A] vs [Brand B]"); maintain consolidated dashboard for enterprise view; allocate budget per brand based on revenue/conversation volume
- Non-English markets: Use translation-capable listening tools (Brandwatch, Meltwater, Talkwalker); set up native-language keyword lists with native-speaking team members; account for cultural context in sentiment analysis (some languages express negativity differently); monitor region-specific platforms (Weibo in China, LINE in Japan, VK in Russia)
- High-volume brands (2,000+ daily mentions): Filter aggressively with NLP and AI classification to avoid alert fatigue; use AI summarization for daily digest; focus on influential mentions (100+ engagements, media outlets, high-follower accounts); sample review for sentiment validation (5% manual review of AI-classified mentions)
- Private communities (Discord servers, Slack groups, niche forums, Facebook Groups): Use platform-specific APIs where available for monitoring; manual monitoring for closed groups; recruit community ambassadors for insights; use sentiment proxies from public discussions about private communities
- Meme and viral content tracking: Monitor image/video mentions, not just text; use reverse image search for brand logo misuse; track meme variants and remixes; set up alerts for high-engagement visual content
- Review site monitoring (G2, Capterra, Trustpilot, Yelp, Glassdoor): These carry disproportionate weight in purchase decisions; monitor daily for new reviews; respond to all reviews within 48 hours; track review score trends and review volume; integrate review data into sentiment dashboard
- Political/socially charged topics: Set up monitoring for brand association with political events or social movements; prepare response protocols before crises emerge; monitor employee social media for brand alignment issues
- M&A and competitive intelligence: Monitor competitor M&A announcements, executive changes, product launches; track industry consolidation trends; set up alerts for competitor funding rounds and strategic partnerships
Integration Points
- Brandwatch Consumer Intelligence: Enterprise social listening platform; AI-powered sentiment analysis; cross-platform monitoring (social, web, forums, reviews); custom reporting; $3,000-$15,000+/month
- Sprout Social Listening: Social listening + social media management; mention tracking; sentiment analysis; competitor comparison; custom reports; $249-$2,499/month
- Hootsuite Insights (by Brandwatch): Social listening within Hootsuite ecosystem; keyword monitoring; sentiment tracking; competitor analysis; integrated with social media management
- Talkwalker: AI-powered social intelligence; image recognition; TV and broadcast monitoring; influencer identification; predictive analytics; $5,000-$25,000+/month
- Meltwater: Media and social monitoring; PR measurement; share of voice tracking; news monitoring; influencer database; $2,000-$10,000+/month
- Brand24: Real-time mention tracking; sentiment analysis; share of voice; influencer identification; crisis alerts; $79-$1,500+/month
- Google Alerts: Free basic mention tracking; email notifications; limited to web mentions (no social platforms); useful for low-budget monitoring
- BuzzSumo: Content and influencer discovery; keyword monitoring; content performance analysis; backlink tracking; $99-$499/month
- Salesforce / HubSpot CRM: Route social mentions to CRM records; trigger support tickets from negative mentions; track social-sourced leads and conversions
- Slack / Microsoft Teams: Real-time alert delivery to team channels; escalation notifications; integration with social listening tools for instant alerts