Harnessing the power of social listening to advocate for customers

In recent years, social media has transformed the way businesses and consumers interact. With billions of active users sharing their ideas, preferences, and interests worldwide, social media has become a crucial communication channel to gain consumer insights.

While an increasing number of brands are beginning to use social listening platforms, such as Infegy Atlas, to monitor customer conversations, few are fully leveraging the power of these valuable insights. Here, we highlight examples of how brands in three different industries have successfully harnessed the power of social listening to serve as advocates for consumers.

Using social listening to understand the interests of key consumers

Entertainment companies are often challenged to keep up with ever-changing consumer trends and preferences, and data indicates they may be missing the mark when it comes to targeting men in their 30s and 40s.

We used social listening to answer the question, “What types of movies do men in their 30s and 40s want to watch?” Spoiler alert… It’s not just big-ticket action movies so many studios have been cranking out in recent years. (Although these movies do create large conversations on social media.)

Instead, this demographic is also looking for strong character development in male leading roles. A great example? The uptick in popularity of Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, a 20-year-old movie that was only mildly successful when it hit the box office in 2003.

Directed by Peter Weir and based on Patrick O’Brian’s renowned novel series, this Napoleonic-era warship film weaves together a tale of adventure, relationships, and the relentless pursuit of knowledge. In contrast to many of today’s big-ticket action movies, Master and Commander’s exploration of themes such as friendship, loyalty, and the human spirit in the face of adversity strike a chord with today’s streaming audiences.

Notice in Figure 1 that, since June 2020, there have been more than 330,000 posts about the movie, which is a considerable number for a 20-year-old film.

^{Figure 1: Post volume associated with Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World; Infegy Atlas data, June 2020 through June 2023.}

A deeper dive into the demographics of the film’s audience shows that 65% of those posting about the film are males, as indicated in Figure 2 below.

^{Figure 2: Master and Commander gender trend analysis; Infegy Atlas data, March 30, 2023 through June 30, 2023.}

Figure 2 also illustrates that male Sentiment surrounding the movie is overwhelmingly positive, at 85%. Digging even deeper into Sentiment trends, we find that Positivity continues to increase among the 25-34, 35-44 and 45-54 age groups, at 90%, 93% and 97%, respectively (Figure 3).

^{Figure 3: Age and Sentiment analysis of Master and Commander-related posts; Infegy Atlas data, March 30, 2023 through June 30, 2023.}

One example of a post made by a Master and Commander advocates racked up more than 800,000 views, as shown in Figure 4.

^{Figure 4: A June 26, 2023, Tweet by a Master and Commander fan.}

Another advocate’s post from March 2023 got more than 1,938 likes on Instagram and 27,000 likes on Twitter.

^{Figure 5: A March 2023 Instagram post by a Chicago tattoo parlor of a dedicated Master and Commander fan.}

Key takeaway

What does this mean for the entertainment industry? It may indicate that if you’re trying to build an entertainment piece for 25-54 year old males that has lasting interest, you should consider focusing on strong male relationships, character development, and historical accuracy, rather than explosive action scenes.

Using social listening to identify (and solve!) consumer pain points

Social listening platforms can be a valuable tool for identifying new product opportunities. By isolating specific consumer pain points, brands can develop new products and messaging to better target a key audience demographic.

A great example is a predictable discussion that occurs among women in summer months – The challenge of maintaining flawless makeup in hot weather.

^{Figure 6: A June 29, 2023, Tweet illustrating the challenge of maintaining makeup in hot weather.}

^{Figure 7: A June 19, 2023, Tweet illustrating the challenge of maintaining makeup in hot weather.}

Figure 8 shows that more than 152,000 posts have discussed the topic in the last three months alone!

^{Figure 8: Post volume associated with the challenge of maintain makeup in hot weather; Infegy Atlas data, March 30, 2023 through June 30, 2023.}

And, the spike in posts is predictable year after year, with a sharp uptick during warmer months, as shown in Figure 9.

^{Figure 9: Post volume trends associated with the challenge of maintaining makeup in hot weather; Infegy Atlas data, June 2019 through June 2023.}

An example of a brand that has successfully tapped into this demand is Urban Decay. The brand’s “All Nighter” setting spray earned Allure’s “Best of Beauty Hall of Fame” recognition (Figure 10), as well as overwhelmingly positive consumer Sentiment among female consumers, at 81% (Figure 11).

^{Figure 10: Urban Decay’s All Nighter setting spray earned Allure’s “Best of Beauty Hall of Fame” recognition for solving a common consumer challenge.}

^{Figure 11: Gender and Sentiment trends for Urban Decay’s All Nighter setting spray; Infegy Atlas data, June 30, 2020, through June 30, 2023.}

Key takeaway

Brands that can listen and respond to consumer pain points are in a better position to advocate for customers, solve specific challenges, develop products that meet their needs, and build a loyal following.

Leveraging social listening data to identify brand ambassadors

Given the power of social influencers, brand ambassadors can be a valuable way for a company or product to influence consumers’ purchasing decisions. Social media listening data can help companies identify potential brand ambassadors and harness their influence to drive positive word-of-mouth, enhance the brand’s reputation, and increase customer loyalty.

The brand Feastables recently harnessed the power of brand ambassadors when it launched its newest nutrition bar alongside social media influencer @MrBeast.

^{Figure 12: Feastables’ MrBeast chocolate bars.}

With more than 39 million followers, @MrBeast provided Feastables with immediate, direct access to the brand’s target market. The result was a significant uptick in online posts following the product’s launch, as noted in Figure 13.

^{Figure 13: Post volume related to Feastables’ MrBeast bars; Infegy Atlas data, June 2020 through June 2023.}

Figure 14 shows that @MrBeast’s followers are primarily young, with the majority between 13 and 34 years old.

^{Figure 14: Age and Sentiment analysis of those discussing Feastables’ MrBeast bars; Infegy Atlas data, May 2022 through June 2023.}

Although young, @MrBeast’s followers have shown the power of their influence. Consider Figure 15, a recent Twitter post made by @greg16676935420 that racked up more than 10.4 million views!

^{Figure 15: A July 6, 2023, Tweet by user @greg16676935420 that garnered more than 10.4 million views.}

@greg16676935420’s post resulted in a sharp uptick of conversations regarding the Feastables bars (Figure 16), as well as a remarkable 16% increase in positive consumer Sentiment (Figure 17)!

^{Figure 16: Post volume spike regarding Feastables’ MrBeast bars in response to @greg16676935420’s July 6, 2023, Tweet; Infegy Atlas data, June 2020 through June 2023.}

Key takeaway

Engaging with the right social media influencers can allow a company to leverage the power of select “brand ambassadors” to serve as advocates and significantly improve brand sentiment, ultimately driving sales. We would recommend Feastables engaging with Greg in order to grow their brand presence.

Social intelligence can help drive consumer advocacy

As you can see in the examples above, social listening data offers powerful insights that can be used to drive consumer advocacy across a wide range of industries and brands. These insights can be used in countless ways, from understanding the needs and wants of your target market, to solving consumer pain points, to engaging directly with brand ambassadors.

To learn more about how to harness the power of Infegy Atlas’ social media intelligence for your brand, request a custom demo.