Ever posted something you thought was genius—only to hear crickets? You poured your soul into that caption, hit publish, and… nothing. No likes, no comments, no shares. What the heck happened?
Yet… your audience is talking. They’re liking, commenting, reposting, ranting, raving, and asking questions. They’re dropping hints about what they want, what they need, and what they’re tired of. You just need to tune in.
Welcome to the world of social listening. In this guide, you’ll learn how to use social listening to uncover real-time audience insights, shape your messaging, improve customer experience, and even inform product or service development. It’s not just about monitoring and reporting—it’s about strategy.
Let’s dive in.
What is social listening?
Social listening is the art (and science) of monitoring online conversations to work out what your audience really thinks, feels, and wants. It goes beyond counting likes and shares—it’s about analysing comments, tracking hashtags, monitoring forums, and spotting trends.
Think of it as ethical eavesdropping. It’s not snooping as such—you’re gathering insights that are already in the public domain to serve your audience better. Done right, social listening can:
- Improve the customer experience (CX)
- Shape your brand voice and messaging
- Inform product or service development
- Help you stay ahead of competitors
- Drive smarter, more responsive marketing
It enables you to hear directly from the people you’re trying to reach—without guessing, assuming, or relying on outdated personas.
Why social listening matters for creative entrepreneurs
Creative businesses thrive on connection. Whether you’re a designer, writer, maker, coach, or consultant, your work is deeply personal—and so is your audience’s response to it.
Social listening helps you communicate in a way that feels familiar to your audience by tuning into the words and phrases they use. It reveals gaps your competitors might be missing, giving you a strategic edge. It guides you to create content that doesn’t just look good, but actually resonates and drives action. And most importantly, it builds trust by showing your audience that you get them. In short, social listening is how you stop shouting into the void and start having meaningful conversations that matter.
Five steps to using social listening
1. Set goals
Before you start scrolling, get clear on why you’re listening. Are you trying to optimise the customer experience? Analyse competitors? Gather feedback on a new offer or improve your social media marketing?
Your goals will shape what you listen for—and where you listen. It’s a bit like tuning a radio: you need the right frequency to hear the right message. Setting one or two goals also helps avoid overwhelm, so you’re not trying to listen to everything at once.
2. Know where to listen
Your audience may seem to be everywhere—but you don’t have to be. Focus on the platforms and spaces where they’re most active. That might be:
- Instagram comments and DMs
- Facebook groups and community threads
- Reddit and other forums
- LinkedIn posts and responses
- X conversations and hashtags
- TikTok comments and duets
Keep your eyes peeled for hot topics, common queries, and anything that sparks strong reactions. What are people grumbling about or yearning for? What hashtags are gathering momentum? What customer needs are going unmet? Collect the data, then analyse it. You’re looking for patterns that indicate what your audience truly cares about.
3. Create a file of audience language
Start building a living document where you collect real phrases your audience uses—think of it like a creative fuel stash. When you mirror your audience’s language in your marketing, you create content that feels familiar, trustworthy and engaging. Headlines, captions, emails—they all become more effective when they sound like your audience wrote them. Pro tip: organise your file by themes like pain points, desires, objections, questions, and compliments. It’ll make content creation faster, sharper, and way more strategic.
4. Use social listening tools
Manual listening is great—but automation makes the process easier and scalable. Here are a few tools to consider:
- Brand24 – tracks mentions across social media, blogs, and forums. Starts at £149/month.
- Sprout Social – offers robust social listening and analytics. Pricing is from £199/month.
- Brandwatch – great for enterprise-level listening. Pricing varies.
- BuzzSumo – ideal for content discovery and influencer tracking. Free trial available; paid from £199/month.
- Google Alerts – a free and simple service for monitoring keywords and brand mentions.
Each tool has its own strengths—choose one that aligns with your goals and budget. You may want to start manually if your budget is tight, and invest in an automation tool later.
5. Measure and optimise
Social listening isn’t about hearing what people say once; it’s about continual refinement—tracking engagement metrics, monitoring sentiment, and staying responsive to shifts in tone, interest, and behaviour. The more consistently you listen, the more fluently you’ll speak your audience’s language—and the stronger, more connected, and more effective your brand will become.
Stop guessing: start listening
Social listening helps you move from guesswork to strategy. It’s how you build a brand that feels seen, heard, and understood—because it actually is. Start small. Pick one platform, set one goal, and begin decoding what your audience is really saying. You’ll be amazed at what you discover when you stop broadcasting and start tuning in.
Want more smart strategies like this? Browse the Creative Entrepreneurs Journal—and don’t miss our sanity-saving round-up: Seven social media tools to save time and keep you sane.