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Social listening lets you monitor conversations about your brand, competitors, and industry across social media platforms. Instead of manually searching each platform, social listening tools aggregate mentions and keywords into a single dashboard so you can respond to conversations, identify trends, and understand public sentiment.

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What social listening is

Social listening goes beyond tracking your own posts. It monitors:
  • Brand mentions — when someone mentions your business name, product, or team members
  • Competitor mentions — what people say about your competitors
  • Industry keywords — conversations around topics relevant to your business
  • Hashtag tracking — monitoring specific hashtags over time
  • Sentiment — whether mentions are positive, negative, or neutral

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Setting up keyword tracking

1

Navigate to social listening

Go to Marketing > Social Planner > Listening (or Monitoring).
2

Add keywords

Enter the keywords, brand names, or hashtags you want to monitor. Create separate tracking groups for your brand, competitors, and industry topics.
3

Select platforms

Choose which platforms to monitor for each keyword group.
4

Set alert preferences

Configure notifications for new mentions — receive alerts via email or in-app notifications when a keyword is detected.
The listening dashboard highlights:
  • Trending topics — keywords and hashtags gaining momentum in your industry
  • Volume changes — spikes in mention frequency that may indicate viral content or emerging issues
  • Top influencers — accounts driving the most conversation around your keywords
  • Content themes — common topics within your keyword mentions

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Monitoring competitors

Track competitor brand names and product names to understand:
  • What their customers are saying (complaints, praise)
  • How they respond to feedback
  • Which of their campaigns generate the most conversation
  • Opportunities to position your business against their weaknesses

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Sentiment analysis

Sentiment analysis categorizes mentions as positive, negative, or neutral:
SentimentExample
Positive”Love the new features from @yourbrand!”
Negative”Terrible customer service from @yourbrand today”
Neutral”Has anyone tried @yourbrand’s new product?”
Use sentiment trends to identify emerging PR issues before they escalate and to measure the impact of campaigns on public perception.

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Actionable insights

Engage with positive mentions to build relationships. Address negative mentions promptly to prevent escalation. Timely responses show that your brand is active and attentive.
When you notice recurring questions or topics in your mentions, create content that addresses them — blog posts, social posts, or FAQ updates.
Identify users who frequently mention or engage with your brand positively. These are potential brand ambassadors or influencer partnership candidates.
Track what features or improvements your audience requests most. Feed this insight back to your product or service development process.

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Platforms supported

Social listening coverage varies by platform and the specific tools available in your account:
  • Facebook (public pages and groups)
  • Instagram (public accounts)
  • X / Twitter (public posts)
  • LinkedIn (public posts)
  • YouTube (video comments)
  • TikTok (public content)
  • Google My Business (reviews and posts)
Social listening monitors publicly available content only. Private accounts, groups, and direct messages are not included.
Last modified on March 6, 2026