Introduction:
For growth managers, maximizing ROI from marketing spend is one of the top priorities. However, with constrained budgets and more competitive industries, getting the best returns is more challenging than ever. The temptation can be to just throw more money at campaigns in hopes of driving results. But there is a smarter approach – using social listening to better understand customers and spend strategically on initiatives they value.
When we launched buska.io, we saw firsthand how companies boost ROI by using our platform. Social listening provides a real-time view into the wants, needs, and pain points customers are actively discussing. With this knowledge, growth teams can ensure every dollar is spent addressing core customer concerns and in the most impactful ways.
Let’s explore 3 ways to boost R.O.I. from marketing spend with social listening:
- Align spending with customer wants and needs
- Optimize existing campaigns for higher conversion
- Launch more successful new campaigns
Align marketing spend with customer wants and needs
When marketing budgets are limited, it’s crucial to spend on initiatives that will move the needle for customers. But often, growth marketers only have limited insights into what issues matter most. They may rely on assumptions or generic data instead of understanding real customer needs.
This is where social listening and buska make a big difference. By monitoring relevant conversations across social platforms, our users gain a clear picture of what resonates with their audience for real.
For instance, a B2B SaaS company that assumed their customers wanted more features, realized through social listening that issues around implementation and lack of support were much more frequently discussed topics.
This insight led them to shift 30% of their marketing budget away from new product promotions toward customer success resources. What’s more, prospects in discussions around implementation pain points became primed targets for sales outreach programs.
By addressing real customer needs, they triggered a positive cycle of improved satisfaction, more renewals, and increased acquisition – without increasing budgets.
For growth focused companies, wouldn’t you want to know exactly where to spend to get results like this? Social listening with Buska delivers those answers directly from your audience.
Optimize existing campaigns to boost ROI
Once you understand your audience’s top priorities, the next level is fine-tuning campaigns already in market. With social listening, growth teams can proactively test variations to push conversion rates even higher.
One software company was running an email campaign promoting a free trial. But social listening revealed prospects were more interested in speed and ease of setup. So they did an A/B test, focusing the messaging around a “simple 30-second setup”.
The results? Trial conversions increased 18% compared to the original. Extrapolating that lift across their entire customer base, it represents a potential for $100,000 more in revenue each year – for virtually no added cost.
Buska makes it easy to spot optimization opportunities in real-time. Issues can be addressed immediately rather than weeks down the line. One B2C brand uses real time monitoring to refine messaging for a back-to-school promotion. Hearing parents discuss time pressures, they can tweak ads to emphasize speed and convenience leading to a 10% reduction in cost acquisition.
The constant feedback loop of social listening allows growth teams to optimize spend across every campaign touchpoint. Minor tweaks compound to bring huge differences. Data is leveraged immediately for ongoing improvement.
Launch more successful new campaigns
With social listening, growth teams don’t have to risk untested ideas. Buska provides a low-risk testing ground to evaluate concepts directly with customers before committing serious budgets.
Imagine a software startup that wants to launch a new product but isn’t sure about demand. They subtly introduce the idea in targeted online communities to gauge interest. Comments and shares of related posts reveal strong enthusiasm.
Reassured, they greenlight development and launch successfully. Social listening helped quickly validate the concept at minimal cost.
User feedback is key when you launch something new, to find Product Market Fit.
Leveraging a social listening tool like buska can save hours on user recruitment and user interviews. You get direct and unbiased feedback from users online.
By gauging customer thoughts, priorities, and problems on social media, companies can brainstorm, test, and improve new marketing ideas before ever going to market. There’s no need to learn lessons the hard way through costly flops. Social listening delivers the low-risk testing and feedback required to give only the highest potential concepts the green light.
Conclusion
In summary, whether optimizing current efforts or innovating new ones, social listening is making every dollar of marketing spend go further for growth-minded companies.
If you enjoyed this article, make sure to check out our Blog for more insights on Social Listening
