How to Use Social Listening to Improve Your Strategy

By Amit – SEO & Social Media Strategist for SaaS, Schools & Colleges

In today’s hyper-connected world, social media is not just about posting content—it’s about listening. And if you’re not actively practicing social listening, you’re missing out on powerful insights that can completely reshape your digital marketing strategy.

As someone managing SEO and social media for a CRM SaaS platform, 20 schools, and 5 colleges, I’ve seen firsthand how social listening bridges the gap between brand perception and actual user behavior. It turns chaos into clarity.

Let me walk you through how you can leverage social listening to improve your marketing strategy, whether you’re a SaaS company, educational institution, or part of an IT consulting firm like Kanity.

🔍 What Is Social Listening?

Social listening is the process of monitoring digital conversations to understand what customers are saying about your brand, competitors, and industry online. Unlike social monitoring (which tracks mentions and tags), listening focuses on the mood, intent, and trends behind the conversation.

Think of it as tuning into what the internet is really saying—without people directly messaging you.

💡 Why Social Listening Matters in 2025

Whether you’re managing a SaaS brand or a school’s reputation, ignoring digital chatter is risky. Here’s why it matters:

• 📊 Data-driven decisions: Understand what customers really want.
• 🔥 Crisis control: Catch negative feedback before it escalates.
• 🚀 Content inspiration: Find trending topics your audience cares about.
• 🤝 Community building: Engage in meaningful conversations, not just broadcasts.
• 🧠 Competitor insight: Learn what others are doing right (or wrong).

🛠️ Tools I Use for Social Listening

Here are a few tools that work across industries:

For educational clients, I also use Facebook Group insights and local community forums to monitor conversations among parents and students.

🎯 Step-by-Step: How I Use Social Listening to Improve Strategy

1. Set Up Keywords & Alerts

Start by identifying:

• Brand names (even misspelled)
• Product or service names
• Key competitors
• Industry terms (e.g., “school management software,” “student engagement,” “CRM for education”)

For schools and colleges, I include keywords like “admission process,” “school ranking,” or “CBSE curriculum.”

2. Segment by Audience

Understanding who is speaking is as important as what is being said.
I segment mentions and insights into categories:

• Students & alumni
• Parents
• Teachers
• IT staff (for SaaS)
• General public

This helps me tailor content and engagement based on persona needs.

3. Monitor Sentiment Over Time

Using tools like Sprout Social, I measure whether mentions are positive, neutral, or negative.
Example:
A college may get lots of attention around events, but if the sentiment is low, it’s a signal to address deeper concerns—maybe around campus safety or staff behavior.

4. Fuel SEO with Real Queries

When I manage SEO for our CRM SaaS client, I feed social questions directly into our keyword strategy.

For instance, when I noticed recurring questions like:

• “Is this CRM compatible with mobile?”
• “Can this CRM handle school fee automation?”

…I built blog posts and FAQ sections optimized for these phrases—resulting in a 45% boost in organic traffic in just three months.

5. Create Content Based on User Pain Points

Social listening reveals what your audience is struggling with—not just what they like.

For the schools I manage:

• When parents asked about “safety in digital classrooms,” we made explainer videos.
• When students complained about “boring webinars,” we created interactive story-based lessons.

For the CRM SaaS brand:

• When users said the UI was “confusing,” we ran a tutorial video series that cut customer support tickets by 30%.

6. Engage in Real Time

Listening without responding is like eavesdropping.
If someone’s talking about your brand (positively or negatively), jump in:

• Thank them
• Offer help
• Clarify confusion
• Share a resource

This builds trust, loyalty, and brand equity.

7. Feed Learnings into Product Development

Some of the best product tweaks come from user complaints.
When I noticed schools asking about a “parent communication app” repeatedly on forums, we pushed this as a feature request to our CRM development team—and got a beta live within 6 weeks.

Result?
🎯 A 22% increase in demo requests—just by listening.

👨‍💼 Final Thoughts from the Field

Whether you’re a SaaS firm, a school, or a company like Kanity offering IT consulting, social listening helps you go beyond the dashboard. It adds context to numbers and brings your audience into the heart of your strategy.

As someone juggling SEO and social for diverse clients, I believe social listening isn’t just a tactic—it’s a mindset.

If you’re ready to understand your audience better, make smarter decisions, and create meaningful content…

🎧 Start listening today.