Companies that are new to social media monitoring and engagement frequently wonder where to begin. This can even be a bigger challenge if nobody is talking about your company or brand. Here are 100 examples, divided into 10 categories, of things that you can listen to and monitor for across the social web.

2. New to social media monitoring and engagement? What do you listen for?

3. We've created a list of100 ways to get you started. Some uses didn’t make our list because we stopped at 100. If there are other ideas you would like to see explored in a future list, let us know. info@radian6.com

4. We look at these categories: Brand monitoring Competitive intelligence Industry monitoring Thought leadership Lead generation and sales Customer service Search engine optimization (SEO) Crisis communication Product development Advertising and marketing effectiveness

5. Brand monitoring Listen for online mentions of your brand Listen for positive mentions of your brand Listen for negative mentions of your brand Listen for direct and indirect questions from customers Discover brand advocates Discover brand detractors Discover influencers for your brand Learn where customers are talking about your brand Listen for the most popular topics about your brand Monitor public perception of your company Listen for mentions of executive team Listen for mentions of product misuse

6. Competitive intelligence Discover online mentions of your top competitors Discover competitors’ latest product releases Discover competitors’ recent company news Listen for customer comments about competitors Monitor competitors’ blogs for company insight Monitor competitor employees’ social profiles Monitor competitors’ content for levels of customer engagement Discover negative mentions of competitors and treat as opportunities

7. Industry monitoring Listen to mentions of your industry Listen for mentions of your brand compared to your industry Listen for mentions of your competitors as part of your industry Monitor share of voice in your industry Monitor industry trends Discover industry issues Monitor industry news Discover industry influencers Monitor perception of industry by larger business community Monitor changes in social media adoption in your industry

8. Thought leadership Monitor changes in conversation volume around key issues Discover industry posts that require comment by your company’s subject matter experts Monitor spread of company thought leadership blog posts Identify online opportunities to share thought leadership Identify speaking opportunities for subject matter experts Determine perception of company as a thought leader Determine perception of company employees as thought leaders Discover other industry thought leaders Monitor influence of company thought leaders Monitor influence of industry thought leaders

9. Lead generation and sales Monitor for buying indication terms within your product category Monitor for recommendation requests within your product category Monitor for discussions of your product category Monitor target prospect personas to confirm accuracy Monitor questions and conversations about your product category Discover topics for remarkable content Share relevant content with prospects Answer direct questions from prospects Discover competitive insights Expand pool of prospects

10. Customer service Identify customer service issues as they emerge Monitor volume of conversation around customer service issues Respond to customer service issues in real-time Determine if customers are willing to take issues offline Gather customer feedback to share with other teams Build relationships with customers Answer customer questions Respond to positive feedback Share helpful company information Monitor ongoing customers concerns

11. Search engine optimization (seo) Discover relevant industry keywords Monitor selected keywords for content ideas Discover influencers using selected keywords Determine which keywords are performing best Determine which keywords are not performing Monitor spread of content to determine better titles Connect with people in industry to enhance social search Discover relevant blogs to consider asking for backlinks Monitor SEO influencers to keep up with search engine changes Monitor search engine social profiles to keep up with changes

12. Crisis communication Monitor community news sites around facilities Listen actively to conversations around the crisis Establish a baseline for potential threats Establish a baseline for potential failures Find sites that are critical of your brand Find people that are critical of your brand Look for channels to use for crisis outreach Determine potential issues before they escalate Determine the volume of critical conversations Determine sentiment level changes which could indicate a crisis

13. Product development Listen for comments on current products Listen for comments on competitors’ products Discover new uses for existing products Discover opportunities for product offerings Solicit product feedback and monitor comments Conduct beta testing Monitor new industry opportunities Listen for potential new product features Understand how customers are using your product Identify points of difference about your product

14. Advertising and marketing effectiveness Track advertising-specific keyword usage Listen for social response to advertising messages Gauge sentiment toward advertising campaigns Monitor conversations from trade shows Monitor unique URLs on your ads Monitor unique phone numbers on your ads Find sites relevant to your brand for online advertising Learn the language of prospects Monitor campaign or brand specific hashtags Solicit user generated content and monitor results