Social Listening Systematically monitor social media and online conversations to track brand sentiment, identify emerging issues, and spot opportunities. When to Use This Skill Brand health monitoring Crisis early warning Competitor tracking Campaign performance Customer insight gathering Methodology Foundation Based on Sprout Social methodology and Brandwatch analytics , combining: Keyword monitoring Sentiment analysis Trend identification Influencer tracking What Claude Does vs What You Decide Claude Does You Decide Designs monitoring strategy Tool selection Creates keyword lists Alert thresholds Analyzes sentiment patterns Response strategy Identifies trends Resource allocation Suggests response approaches Escalation calls Instructions Step 1: Define Monitoring Scope Monitoring Categories: Category What to Track Examples Brand Company name, products "@CompanyName", "CompanyProduct" People Executives, spokespeople CEO name, founder Industry Sector terms, trends Industry keywords Competitors Competitor mentions Competitor names Issues Potential crises Product issues, service complaints Step 2: Build Keyword Matrix Keyword Types: Type Purpose Examples Primary Direct brand mentions Brand name, product names Secondary Related conversations Industry terms, use cases Negative Crisis indicators "problem", "issue", "broken" Competitor Competitive intelligence Competitor names, comparison Step 3: Set Up Alerts Alert Levels: Level Trigger Response Time Green Normal volume, positive/neutral Daily review Yellow Elevated volume, mixed sentiment Same-day review Orange High volume spike, negative trend Hours Red Viral negative, crisis indicators Immediate Step 4: Analyze Findings Analysis Framework: Volume trends (up/down/stable) Sentiment distribution (positive/neutral/negative) Key themes and topics Influential voices Geographic patterns Step 5: Report and Act Reporting Cadence: Report Frequency Audience Real-time alerts As triggered Crisis team Daily digest Daily Marketing Weekly summary Weekly Leadership Monthly deep dive Monthly Strategy Examples Example 1: Social Listening Strategy Input: Create a social listening strategy for: - B2B SaaS company (project management) - Main competitors: Asana, Monday, Notion - Recent product launch: AI features Output:
Social Listening Strategy: Project Management SaaS
Monitoring Objectives
| Objective | Priority | Key Questions |
|---|---|---|
| Brand health | High | How are we perceived? |
| Product feedback | High | What do users say about AI features? |
| Competitive intel | Medium | What are competitors doing? |
| Industry trends | Medium | Where is PM software heading? |
| Crisis detection | High | Any emerging issues? |
| --- | ||
| ### Keyword Matrix | ||
| #### Brand Keywords | ||
| Category | Keywords | Platforms |
| ---------- | ---------- | ----------- |
| Company Name | "[Company]", "@company" | All |
| Product Name | "[Product]", "[Product] app" | All |
| Misspellings | Common variants | All |
| Hashtags | #[Company], #[Product] | Twitter, LinkedIn |
| #### Product Keywords | ||
| Category | Keywords | Why Monitor |
| ---------- | ---------- | ------------- |
| AI Features | "[Company] AI", "AI project management" | Launch feedback |
| Core Features | "[Company] tasks", "[Company] boards" | Product sentiment |
| Integrations | "[Company] Slack", "[Company] integration" | Partnership health |
| #### Competitive Keywords | ||
| Competitor | Keywords | What to Track |
| ------------ | ---------- | --------------- |
| Asana | "Asana vs [Company]", "switching from Asana" | Win/loss signals |
| Monday | "Monday.com", "Monday vs [Company]" | Competitive positioning |
| Notion | "Notion for projects", "Notion PM" | Category overlap |
| General | "best project management", "PM tool 2026" | Category conversations |
| #### Crisis Keywords | ||
| Category | Keywords | Alert Level |
| ---------- | ---------- | ------------- |
| Outage | "[Company] down", "[Company] not working" | Red |
| Security | "[Company] hack", "[Company] breach" | Red |
| Pricing | "[Company] expensive", "[Company] price increase" | Orange |
| Churn | "leaving [Company]", "cancelled [Company]" | Yellow |
| Bugs | "[Company] bug", "[Company] broken" | Yellow |
| --- | ||
| ### Platform Strategy | ||
| Platform | Focus | Keywords |
| ---------- | ------- | ---------- |
| Twitter/X | Real-time sentiment | All brand, crisis |
| B2B discussions | Industry, competitor | |
| Deep user feedback | r/projectmanagement, product | |
| G2/Capterra | Review sentiment | Product reviews |
| Hacker News | Tech community | Product, competitor |
| --- | ||
| ### Alert Configuration | ||
| #### Red Alerts (Immediate Response) | ||
| Triggers: | ||
| - Volume spike >300% normal | ||
| - Sentiment shift >50% negative | ||
| - Viral post (>1000 engagements) | ||
| - Keywords: "outage", "down", "breach", "hack" | ||
| Response: | ||
| - Slack #crisis-alerts channel | ||
| - SMS to on-call team | ||
| - Auto-pause scheduled posts | ||
| --- | ||
| #### Orange Alerts (Same-Day Response) | ||
| Triggers: | ||
| - Volume spike >100% normal | ||
| - Negative sentiment >30% | ||
| - Trending competitor comparison | ||
| - Keywords: "expensive", "worse", "frustrated" | ||
| Response: | ||
| - Slack #social-alerts | ||
| - Email to marketing lead | ||
| - Review within 4 hours | ||
| --- | ||
| #### Yellow Alerts (Next-Day Review) | ||
| Triggers: | ||
| - Volume spike >50% normal | ||
| - Notable influencer mention | ||
| - Competitor activity spike | ||
| - Keywords: "considering", "alternative", "switching" | ||
| Response: | ||
| - Daily digest inclusion | ||
| - Assign for monitoring | ||
| - Review within 24 hours | ||
| --- | ||
| ### Analysis Template | ||
| #### Daily Report | ||
| Social Listening Daily Digest | ||
| Date: [Date] | ||
| Volume Summary | ||
| Metric | ||
| Today | ||
| vs. Yesterday | ||
| vs. 7-Day Avg | ||
| Total Mentions | ||
| X | ||
| +/-Y% | ||
| +/-Z% | ||
| Brand Mentions | ||
| X | ||
| +/-Y% | ||
| +/-Z% | ||
| Sentiment Score | ||
| X | ||
| +/-Y | ||
| +/-Z | ||
| Sentiment Breakdown | ||
| Positive: X% | ||
| Neutral: Y% | ||
| Negative: Z% | ||
| Top Conversations | ||
| [Summary + Link] | ||
| [Summary + Link] | ||
| [Summary + Link] | ||
| Competitor Activity | ||
| Asana: [Notable activity] | ||
| Monday: [Notable activity] | ||
| Notion: [Notable activity] | ||
| Action Items | ||
| [Action if needed] | ||
| Alert Status: GREEN/YELLOW/ORANGE/RED | ||
| --- | ||
| ### AI Feature Launch Monitoring | ||
| Specific Keywords: | ||
| - "[Company] AI" | ||
| - "AI project management" | ||
| - "[Company] automation" | ||
| - "AI features PM tool" | ||
| What to Track: | ||
| Metric | Target | Alert If |
| -------- | -------- | ---------- |
| Mention volume | 2x normal | <50% or >300% |
| Sentiment | >60% positive | <40% positive |
| Feature requests | Document all | - |
| Bug reports | <5/day | >10/day |
| Competitor Response Monitoring: | ||
| - Are competitors announcing similar features? | ||
| - How is our positioning being compared? | ||
| - What gaps are users identifying? | ||
| Example 2: Quick Sentiment Analysis | ||
| Input: | ||
| Analyze this week's social mentions: | ||
| - Total mentions: 450 (up 30%) | ||
| - Positive: 40% | ||
| - Neutral: 35% | ||
| - Negative: 25% | ||
| - Top negative theme: "pricing" | ||
| - One viral tweet (15K RT): "Just discovered [Company] raised prices 40%" | ||
| Output: | ||
| ## Quick Sentiment Analysis | ||
| ### Alert Level: ORANGE | ||
| --- | ||
| ### Summary | ||
| Metric | Value | Status |
| -------- | ------- | -------- |
| Volume | 450 (+30%) | Elevated |
| Sentiment | 40% positive | Below target |
| Negative | 25% | Above normal |
| Viral Content | Yes | Action needed |
| --- | ||
| ### Key Finding | ||
| Pricing is dominating the conversation | ||
| The viral tweet about 40% price increase is: | ||
| - Driving 30% volume spike | ||
| - Shifting sentiment negative | ||
| - Spreading misinformation (if price increase was different) | ||
| --- | ||
| ### Immediate Actions | ||
| Action | Owner | Timeline |
| -------- | ------- | ---------- |
| Verify price increase details | Product/Biz | Immediate |
| Draft response to viral tweet | Comms | 2 hours |
| Prepare pricing FAQ | Support | Today |
| Monitor for escalation | Social | Ongoing |
| --- | ||
| ### Response Options | ||
| If price increase was less than 40%: | ||
| Hi [Name], thanks for the feedback. Just to clarify—our | ||
| recent update increased [specific] pricing by [X%], not 40%. | ||
| Here's what changed and why: [link] | ||
| Happy to discuss if you have questions. | ||
| If price increase was accurate: | ||
| Hi [Name], we hear you. We know pricing changes are never | ||
| easy to absorb. Here's why we made this decision and what | ||
| you're getting in return: [link] | ||
| Our team is available if you'd like to discuss your account. | ||
| --- | ||
| ### Escalation Watch | ||
| Monitor for: | ||
| - Influencer pile-on | ||
| - Media pickup | ||
| - Support ticket spike | ||
| - Churn mentions | ||
| Skill Boundaries | ||
| What This Skill Does Well | ||
| Designing monitoring strategies | ||
| Creating keyword frameworks | ||
| Analyzing sentiment patterns | ||
| Structuring alert systems | ||
| What This Skill Cannot Do | ||
| Access social platforms | ||
| Monitor in real-time | ||
| Automatically respond | ||
| Know your specific tools | ||
| Iteration Guide | ||
| Follow-up Prompts: | ||
| "Create response templates for [scenario]" | ||
| "How should we handle [specific mention]?" | ||
| "Design a competitor monitoring dashboard" | ||
| "What should we track for [campaign]?" | ||
| References | ||
| Sprout Social Listening Guide | ||
| Brandwatch Analytics Methodology | ||
| Hootsuite Social Listening | ||
| Meltwater Media Intelligence |