5 free ways to track your shoppers' chatter on social media5 free ways to track your shoppers' chatter on social media

Social media platforms are vast, but that doesn’t mean you can’t hone in on your key customers—specifically the ones already interacting with or talking about you. To find these shoppers, try these five easy ways to monitor the conversation. Do one or several, and tap into your customers’ feedback online. Whether positive or negative, it’s worth knowing what they are saying so you can thank your champions or correct a customer service faux pas. Remember, the store that reaches out online builds loyalty in a public forum, potentially making more than just one fan.

5 tools to try

1. Cloze

Sign up free with your work email, and Cloze will analyze all the people you’ve interacted with (like customers) and send you a daily email of key folks’ social chatter on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. This allows you to interact with your key influencers beyond email. Plus, this handy daily breakdown saves you time from checking up on various social networks.

2. HootSuite

HootSuite is my first choice when it comes to managing a Twitter account. Easily create “streams” of keywords or hashtags to track in real time when someone mentions your store. Bonus: You can easily reply to them right away within the application.

3. Mention

A real-time alerts service like Talkwalker or Google Alerts, Mention not only combs the Web but also social media. The free plan on the Mention app or desktop application lets you search as many as three keywords at a time.

4. Facebook Search

Facebook’s often-overlooked advanced search allows you to search public and group posts for mentions of your store or whatever keyword you choose.

5. Boardreader

Ever wonder what customers are saying on private forums? Enter your store name in the search and find comments on the original social media: online bulletin boards.

Caren Baginski is a Denver-based freelancer who most recently served as New Hope Natural Media’s senior editor, digital and social media.