Spotting Trends Early with Search Listening

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Marketing Moments are brought to you by River Heights
Consulting.

An occasional offering by RHC designed to educate and inspire our readers about Marketing and Related Topics.


Search Listening may be a new term to some of you, so let’s answer the question “What is it?”  Search listening is the process of using search data (usually Google data but whatever search engine is most popular in your country is best) for customer research.

1. Analyzing the searches and trends happening around your brand and your industry as a whole, and using the insights to make better marketing decisions. 

2. Monitoring and analyzing what people search for online to identify trends, understand audience wants or needs, and create related content.

3. Gaining customer insight by monitoring Google searches for specific keywords, topics, competitors, or industries.

4. Understanding what people are saying about brands and markets and the questions they are asking.


Why should you care? 

1. What people say they care about and what they really care about are not always the same. Customers often care how they are perceived and that will color their answers to questions, especially in a public or group setting. 

2. You can identify trends early in the trend cycle and leapfrog your competition. Let’s be honest, a lot of marketing initiatives are easily copied, but there IS a first-to-market advantage. If you are the Innovator, let the others follow. One way to get ahead of your competition is to monitor the market and the customers better.

3. You can get ahead of potential negative feedback quickly. A timely response and resolution to a problem makes it go away and gains goodwill. 

4. Simply making superior keyword choices will improve your marketing ROI and elevate your brand. Let’s say you make fuses and surge protection. Type in those two keywords and see what comes up first. I did that, and it was a signal protection company not previously on my radar. This is an example of search listening and keyword choices that your competition and/or distributors are making. What you do with that data is up to you, but it’s data worth paying attention to. 


If you or your Marketing team want to discuss Search Listening or any other hot topics in the world of B2B Marketing, reach out to River Heights Consulting. We always enjoy the chance to talk shop and help our friends and clients.



Desiree Grace is an advisor, consultant, and mentor with 30+ years as a senior leader in the electrical
distribution and manufacturing sectors. Desiree leads and supports special projects for River Heights
Consulting. She builds brands, grows revenue and motivates teams, facilitates strategy and execution, and offers special expertise in helping international companies enter the North American market.  Experience with Fortune 100 companies, private start-ups, and mid-market businesses enables Desiree to help a variety of B2B organizations improve market share, revenue, and profits. She is a sought-after speaker for topics such as professional development, sales leadership, industry trends, and team leadership and motivation. You can connect with her at www.linkedin.com/in/desireecgrace.


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