Your customers are talking, and if you’re managing multiple locations or sub-brands, it’s more important than ever to tune into their social media channels.
After all, with over 5.17 billion social media users globally, online conversations have immense potential to shape brand perceptions, customer preferences, and industry trends. The key is to listen to these conversations and act strategically across all brand touchpoints.
The most successful brands aren’t just chasing trends or obsessing over likes. They’re using social listening tools to dig deeper, uncover what truly matters to their local audiences, and turn those insights into impactful strategies.
It’s all about spotting opportunities, addressing challenges, and staying ahead of the local and global competition.
So, I’ll show you how multi-location and multi-brand businesses can leverage social listening tools like EmbedSocial to gain actionable insights and deliver success.
What is social listening for large brands?
For large, multi-location brands, social media listening breaks down broad, global audiences into locally focused insights. Instead of applying a one-size-fits-all approach, it involves tracking and interpreting conversations per region, capturing local opinions, influencers, and cultural cues that shape consumer sentiment. By leveraging localized insights, brands can:
- Refine messaging and promotions to meet diverse regional preferences
- Identify local advocates and emerging trends specific to each market
- Respond promptly to location-based challenges, improving trust and loyalty
- Continuously adapt products and services to reflect evolving customer needs
Social media listening vs social media monitoring
First, let’s clear up the confusion—although used interchangeably, social media listening and monitoring are not the same.
Both are important, but they serve different purposes:
- Social media monitoring focuses on what’s happening now. It tracks direct mentions, comments, and tags so brands can respond in real time, build connections, and engage with their community. Social monitoring enables brands to engage promptly with their audience while tracking specific sentiments related to their products or services.
- Social media listening goes beyond the immediate. It analyzes the bigger picture—conversations, trends, and social media reputation—even when your brand isn’t explicitly mentioned. Think of it as a way to keep your finger on the pulse of daily interactions that’ll help you understand your audience, predict trends, and drive long-term success.
Monitoring tells you what’s being said; listening tells you why it matters—and how it varies across your brand ecosystem.
Both types of social media management tools are crucial to determining what your target group is thinking and how to use them to boost your bottom line.
Steps to manage social mentions across multiple locations
We know the challenges you’re up against, and that’s why EmbedSocial is more than a standard social media aggregator—it seamlessly bridges the gap between sentiment analysis and actionable marketing strategies.
Whether you’re tracking social media trends or responding to feedback, our dashboard has everything you need. While marketed as a complete UGC platform, EmbedSocial includes all the tools you need to succeed online today.
So, let me tell you how to use it right away, step-by-step:
1. Sign up and connect your accounts
First, you have to sign up and connect your social media:
- Create your account: Sign up for EmbedSocial and log in;
- Add your sources: Click on ‘Sources’ → ‘Add new source’;
- Choose your platforms: Select Instagram, X, Facebook, or YouTube → ‘Hashtags’ or ‘Mentions’.
2. Set up hashtags and mentions tracking
Once you choose your source, it’s time to set it up:
- Enter the hashtags or mentions: Add the specific hashtags you want to monitor, like your brand name or campaign-specific hashtags;
- Filter by location or language: You can set filters to make sure you’re tracking relevant social media posts in specific regions or languages.
3. Start monitoring and managing your user-generated content
Now it’s time to head over to the ‘Monitor’ tab from the left ribbon menu:
- Use the filters to find the content you are interested in: You can filter based on date, platform, content type, or specific account;
- Organize and customize your collected UGC: You can use tags on specific posts, enable/disable/delete them, or even edit them before re-posting;
4. Analyze your social media data for social insights
Time to analyze your tracked mentions and hashtags via the ‘Analytics’ section:
- Access the ‘Analytics’ section: From your dashboard, navigate to ‘Analytics’ (left ribbon menu), where you can download your data and upload it for analysis;
- Refine your data with filters: Before exporting, use filters to narrow down your mentions by time, location, media type, or social account, so you download only the most relevant posts;
- Analyze your tracked posts: Now you can dig in and analyze your mentions and hashtags, looking for trends and sentiments related to your brand and products.
Bonus step: Embed your hashtags and mentions on your website
EmbedSocial offers a robust solution for embedding your UGC across all your websites, and you only have to follow a few steps to do that:
- Open the widget editor: Access ‘Widgets’ → specific hashtag or mentions widget;
- Create your widget if you haven’t already: If you head straight to ‘Monitor’ after adding your source, you will have to create your widget from scratch;
- Edit your widget as per your needs: You can access various editing options to change everything from the widget’s look to the product tags it includes;
- Copy the embeddable widget code: Tap ‘Embed’ (top-left corner) → ‘Copy code’;
- Paste the code in your website: Open your website editor, navigate to the page that you want to edit, place an empty HTML container, and paste the code.
Why is this process so important for your brand?
As a brand manager, managing social media mentions across multiple locations can feel overwhelming—especially with thousands of posts to go through.
With EmbedSocial, you can quickly filter by location and export the relevant data with just a few clicks, a feature that saves you huge amounts of time, as it allows you to access the insights that matter most for each location instantly.
Spend less time on data collection and more time making strategic decisions and curating social proof across regions.
Social media listening with EmbedSocial: Multi-location and multi-brand use cases
With so many conversations happening in different languages, regions, and platforms, how do you stay connected to your audience while tailoring your approach?
Well, EmbedSocial turns social media listening into an opportunity to connect with customers, create localized strategies, and grow your brand.
Watch the video to learn how to get started with social listening right now:
Here are three practical ways EmbedSocial can simplify and enhance your social listening efforts across multiple locations and brands:
1. Centralizing multi-location mentions in one place
If you’re managing accounts for different regions, staying on top of customer feedback and engagement can be tricky. For example, a global brand like Nissan might have separate profiles for France, Brazil, and Japan. How do you ensure you’re delivering a consistent brand experience while meeting local needs?
How can EmbedSocial help?
EmbedSocial brings all your regional accounts into one easy-to-use dashboard. You can instantly see what’s working, what’s not, and how different markets are responding to your campaigns. For instance, you could compare how a product launch performs in the U.S. versus Europe, uncover regional engagement gaps, and adjust your strategies to fit.
Steps to get started:
- Link all your regional accounts in EmbedSocial’s multi-account dashboard;
- Monitor mentions and engagement for each location side by side;
- Use the insights to replicate successful campaigns in underperforming markets.
2. Monitoring branded hashtags across languages and regions
Branded hashtags are the digital breadcrumbs that show how your campaigns resonate globally. For instance, a brand like Nissan can track hashtags like #NissanBrasil or #NissanUK to spot trends, highlight customer stories, and even identify regional influencers.
How can EmbedSocial help?
EmbedSocial’s hashtag tracking feature is built for multi-location businesses. It lets you follow regional variations of your branded hashtags, so you can uncover unique insights. For example, you might find that Brazilian customers love sharing adventure-filled road trips with their Nissan SUVs, while in Germany, it’s all about highlighting eco-friendly features.
Steps to get started:
- Set up all relevant regional hashtags in EmbedSocial’s tracking tool;
- Explore the relevant conversations happening under those hashtags;
- Use these insights to create campaigns that reflect what matters most to local customers.
3. Uncovering market insights with localized keywords
It’s not just about your brand—keeping an ear out for broader industry conversations reveals new opportunities. Tracking keywords like “electric cars” or “SUV performance” in specific regions helps you see what customers want.
How can EmbedSocial help?
With EmbedSocial’s keyword tracking, you can filter by region, language, or even sentiment. For example, you might discover that customers in France are excited about hybrid models, while in the U.S., they’re focused on battery life. These insights help you fine-tune your product features, messaging, and social media marketing strategies.
Steps to get started:
- Add localized keywords to your tracking filters;
- Analyze the conversations for trends, pain points, or unmet needs;
- Use this data to guide decisions on product development or marketing campaigns.
At the end of the day, EmbedSocial offers a streamlined social media listening tool for multi-location businesses. You no longer need several social media monitoring tools.
Then, once you’ve gathered all your feedback, you can take action straight away—whether it’s responding to a customer complaint, moderating a post, or planning a new campaign based on trending topics.
Ultimately, EmbedSocial allows you to transition from listening to acting, all in the same workflow, so you can make a difference in real time.
Benefits of social media listening
Social listening is reshaping brand strategies, allowing them to shift from speculation to data-driven decisions. Here’s why it’s a top priority for 62% of social teams:
- Personalise your approach, locally and globally
- Spot emerging trends, region by region
- Prevent crises before they escalate
- Shape your global product roadmap
- Refine your customer service strategy
Personalise your approach, locally and globally
Ever wonder how some brands seem to know exactly what their customers want? That’s the magic of social listening. By analyzing social data and tapping into real conversations across countries and languages, you gain deep insights into your audience’s world—their passions, frustrations, and everything in between.
Personalization goes beyond using a customer’s name—it’s about tapping into this behavioral data to create tailored campaigns that drive meaningful engagement.
Spot emerging trends, region by region
What’s trending in New York might be different from what’s trendy in Tokyo. Listening is about identifying these regional differences and tuning in to the conversations your audience really cares about.
Take Coca-Cola’s “Share a Coke” campaign, for example. Coca-Cola analyzed social media conversations, customer feedback, and local data to understand popular names and phrases in different regions. This insight allowed them to personalize their bottles, creating a deeper connection with consumers by reflecting local tastes and cultural preferences.
The result was a globally successful campaign that resonated with audiences by speaking to their unique regional identities.
Prevent crises before they escalate
By monitoring online conversations, you can catch those first whispers of dissatisfaction before they snowball into bigger problems.
For global or multi-location businesses, customer dissatisfaction can spread quickly. Just like when Netflix announced the password-sharing changes in 2023—because “Netflix just lost me as a customer” wasn’t exactly the feedback they expected.
Shape your global product roadmap
What works in one market may not work in another. Take McDonald’s, for example. In India, they introduced the McAloo Tikki burger to cater to vegetarian tastes, while in Japan, the Teriyaki Burger was a big hit.
By monitoring local conversations, McDonald’s adjusts their menu to meet the unique demands of each market, ensuring their product strategy is spot-on everywhere.
Brands that use social listening report greater confidence in proving ROI because they’re not just tracking the so-called “vanity metrics.” They’re leveraging insights to drive growth, secure executive buy-in, and make a measurable impact across the organization.
Refine your customer service strategy
Social listening is a game-changer for improving customer support. By analyzing feedback from social media platforms, you can identify recurring issues, address common complaints, and even proactively solve problems before customers reach out.
Take Delta Airlines as an example. By closely monitoring mentions and tags, they’ve been able to resolve customer grievances in real-time, turning potentially negative experiences into positive interactions. This proactive approach not only boosts customer satisfaction but also fosters loyalty in a competitive market.
With insights from social media monitoring tools, your customer service can move from reactive to proactive—anticipating needs and building trust at every touchpoint.
Conclusion: Understand your customers to boost your business!
I expect the future of social listening for multi-location businesses to be defined by hyper-localized insights and predictive trends.
Success comes from capturing what people are saying in different regions, from their preferences to the challenges they face. With EmbedSocial’s location-based sentiment analysis, you’ll have a real-time pulse on what matters to your customers, no matter where they are.
To make the most of this social media management software, think of your social listening strategy as an ongoing process. EmbedSocial belongs to your marketing stack to quickly turn insights into action, whether it’s tweaking a campaign or adjusting a product to better meet your customers’ needs. It’s all about staying connected and responsive wherever your customers are.
Ready to start listening? Use our platform to centralize your insights, track location-specific feedback, and proactively respond to regional trends—empowering real-time, data-driven decisions that strengthen customer connections and drive growth.
Don’t just be a part of the conversation—lead it. Start listening today; guide you toward stronger relationships, smarter strategies, and undeniable loyalty.
FAQs about social media listening
What is social media listening?
Social media listening is the process of tracking online conversations, mentions, and trends across social platforms to understand public sentiment, customer preferences, and emerging topics. It goes beyond monitoring to analyze the context and sentiment behind these conversations, offering actionable insights for brands to improve strategies and engagement.
What is an example of social listening for a multi-location business?
An example is Coca-Cola’s “Share a Coke” campaign, where the brand analyzed local social media conversations to understand regional preferences and personal names, creating localized bottles. Social listening helped them engage audiences in a meaningful, market-specific way, and this approach can be replicated for multi-location brands.
What is the primary focus of social listening?
The primary focus of social listening is to track and analyze online conversations to understand what people are saying about your brand, competitors, and industry. It helps uncover insights that inform marketing, product, and customer service strategies.
How can social media listening increase customer advocacy?
By understanding and acting on customer feedback, brands show they genuinely care, turning customers into advocates. For instance, addressing pain points like Nike did during the Women’s World Cup fosters loyalty, creating campaigns that resonate deeply with the target audience and encourage them to champion the brand.
What is the difference between social media monitoring and social media listening?
Social media monitoring focuses on tracking and responding to direct mentions, tags, and messages in real-time, often for immediate customer service. Social media listening takes a broader approach by analyzing trends, sentiment, and untagged conversations to uncover deeper insights, such as customer needs or market opportunities. Monitoring tells you what’s happening; listening reveals why it matters.
What are social media listening tools for multi-location businesses?
Social listening tools like EmbedSocial help multi-location businesses track mentions, hashtags, and customer sentiment across different regions, all in one platform. With features that filter by location, these tools give you a clearer understanding of what’s happening in each market and help you take targeted actions based on regional insights.
How can social listening improve customer service?
Social listening improves customer service by allowing brands to quickly detect and respond to customer concerns, even if they’re not tagged directly. It helps identify recurring issues, reduce response time, and build stronger customer relationships.
How does social listening enable a brand to strengthen its connection with relevant influencers?
Social listening helps brands spot influencers who are already talking about their niche or products, even without direct tagging. By engaging these voices early, brands can build authentic relationships and collaborate with influencers who genuinely align with their audience.
Which company has the best social listening tools?
EmbedSocial offers one of the best social listening tools, especially for brands that want to track mentions, manage user-generated content, and monitor Google reviews all in one place. Other strong options include Brandwatch, Sprout Social, and Hootsuite.
What should you do if you’re not seeing useful insights from your social listening data?
If you’re not seeing useful insights, refine your keyword list, include brand misspellings, add competitor terms, and adjust filters by platform or sentiment. Revisit your goals to ensure you’re tracking the right conversations.
What is the primary difference between platform analytics and social media listening services?
The primary difference is that platform analytics measure performance metrics like clicks, reach, and engagement, while social media listening services track conversations and sentiment across platforms to uncover audience insights and trends.
