Social Media Listening and Monitoring: A Cue for Ilorin’s Entrepreneurs

Social media is no longer just a stage for posting pictures on Facebook or running WhatsApp status updates. It has become a busy marketplace where entrepreneurs attract customers, sell products, and build reputations. A good reason to understand social media listening and monitoring. 

Yet, while the only thing may business owners know how to do is post, very few know how to track and understand what customers are saying, especially about their products/services.

The truth is, people are already discussing your brand, your product category, and even your competitors whether you are listening or not.

That is why social media listening and monitoring are essential tools for entrepreneurs who want to grow.

Social Media Listening vs Social Media Monitoring: Spotting the Difference

Although the terms are often used together, they are not the same. Understanding the difference will help you know how to use both effectively:

Social Media Monitoring is about tracking numbers and mentions. It is actively looking for mentions and conversations that pertain to your brand, your products, your hashtags, your competitors, and your customers.

It focuses on the “what” ; how many people are talking about you, how many times your brand is tagged, and the volume of engagement.

For instance, if you run a food brand in Taiwo and your Instagram post receives 50 mentions this week, monitoring helps you see that rise.

On the other hand, social media listening goes deeper. It focuses on the “why.” It is about understanding the context, emotions, and meaning behind those mentions.

Using the same example, if people say your food is “affordable but delivery is slow,” listening helps you understand what matters most to customers and how to improve.

In simpler terms: Social media monitoring is about collecting the data. While social media listening is about analysing and interpreting the data to take action.

Both must work hand in hand for entrepreneurs who want to stay relevant in an environment like Ilorin.

Why They Matter for Ilorin Entrepreneurs

Ilorin’s business scene is diverse. From traditional market traders in Oja Oba, Ipata, and Mandate, to student-led startups at Unilorin, KWASU, and Al-Hikmah.

In both cases, reputation spreads fast. Social media listening and monitoring together give business owners the tools to:

1.Track their brand health

Social media listening and monitoring show whether mentions and comments are increasing or decreasing and the reasons behind those mentions and comments.

2.Get feedback early

Social media listening and monitoring help you pick up dissatisfaction being expressed by your customers before it grows.

3.Discover opportunities

With the right social media listening and monitoring tools like hashtagify, a rising hashtag like #UnilorinFashion can show where the market is going.

4.Respond swiftly and smartly

Monitoring tells you what people are saying; listening tells you how to respond.
In a city where word-of-mouth can make or break a business, these tools are no longer optional, they are necessary.

Practical Tools and Techniques for Monitoring and Listening

Many Ilorin entrepreneurs believe digital tools are expensive, but you can start small:

For Monitoring:

Google Alerts: this can be use to track your brand name or keywords.

Facebook/Instagram Insights: to measure mentions, likes, and engagement levels.

Twitter Search/Hashtags to count how often your business category is mentioned.

For Listening:

Read through customer comments to identify repeated praise or complaints.

Follow conversations in social media platforms like X or Instagram to hear what people say about your industry.

Affordable tools like Mention or Hootsuite can combine monitoring and listening, offering deeper insights.

An 

A POS operator in Challenge might monitor the volume of conversations about “POS charges in Ilorin” on Twitter.

Monitoring shows that complaints are rising. But by listening, she learns the real issue is “extra ₦100 charges after 9 pm”.

With that insight, she can create a competitive advantage by keeping her charges flat all day.

Action Steps for Ilorin Entrepreneurs

To make monitoring and listening part of your growth strategy:

1. Spend 15 minutes daily checking mentions, hashtags, and customer comments.

2. Separate numbers from meaning: Note engagement stats (monitoring) but also track recurring complaints or praises (listening).

3. Respond quickly and politely: silence online is interpreted as neglect. So, you may want to respond quickly and in the right manner.

4. Adjust services or products based on insights from listening.

5. Test different hashtags and keywords related to your industry for broader reach.

Conclusion

Social media listening and monitoring helps you track what is happening, and  understand why it is happening and what to do next.

Combined, they give you a clear picture of your customers and competitors.