What if you knew what everybody was talking about before you joined a cocktail party? In fact, what if you were the topic of conversation in many circles before you arrived? Some are talking smack and others are singing your praises. You know exactly who your haters and admirers are.How well prepared would you be to engage in conversation? That’s what social listening does. It’s the fly on the wall that gives you invaluable information before you open your mouth. It's a powerful tool that allows brands to identify who loves them and why, and to engage in conversations that are already happening, rather than trying to force conversation from a pre-scripted agenda.Think of it like a cheat sheet. Knowing what your audience is saying before joining the conversation can set you up with the best talking points. Using social listening platforms, brands are able to identify what they have in common with their fans. Knowing your similarities gives you the upper-hand when walking into that party--you’ll know exactly who to talk to and what to say.At Socialtyze, we have used Crimson Hexagon for three years to help us to take the guess work out of our community management and paid media campaigns. Crimson is a social media analytics platform that uses real-time social data and insights to increase ad and community efficiencies.We first experienced success using Crimson Hexagon to support the launch of six national feature film releases for a major movie studio client. Since we kept our ears open before taking action, we were able to discover specific keywords and interests of our audience, which led to our media buyers creating powerful targeted ads.How powerful?Using our listening cheat sheet, we increased our efficiencies of purchasing fans by 16 percent. We also used it to find other audiences that were similar to fans of the movies, allowing our studio clients to broaden their reach of new audiences leading up to opening weekend.Watch the video below for more on how and why social listening has become one of the most valuable ingredients for successful social mingling.[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytsdsnM_Utw&feature=youtu.be[/embed]Want more tips and tricks for how to dominate social this year with Data, Creative and Amplification? Download our 2016 Social Media Survival Guide.