How to Use Geo-Search
to Find Relevant Conversations

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Video Transcript | Intro

For many businesses, connecting with a local audience is important for creating brand awareness and building a customer base.  

Since so many social media conversations take place globally, it can be difficult to find and engage in conversations that are happening in specific geographical areas and are relevant to your business.

This is where Hootsuite’s geo-search feature comes in handy. 

Geo-search lets you listen in on your target audiences’ conversations with laser precision, boosting the effectiveness of your social media marketing efforts.

Geo-search can be useful for an array of businesses from small brick and mortar shops to major media outlets tracking reactions to events.

Say you’re a small grocer and you want to locate potential customers who are interested in farm fresh, organic produce.

By performing a geo targeted search, you can engage in conversations with people looking for the kind of products you offer, thereby building connections with potential new customers in your target area.

Setting Up a Geo-Targeted Search

To set up a geo-targeted search, add a Twitter Stream and select Search.

Type in search terms such as “farm fresh” OR  “local” and “?”; then click on the arrow to scan the relevant conversations happening within a 25 km radius of your current location.  

Now you have a steady stream of updates from local Twitter users who have mentioned your search terms.

But, what if you need to monitor specific Twitter conversations happening in a different location?  

To do this, go to the Google Maps home page, and enter the address around which you want to conduct the search.  

Right click on the exact location, click What’s here? from the menu, and then copy the geocode.

From here, type “geocode:” after your search terms, then paste.  

Type a comma after the geocode, and the radius you’d like to capture.

Double check that there are no spaces after the word ‘geocode’, or else the search will not work.

Also, keep in mind that Google periodically updates their ‘Map’ feature so it’s best to check if there are any changes before you make a geo-targeted search.