Choosing Your Social Media Monitoring Tool
Jinfo Blog

By Chris Porter

Abstract

Social media monitoring is a big area of focus for many buyers of information services. Chris Porter introduces upcoming FreePint articles and reviews on social media monitoring tools and related services covering a range of information-intensive job roles, from researchers, competitive intelligence managers and public relations professionals to customer service and consumer marketing teams.

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Dow Jones or Digimind Social? Moreover or Meltwater Buzz? Engage121 or SproutSocial?

Social media monitoring is a big area of focus for many buyers of information services. "Clients are either aware of it but not sure what to do, just dipping their toes in it or very actively engaged," one UK-based media monitoring provider told FreePint recently.

Over 200 Vendors Offer Tools

The range of offerings available is vast, with over 200 vendors active in the market. Some supplier names are very familiar but many others are relatively new and vendors are tackling the issue from many different angles.

Public relations professionals, ever-alert to the latest thing, were among the early adopters of social media and a number of specialised vendors initially focused on the needs of the PR and corporate communications job role.

However, some of those vendors are now instead targeting other departments such as customer relationship management, which have subtly different requirements and often deeper pockets.

Established Players with Web-Specific Offers

Meanwhile, established business news aggregators have made at least some steps into the social media world, with web-news aggregators being particularly nimble.

Long-established vendors serving the PR space now also increasingly offer their own social media solutions, some of them springing from acquisitions or partnerships and some from organic development of existing manual or automatic monitoring services.

Reviews & News

Over the next few weeks, FreePint will be taking a look at some of the social media tools on the market, seeking to establish what value they can add for particular job roles.

If you are wondering who the LexisNexis Social Media Monitor is for, or would like a helping hand to tell your Brandwatch from your Brandtology, FreePint is here to help. 

FreePint Subscribers can login to read and share more in Chris's article "Social Media Monitoring: the Options" now.

Editor's Note: Beyond Aggregation

FreePint readers may be interested to read more about news products in our FreePint Topic Series: Beyond Aggregation, which ran from October to November 2013. You can still register your interest to receive a free copy of the FreePint Report: Buyer's Guide on News Content published in early December.

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