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It's a Good Time to Evaluate Social Media Monitoring

When considering the level of social media participation your organization should have, the first question to answer is the extent to which your customers participate. It’s no longer a given that even in highly regulated industries social media is not used. Do your customers read blogs, download podcasts, use Twitter (or similar sites), and participate in other online communities? You may already know the answers to these questions based on direct feedback from customers or sales reps, or you may have to ask. It’s also important to learn the extent to which your competitors are using social media, as well as its prevalence within potential markets you may target in the future; if there’s little activity you have the opportunity to establish a thought leadership role.

Even organizations that aren’t participating widely in social media should recognize the value of monitoring the social channel from an customer engagement and support perspective. Most important, you want to respond as soon as possible any technical or support issues customers discuss in the social universe. In addition, monitoring tools are effective at managing employee social media participation to ensure sensitive data or inappropriate information isn’t shared (however inadvertent or innocuous). While free Web tools (such as Google Analytics) can give you some insight into the social channel, you should determine the extent to which your communications agency or existing media monitoring tools can capture social media activity. If neither of these can give you the depth you need, there’s a wide range of social media monitoring tools available, including Radian6, Visible Technologies, Alterian SM2 (formerly Techrigy) and Scout Labs, to name a few. And when most providers in the field offer a free trial so you can decide which solution is best for your company, it’s a good time to be a potential customer of social media monitoring tools.