Here are some of the many tools available for you to monitor the social media world for what’s happening in your business. These tools are all free to use. (There are also plenty of paid tools and services as well. We’ll cover them in a later series of posts.)
Remember, there is always a cost even for a free tool – the cost of your time to learn how to use them. These tools listed below are all pretty easy to learn and use – even for beginners.
Google Alerts Create alerts for the new appearance of keywords within Google.
Yahoo Alerts Similar to Google, but based on topics.
Social Mention Social Mention is a social media search engine that searches user-generated content such as blogs, comments, bookmarks, events, news, videos, and microblogging services. You can create alerts on keywords or phrases in a similar way Google Alerts works with search terms.
How Sociable provides a score of a Brand’s visibility. Also allows monthly tracking updates to be sent by email.
Addict-O-Matic instantly creates a custom page with the latest buzz on any topic.
Flock Browser claims to be the only sleek, modern browser with the built-in ability to keep you up-to-date with your Facebook, Twitter, Flicker and Youtube friends, plus all your favourite RSS feeds
Twitter Advanced Search allows you to find tweets about words, people, place, dates, attitudes and others.
IceRocket searches blogs and other media. (The interface is looking pretty old these days.)
BoardTracker helps you identify trends and track competitors. Measure effectiveness of your marketing and social media campaigns over time. Social media metrics with detailed graphs and advanced analytics based on quality data.
Twazzup (also a Social media management tool)
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