About 89% of marketers say that through social media you can generate more exposure for your business. Most businesses would agree that they could use the free advertising and networking benefits of social media, but then most would also say that they do not have the time to properly engage on networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and LinkedIn.
There is a lot that goes on in social media networks, from breaking news stories, to important conversations, as well as the many personal expressions from your potential clients. Did you know that almost 65% of people who report the news through traditional media will use social media such as Facebook and LinkedIn to complete research for their stories? The point is that without constant monitoring and management, you could miss out on an important lead or opportunity. This is where social media management tools come into play. Social media monitoring tools will also allow you to get more done in less time.
Are there differences between social media monitoring tools and management tools?
There is in fact a slight distinction between the two. Social media monitoring indicates that you would use the tools to see how your social media is doing. Merely keeping an eye on what has happened in terms of interactions and changes. Social media management tools would be more focused towards allowing you to multi-task and make changes from within the tool. For example, ManageFlitter is a social media management tool that allows you to clean up your Twitter followers, but it also allows you to monitor what is happening with your followers.
The reality is, few tools are so limited, either strictly for management use, or just for monitoring. While monitoring and management tools might technically have different meanings, their labels are often used interchangeably.
What kinds of social media monitoring tools are out there?
The big names include TweetDeck, Sendible, Hootsuite, and SproutSocial, but there are plenty of other tools that you can look to for help. For example, one tool called BlitzMetrics provides dashboards for monitoring and managing content across multiple platforms including YouTube, Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter, and Facebook.
Facebook and Pinterest have built-in analytics tools so you can monitor the level of interaction your content gets. Some of these tools are free, and some come with a price tag, so you will have to decide for yourself what added features are worth the investment. Ultimately, there are too many tools to list here, but other bloggers have kindly dedicated entire posts to listing out the tools that are available for your perusal and selection.
The best social media tools are the ones that you will actually use. To start, try to choose one or two of the available social media tools for each network you have joined, and then add more tools as you find that you need more control or more features. Approximately 74% of brand marketers found that when they invested six hours each day on social media they realized an increase in web traffic. Who has time for that kind of commitment? For the harried business professional or multi-tasking marketer, social media tools could be the answer.
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