Social media monitoring: yay or nay?

Tuesday, April 8th, 2008

Ok, obviously we need to track our brand’s activity in social media, but do we need a brand new tool to do so efficiently?

I’m not sure. The majority of my experience has been with small companies who wouldn’t pay (or even have the need for) media monitoring services. Instead I would set up Google Alerts, read industry publications and blogs, and just really do all the monitoring myself. And then if I had time I would do my own analysis.

However, in a larger organization, obviously this is more than one person can manage. Media monitoring services are thorough, experts in the field and can provide a third-party perspective on your media coverage. Tools available online often take a self-serve approach but look like they provide a lot of great easy-to-understand info.

I’ve decided I’m going to take a closer look at a few of the players in both the traditional media monitoring services which are adapting to social media needs, as well as new tools strictly for managing social media monitoring. In the meantime, however, I’d love to hear your thoughts, opinions, and ideas on the topic…