Social Media Listening Tools – Part 2

In the previous blog, Social Media Listening Tools – Part 1, we mentioned summarized tools like Radian6, Alterian and Sprial16. Read on to see what we thought about more tools below.

Visible
This tool will do everything and more. Visible takes a unique approach to social monitoring by providing differentiating search terms and Prominent Term bar graphs for detailed results. Other features include monitoring, engagement, competitive analysis, influence ranking, lead generation, task assignment, multiple filtering options and hand-scored sentiment ratings. The base package includes three user seats, 50,000 saved search results, exportable graphs and administrator capabilities for clients. This tool is ideal for agencies looking to monitor for multiple clients. The company adds a personal touch with their customer service. Each membership includes a personal account manager.

Sysomos
Sysomos offers two products, Heartbeat and MAP. Heartbeat is designed for day-to-day monitoring and measurement, and MAP is an in-depth research tool. Both tools come packed with features including automated sentiment, engagement, competitive analysis, customizable and exportable dashboards, tech support, integrated workflow with Salesforce, text analytics, four-step spam filtering, geographic and demographic filtering, influence ranking and an unlimited number of analyzed results. These tools can be tailored for agencies or single clients. The graphic layout of the tools is comparable to Radian6 and Visible.

Collective Intellect
This mid-level tool provides influence analysis, engagement, proprietary semantic filtering, psychographic and demographic analysis, customizable dashboards, customizable sample sizing, theme bubbles, automated sentiment, exportable data and one year of historical data. Unfortunately, the tool does not have workflow integration, and the graphs are not exportable. The graphics are easy to read and understand, and the filtering allows users to drill deep into data.

Vocus
This company recently entered the social monitoring game. They’re known for their focus on public relations and media outreach. Drill-down capabilities are somewhat limited for this tool; however, the tool offers many of the standard features such as influence analysis, unlimited keyword searches, customizable dashboards, email alerts, automated sentiment, competitive analysis and tech support. The graphic layout of the tool is somewhat stripped down and simple. Vocus is an ideal match for a single client looking to track all aspects of their brand identity including traditional media and public relations, but I wasn’t impressed with their social media integration.

Viral Heat
Not only does Viral Heat track sentiment and influence, it monitors mentions and alerts you when content is going viral. Viral Heat also features trainable Human Intent technology that detects customers’ buying intent. This tool comes with unlimited mentions and six months of historical data, which makes it ideal for monitoring multiple clients or performing several competitive analyses. For a lower-end tool, Viral Heat comes with a lot of extras. It easily integrates your sales leads into Salesforce, and all data and graphs are exportable. The graphic layout is designed to be simple enough for anyone to absorb and understand.

UberVU
Based in London, England, UberVU is comparable to Viral Heat. It’s a lower-end tool with a great deal of features. The company offers tech support and training; however, during our demo, we had a difficult time communicating with the representative. Perhaps this was an isolated incident, but when training and troubleshooting unforeseen problems, it’s important to be able to easily communicate and find solutions in a timely manner.

These tools greatly varied in price and function, but watching the demos gave us the best indication of each tool’s capabilities and the depth of information they could articulate. Be sure to do some research ahead of time to identify your needs and intended uses before jumping into these demos. The purpose of using these tools is to develop key insights you can use in your company’s marketing efforts, so this is a very important step. Each company wants to know two things: What are you looking for, and what are you interested in monitoring? Prepare for these questions and you’ll get much more out of the demos. Then the companies will be able to tailor their demos specifically for you.