Social Media Monitoring Review: Techrigy SM2

Posted on 10th December 2008 in social media, tools of the trade
Image representing Techrigy as depicted in Cru...

OK, so it’s been a while, but SM2 is one of the tools I’ve been enthusiastic about reviewing since I started. (To recap, you can check out my review of Social Radar as well as Radian6). One thing I particularly loved about Techrigy SM2 is it has a ‘freenium’ option! Which is really handy if you do not have a big brand and lots of keywords to manage and no budget for social media monitoring–such as I do.

But on to the good stuff. There’s two things that really stood out about SM2, for starters I was impressed with what they offered in a free account and secondly it looks very similar to Google Analytics. This is great because if you’re already a GA user, you’ll have no trouble finding your way around.

One thing about SM2 is it says it’s created specifically for PR/Marketing agencies. However, I would argue that it’s a perfect tool for small companies that have a big presence online. Not to say it’s not good for agencies as well, as you can create separate profiles per client, but it’s easy to use and again, looking like Google Analytics makes it easy for anyone already familiar with the layout.

Here’s a few screenshots of the product (from the site as they’re much more interesting than the ones I tried to make:

Demographics--breaking down your audience

Demographics--breaking down your audience (click for larger)

Trends - keyword mentions by day

Trends - keyword mentions by day

So to re-cap, here’s what I like about SM2:

  • Familiarity in design (similar to Google Analytics)
  • Great data about your audience. Gives you gender and age of authors writing about you, which is great if you are sending pitches to bloggers.
  • Author tags give you an idea of what other topics sites that mention you are talking about. Again great for crafting pitches, as well as to give you context to what people are writing about.
  • Collection from a variety of sources, includes microblogs
  • Sends you a daily email of search results on your keywords. Love this, don’t need to log in everyday, get a quick summary and I can go in for more details when needed.

The only downside I saw to SM2 is it doesn’t have the build-your-own dashboard that the other tools I’ve seen had, it’s definitely a solid tool that will definitely ease your analytic mind. And I am definitely going to continue using it for my own work at SmartHippo.

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Announcing… My new job!

Posted on 1st October 2008 in random, social media

Well you may have wondered… If I’m such a social media enthusiast, why am I not doing anything related to it in my day job? When I started working at the City, I was hoping I could get more experience doing what I went to school for–and I absolutely did–and it also gave me the opportunity to put more time and effort into my personal brand via this blog, twitter and all those other wacky tools I waste all my time on.

Smart Hippo LogoHowever, when the right opportunity comes around, you know it. And while it was a tough choice for me to make (should I leave a public sector job for a startup??!) I’m confident it was the right choice, and that’s why I’m pleased to announce, that as of today, I’m Community Manager at SmartHippo!

SmartHippo uses the power of community to help consumers save money on financial products and services…On the site, users can compare, rate and review mortgage rates (and soon other financial products as well) in order to find the best deal. But what about the big financial crisis in the States? Well that’s actually a little exciting for us, because, in theory, if consumers start educating themselves and collaborating with others–instead of relying solely on financial institutions to tell them what to do–well, we might have this financial crisis solved once and for all. OK maybe that’s a little idealist, but it’s certainly true that Internet tools have transformed the way other industries do business, yet financial institutions still hold all the control. However, it’s also a good thing for financial institutions, because as soon as they can break down the barriers and incorporate more transparency in the way they do business, the more confidence consumers will have in them. Bottom line is you’ll get the best rates, and banks will run business better. Who doesn’t like the sound of that?

As community manager, I will be blogging over at the SmartHippo blog, and of course, twittering about industry news and site updates (Follow me @smarthippo). I will also tap into my other skills, hopefully getting us some good press and as well doing our email newsletter (I’m just never going to get away from email!). And probably lots of other fun stuff in the mix too. Pretty much what I’ve always wanted in a job.

**UPDATE**

SmartHippo CEO George Favvas wrote a nice post welcoming me on board!

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