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 (click for larger)
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.
I’m speaking to the Algonquin Public Relations students about social media and community management and I wanted to share a few resources with them. I was going to throw it all in a PowerPoint presentation, but that’s not very Web 2.0. So here it is compiled in a blog post. Of course if you have anything to add, drop a comment! Also, be sure to check the comments for more great suggestions
Groundswell (which I’ve reviewed here before) is written by two senior Forrester Research analysts. It is focused on social media strategy for enterprise businesses. It includes some great case studies of large brands using various social media.
Cluetrain Manifesto does an excellent job of explaining the idea of markets being conversations, and the importance of companies listening to their customers. It clearly details the backbone of social media–and it was actually written 10 years ago! (And hey–the authors are so passionate about their ideas, that the entire text of this book is available on the web site..for free!)
The New Rules of Marketing and PR by David Meerman Scott is next on my reading list, but I feel confident recommending this book because of the great reviews it’s received and because I really dig David’s blog…
Want to get started? Here’s a few blogs to learn more…
Web Strategy by Jeremiah – A ‘social computing’ analyst for Forrester and long-time social media advocate Chris Brogan – a well-known expert in social media and community Six Pixels of Separation (blog and podcast) Mitch Joel is “Canada’s Digital Marketing Rockstar”
Prefer to listen? Try these podcasts
(podcasts are simply audio and/or files, which you can listen/view to from a web site, or subscribe to receive each episode in iTunes and listen from your computer or mp3 player)
And finally, some random tools that make your life easier:
Delicious.com – social bookmarking site. Don’t you hate when you’re on a different computer and can’t access your bookmarks? Wish you could share bookmarks with friends? Delicious addresses both these. You’ll never use browser bookmarks again!
Digg is a news site where users vote on the news they like best. The more votes they more exposure the news gets.
MyBlogLog – Promote your blog and find other bloggers
Evernote – If you use multiple computers and a mobile device, this really rich notes program syncs them all. (thanks to @jpblogger for this tip)
Firefox is the essential browser for the social media junkie, because you can get all sorts of add-ons to manage your social media tools efficiently.
StumbleUpon is a fun program that takes you to a random web site based on your interests. Also it’s great for promoting blog posts.
Ning – If you’re really ambitious and passionate about something, why not start your own social network around it?
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=6c84bfaf-72e6-491d-9f4d-594bae228510)
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=ea7b0700-3448-4384-b4d7-849bb4c3fef6)
