So a month (or several) ago I had my great friend Wendy Scherer of The Social Studies Group on the #V3Live Videochat Show. The topic we discussed was one that pretty much everyone is interested in — Maximizing Social Media Monitoring and Insights on a Startup Budget. I mean, who doesn’t want to know that, right? Another awesome friend, Mickey Gomez, took some great notes during our conversation and she was kind enough to share them with me so that I could eventually get around to writing this post.
Wendy is a researcher and a netnographer and absolutely brilliant when it comes to anything having to do with data. I’ve referred her to so many friends I’ve stopped counting, and without exception they all come back to me to report that working with Wendy made all the difference in the project or campaign they were working on. Read that: hire Wendy whenever possible—she’s incredible. Okay, back to the subject at hand. When it comes to social media monitoring, being able to gather the data you need, dial down into the most useful insights, and then being able to use that information as you craft your marketing strategies for the coming year and beyond, that’s what we all want, isn’t it? Even better, learning how to do it for free or with a very small budget, well, these tips, tools, and tricks might just be your new favorite thing. So, let’s talk about those things.
Work Smarter, Use Tools
It’s pretty much a given in our data-driven world that when you know how to not only gather data, but also to analyze and use it, it will change everything about the way that you work and the results you’re able to generate. The right kind of platforms and tools are an integral part of your overall success and, when you’re a small business, a nonprofit, or a startup, that’s even more true.
There are many free analysis tools out there to help you collect and drill down into data. Here are some that Wendy covered in our conversation as some of her favorites.
- Mention: Mention is an awesome tool and my team and I also use it all the time. Mention has a freemium level that will deliver web mentions to you. We use Mention for competitive intelligence and brand mentions, both for ourselves and for our clients and it’s really valuable. Make sure you regularly refine your terms and the criteria you use for optimum results. Also be sure to check out Mention’s advanced search options. There is a lot you can do with the free platform, but Mention is so awesome that we’d be doing you a disservice if we didn’t suggest you also check out the paid version of the platform – it’s really pretty sweet.
The Key to Social Media Monitoring and Insights on a Startup Budget
