We Want Stuff, Not Fluff

Lee Odden gives a nice roundup of some tools that take you to the next level of monitoring stats on a blog, rather than the ubiquitous Google Analytics. I’m a stats junkie and keep a close eye on who is visiting this blog, who referred them and — more interesting — which network or company they are surfing from. It doesn’t take much effort to dig down and, with some cross referencing on LinkedIn and other social sites, narrow it down to who that person might be. It’s good business intelligence.

We’re in the process of taking a look at some social media monitoring services too. I have used Radian6 previously, and liked its ease of use, but wasn’t too keen on how quickly the window can become cluttered with different reporting boxes, especially if you have a lot of searches running at once. Amber, have you got feedback along similar lines, or am I in the minority?

Another tool we’re going to explore is Toronto-based Sysomos. Looking forward to Steve’s demo.

All these services are a boon for the busy marketer that needs to automatically track what is being discussed in the social space. But I still think these are just starting points in that process; a human being then has to sift those results and decide how to present it to the client. I understand there are “e-mail person X on a daily basis” options, but I’d be wary of adding a client to that list without their knowledge. They are busy too, and need to get at the relevant stuff, not the fluff.

I’m also curious how these social media tracking tools decide on when to add a source of data to their monitoring lists? When do they become relevant enough to be included? Trade secret, or does someone want to offer that insight?

PR is 24/7 now. You can “set it and forget it” or take the extra time to sort the wheat from the chaff.

~ John Carson, Consultant (Twitter: johncarson)