After years of trial and error, lots of vendor presentations, demos, trials, and even partnerships across various brands... this is my personal POV on some of the top tools for optimizing your social media workflow, between clients and agencies. Please know that pricing changes often per vendor, as do updates, platform changes, etc. so the pros/cons/ and reviews of each will change often.

1. / 1
SOCIAL MEDIA VENDOR PARTNERS
THE TOP TOOLS FOR PUBLISHING, MONITORING, & WORKFLOW -
SOLUTIONS TO HELP OPTIMIZE YOUR SOCIAL STRATEGY
PRESENTED BY STEPHANIE KING

2. / 2
AGENDA
•Choosing vendor partners
•Social Listening
•Social Media Management (SMM) Suites
•Link Tracking & Real-Time Monitoring
•Miscellaneous Vendors

3. / 3
http://www.lumapartners.com/lumascapes/social-lumascape/

4. / 4
CHOOSING VENDOR PARTNERS
It’s a messy space, with more and more organizations adding tools to help manage their social
media workflows and approval processes.
Companies utilizing SMM tools were up to 64% in 2011, from only 52% in 2010.
A few tips to help navigate through it & optimize your social marketing strategy...
Determine:
> what capabilities you are seeking from a software tool
> internal and external resources to interact, engage, and manage the solution
> budget for the tool(s) or seats necessary to manage multiple accounts
> if franchises/smaller sectors of your business are going to utilize separate social pages
*According to Altimeter Group

5. / 5
SOCIAL LISTENING

6. / 6
SOCIAL LISTENING
Sysomos MAP is Sysomos’ core social listening tool
• Best used for high level conversations surrounding a brand online
• Sources include forums, blogs, news mentions, Twitter, influencers
• Has access to Flickr, public Facebook posts & video sources
• Outputs include word clouds, buzz graphs, demographics, share of voice
• No Twitter firehose or interactive graphics
Sysomos HEARTBEAT is Sysomos’ real-time monitoring solution
• Best used for monitoring real-time campaigns
• Customized dashboard; can engage w/influencers within platform
• MAP Price: based per seat, unlimited queries
• Heartbeat Price: based per query
http://www.sysomos.com/products/overview/compare-products/

7. / 7
SOCIAL LISTENING
Radian6 is recently becoming more of a comprehensive SMM tool where
users can monitor results + engage with influencers within the dashboard
• Best used for monitoring volume - every single mention of a brand online
• Sources include forums, blogs, news, Twitter, video, images, LinkedIn, FB
• Outputs include word clouds, buzz graphs, share of voice, source graphs
• Access to Twitter firehose and very interactive graphics you can
manipulate - deeper data and analysis available
• Since purchased from Salesforce, recently rebranded to “Social Hub”
product and now integrates w/Buddy Media Software
• Extensive training required; user establishes highly customized search
topics called ‘Topic Profiles’ for each brand
• Klout integration for ranking influencers; data is very real-time
• Interface is slow to pull data, significant learning curve
• Price based per number of results per Topic Profile
http://www.radian6.com/what-we-sell/summary-dashboard/

8. / 8
SOCIAL LISTENING
Crimson Hexagon is one of Twitter’s preferred partners and only
preferred partner listed in this report
• Best used for identifying core themes arising from people talking about
brands and identifying opportunities to engage with influencers
bnWA˛1`1`def
• Sources include full Twitter firehose, Pinterest, public FB posts, Tumblr,
forums, blogs, news, video, images
• Different approach to data than other platforms, as user easily identify
topics and core themes arising from brand conversations
• ‘Forsight’ platform has real-time data is real-time due to firehose access
• View-only access to reports available for clients
• Price is based to one user, with access to 50 unique searches annually,
called “Brand Monitors”, reduced cost to add one additional user,
however they are included in the 50 “Brand Monitors”
h"ps://dev.twi"er.com/programs/twi"er-­‐cer5fied-­‐products/products

9. / 9
SOCIAL LISTENING SCORECARD
VENDOR TOP TAKEAWAY PROS CONS PRICE
Easiest user experience and
Provides excellent high level
best value for understanding Limited graphics, no Based per seat with
SYSOMOS MAP conversations surrounding
conversations, competitive
firehose unlimited queries
share of voice, easy to learn
brand
Most robust amount of
Priced per mentions of
mentions available across Slow system with
Very useful interactive brand at different tiers -
platforms Radian6 has access significant learning curve,
RADIAN6 to; also has deep integration
graphs are easy to
doesn’t remove spam or
e.g. if your client is very
understand, manipulate popular the cost is
with publishing through Buddy duplicate mentions
higher
Media’s “Marketing Cloud”
Extremely detailed data
Only social listening platform
CRIMSON allows user to pull out Price and limited number Priced per user with
with true access to the Twitter
thematic insights around of search queries “Brand capped number of
HEXAGON firehose; providing deeper
online conversations across Monitors” queries allowed
listening data
all platforms

10. / 10
SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGEMENT [SMM]

11. / 11
SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGEMENT SUITE
Buddy Media is a Salesforce Marketing Cloud product, which includes
several products -
• Best used for publishing social content to Facebook and Twitter, as
well as utilizing their sapplet (social application) library of template to
create customized Facebook apps, website widgets
• Access to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google+
• Products include: Conversation Buddy for publishing and monitoring
posts on social channels, Profile Buddy for developers managing
templated sapplets, Reach Buddy for creating widgets for your
website, Conversion Buddy for web analytics, and Analytics for
tracking and monitoring activity
• Hierarchy of approvals allows Community Managers to flag
responses and approve copy within the system to go live
• Not strongest tool for Twitter monitoring with no access to firehose
• Price is charged per product, per client, per channel (client x for
Profile Buddy for how many channels), usually 5 apps per client

12. / 12
SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGEMENT SUITE
Oracle’s Vitrue is comprehensive dashboard suite with strong
capabilities to track and mange your brand’s social channels
• Best used for publishing across multiple clients, individuals, and
brands on an enterprise level
• Has access to Facebook, Twitter, Google+
• Hierarchy of approvals allows Community Managers to flag social
posts that require approval, as well as review copy within the system
• Custom app features for Facebook developers to deploy
• White label publishing allows clients to customize “Published via__”
• Price is for unlimited amount of users, unlimited amount of custom
applets designed, charged per channel per client (e.g. client x has x
number of channels)

13. / 13
SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGEMENT SUITE
Adobe Social allows users to manage social accounts across Facebook
and Twitter best, with access to other platforms
• Formerly Context Optional and now rebranded to part of the Adobe
Marketing Cloud, Adobe Social is best used for monitoring and
publishing across multiple clients, individuals, and brands
• Access to Facebook, Twitter, Google+
• White label publishing allows clients to customize “Published via__”
• Custom app building for Facebook and website widgets
• Access to Twitter firehose through Gnip (which can be more limited
than direct access)
• Multiple products available to track not only social channels, but also
website traffic and insights, deploy social/digital ads, etc.
• Price is based on number of fans per client per channel, up to 10
users per month

14. / 14
SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGEMENT SUITE
Sprinklr is a comprehensive Social Media Management Suite available
for a multitude of social platforms
• Best used for monitoring and publishing across multiple clients,
individuals, and brands on an enterprise level
• Has access to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google+, LinkedIn,
FourSquare, WordPress, Pinterest, Instagram, Tumblr
• Robust content calendar system to upload and deploy posts
• Hierarchy of approvals allows Community Managers to flag social
posts that require approval from clients, or review copy within the
system
• Sprinklr is the only SMM with a fully developed mobile application
(see right)
• Price is based on number of users, brands, channels managed +
initial setup fee

15. / 15
SMM SCORECARD
VENDOR TOP TAKEAWAY PROS CONS PRICE
No access to Twitter firehose,
BUDDY MEDIA Strong publishing capabilities for
Easy-to-customize dashboard for
limited content calendar
Priced per client per
Community Managers, customized channel, with 25 users
SALESFORCE Twitter and Facebook
templated sapplets for developers
management, no white label
publishing
allowed per client
Unlimited users and unlimited
VITRUE Strong publishing capabilities for
apps allows clients flexibility, white
No access to Twitter firehose, Priced per client per
Twitter and Facebook with white label limited content calendar channel, with unlimited
ORACLE attribution on Facebook
label publishing, custom vanity
short URLs
management users
ADOBE SOCIAL Strong publishing capabilities for Strong integration with ads
No access to Twitter firehose, lack Priced based on number of
of content calendar, annual price fans per client per channel,
CONTEXT OPTIONAL Twitter and Facebook, platforms and website analytics
increases based on fans with up to 10 users
Mobile app, robust enterprise
SMM dashboard that has the most
system would work well on an May be too many options for Priced based on amount of
access to publish and monitor across
SPRINKLR all social channels (e.g. LinkedIn,
enterprise level - managing several clients looking to publish and clients, channels, and
clients, channels, via agency or in monitor for one brand additional setup fee
Tumblr, Pinterest, Instagram)
house experience

16. / 16
LINK TRACKING & REAL-TIME MONITORING

17. / 17
LINK TRACKING
awe.sm* is a dashboard to track links no matter where or how they are
shared online
• Best used for tracking social sharing and then optimizing your posts
based on awe.sm’s learnings
• User is able to integrate awe.sm’s unique tracking IDs on any post
they make across multiple platforms
• Export comprehensive data graphs for client reports
• View influencers and those sharing/clicking on your content
• Developer APIs are available for deeper website integration
• Can integrate your brand’s custom vanity URL to track links
• Price is very reasonable for basic monthly access, but can also be
shaped on a customized client model on a monthly basis
*awe.sm is a kbs+ ventures partner, which has invested in awe.sm.

18. / 18
LINK TRACKING
bitly is allows a user to easily track which links out of their content is
being clicked online
• Best used for high level analytics on which links are being clicked
• Can integrate with many popular monitoring and posting platforms
like HootSuite, Buffer, Tweetdeck
• Can view your link activity over time
• Exportable graphs for client reports
• Price is free for the basic account, then scales up

19. / 19
REAL-TIME MONITORING
Hootsuite is a real-time monitoring tool with an emphasis on
Twitter
•Best used for monitoring real-time conversations, specifically
on Twitter, but HootSuite does have integration with other
platforms like YouTube
•Can easily schedule posts to publish at a later time,
optimizing post times are now even easier with a recent
integration of Buffer and Hootsuite’s purchase of social tool
Seesmic
•Users can set up multiple columns to monitor, ranging from
@mentions, Direct Messages, Twitter lists, to actual search
terms surrounding your brand or competitive mentions
•Analytics are only accessible to Pro users
•Price is free to monitor up to 10 columns, synced to one
Twitter account, with the ability to add multiple tabs and
additional accounts with HootSuite Pro

20. / 20
REAL-TIME MONITORING
Tweetdeck is a real-time monitoring tool for Twitter
• Best used for monitoring real-time conversations
• Can schedule tweets to post at later times
• Mobile app is very user-friendly
• High level analytics tools are available, like word clouds
• Users can set up multiple columns to monitor, ranging from
@mentions, Direct Messages, Twitter lists, to actual search terms
surrounding your brand or competitive mentions
• Price is free to sync to one Twitter account
• Real-time monitoring experience is essentially identical to user
experience of Hootsuite, except Hootsuite has more robust
scheduling options and analytics

21. / 21
LINK TRACKING & REAL-TIME MONITORING SCORECARD
VENDOR TOP TAKEAWAY PROS CONS PRICE
Helps users optimize their
Tells user the entire ‘link journey’ For best data, establish goals Monthly charge ranging
social posts by better
AWE.SM - where a user found a link,
understanding which posts are
and work closely with awe.sm from basic access to more
shared it, engaged with it online representatives custom tailored per client
resonating and being shared
Free model and platform are
Links ‘break’ - unlike aw.sm Free for the basic
Great high-level analytics very easy to use and
BIT.LY surrounding a link’s click-throughs understand, can export the
the analytics are broken after account, scales up
the initial click on the link reasonably
analytics
User friendly, fast easy way to
Best free tool available to set up
monitor real-time Twitter Free for basic account,
multiple Twitter search terms into Settings do not always apply -
HOOTSUITE columns to monitor real-time
conversations, can sync up
languages for example
very affordable for
custom URL account w/ HootSuite Pro
conversations
Hootsuite pro
Auto-shortens links, very user-
Analytics options are not as
User-friendly way to monitor friendly and Twitter firehose Free to sync Twitter
TWEETDECK brand conversations on Twitter access is extremely real-time
robust as HootSuite Pro’s
account
version
(Twitter owns product)

22. / 22
MISCELLANEOUS VENDORS FOR CONSIDERATION

23. / 23
CONTENT CURATION
CURATION STATION curates content across the web
•Best used for curating Twitter, blogs, RSS feeds, etc. and
pushing the content to a customized app on Facebook or
area of a website
•Price is based on output of websites searched and amount
of involvement in designing customization, e.g. building the
Facebook app vs. just curating the content
PERCOLATE also curates content across the web
•Best used for website builds or making customized content
tailored to fan’s interests
•Price is based on desired output of content

24. / 24
FREEMIUM OPTIONS
wefollow is a website that suggests users on Twitter you should
follow based on your Twitter history, interests, etc.
•Best used for determining influencers and individuals to follow
and engage with on Twitter
•Price is free
Buffer is a scheduling copy tool
•Best used scheduling various social posts for Twitter or
Facebook
•Scheduling features can optimize posts to go live based on
optimal times, or when your followers are most active
•User can sync up their bit.ly account
•Price is free

25. / 25
MISCELLANEOUS SOCIAL VENDORS
EXPION: Best SMM tool for managing parent/child pages or multiple pages like franchises for
QSR restaurant models
SHOUTLET: SMM tool for Facebook, Twitter, Youtube
SPREDFAST: SMM tool with comprehensive content calendar management
HEARSAY SOCIAL: Tool for managing specific conversations or flagging and removing rogue social
accounts for your brand online
EXACTTARGET SOCIAL: CoTweet product is free to manage Twitter profiles, then scales up
reasonable to manage additional social profiles
VISIBLE TECHNOLOGIES: Social monitoring tool for Twitter and Facebook
WILDFIRE BY GOOGLE: Reasonable priced SMM tool for managing publishing, promotions,
multiple social accounts
SPROUT SOCIAL: Publishing platform accessible by mobile for Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Blogs
KAPOST: Content calendar management platform for approvals
NITROGRAM: Comprehensive Instagram analytics
CURALATE: Dashboard for managing Pinterest analytics

26. / 26
LAST THOUGHTS
Resources and training are essential to get the most out of these tools
Prices for each vendor change often, as well as pricing structures
image via imrcorp.com
SMM Suites and publishing tools can assist with workflows and approvals, but
consider factors like Facebook’s Edgerank algorithm for native publishing
Link tracking is important to understand views and shares, but also consider a
vanity URL + shortened links (it’s useful for Twitter and brand consistent!)
No one solution is the best option for most brands, rather a mix of manual, native
workflows as well as a varied combination of tools based on your client’s needs

27. / 27
THANK YOU