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By on December 2, 2008

Social Media Monitoring Tools–8 Free Options

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It’s been a little more than a year since I put together my list of 26 free social media monitoring tools you should be using to monitor your brand’s reputation.

In that time, new social networks have gained increased importance, and new tools have come onto the scene. The original list still remains important, but consider these additional 8 social media tools to be your 2008 update.

If you know of any free tools that should be added to the list, please share them in the comments section for others to see.

Thanks!

1. Twitter

Now that Twitter is entering “mainstream” it’s vital for businesses to pay attention to what is being said about them on the micro-blogging service.  Use Twitter’s official search engine to monitor your brand and subscribe to the RSS feed that accompanies the results. If you’re not a fan of RSS feeds, TweetBeep offers a similar service with alerts sent via email.

2. Blog Comments

There’s a new blog comment tracker in town and it goes by the name of BackType. Monitoring blog posts is not always enough. A blogger might post a positive article about your company, but your detractors subsequently rip your reputation to shreds in the post’s comments. I like BackType for reputation monitoring because it lets you search comments that mention your brand, but it also lets you search comments left by a particular person. If “Billy252″ is constantly criticizing your company, BackType will alert you whenever he leaves a new comment.

3. Forums & Message Boards

BoardTracker is still my favorite message board monitoring tool but BoardReader is another one to add to your list of social media monitoring tools. BoardReader lets you monitor forum posts, topics, and actual forum names (good for knowing when a new forum starts specifically to discuss your company).

4. Web Page Changes

What if you want to monitor a page that doesn’t offer an RSS feed for changes made? If you’re a Windows user  I still like Copernic for this task, but for the rest of us there’s WatchThatPage.com. Tell WatchThatPage to keep an eye on any web page and you’ll receive an alert if any change is made to that page. No more worrying about what’s being added to that RipOff Report page–OK, you can worry a little.

5. Trends

Google Trends is the most popular trend analysis site out there, and you can also get trending charts with paid social media monitoring tools too. For those seeking an alternative, Trendrr will scratch that itch. You can track and compare the trends of any keyword–your company, CEO, etc–and even compare them to other keywords. Trendrr’s pretty charts definitely qualify as social media “eye candy.”

6. Social Media Snapshot

Want to take a quick glance at the social media mentions for your brand? While Social Mention isn’t a tool I’d rely on for day-to-day social media monitoring, it’s great at providing a quick snapshot of conversations surrounding your brand. Enter your keyword one time and switch between blogs, twitter, bookmarks, comments, events, images, and more.

7. Brand-Jacking

I typically recommend that, when a new social network launches, companies go ahead and register their company username–even if they have no plans to actively use it. The web is littered with stories about companies that had their brand “hijacked.” With Username Check, you can quickly see if anyone is using your brand as a username on any of the major (and many minor) social networks.

8. Facebook Buzz

Now that Facebook has become the hottest social network, it’s time to pay attention to the conversations that happen there. With Facebook Lexicon (you need to login to see it) you can search any keyword and instantly see how often it is discussed on Facebook users’ “walls.” Take a sneak peek at the new Lexicon and you’ll also see demographic and sentiment data for popular keywords.

Now it’s your turn. What free tools do you find useful?

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69 comments on “Social Media Monitoring Tools–8 Free Options”

  1. Wayne Sutton Says:

    December 2nd, 2008 at 11:15 am

    Great post, I was going to do one like this but you beat me to it. :)

    A few more social media monitor / listening tools I would suggest are:

    http://www.quarkbase.com/
    http://www.notify.me/
    https://www.filtrbox.com/

    Have you used any of these?

    Wayne Sutton’s last blog post..Presentation: Twitter used as a PR Tool via Social Media PR Class & SlideShare.net

  2. LJ Jones Says:

    December 2nd, 2008 at 11:27 am

    Great list of tools. Some of them I have seen before and use often, and some are new. I really like using twitters search to see what people are talking about in realtime. Sometimes I will keep an eye on it throughout the day to see what the top 10 topics are. Its interesting to see what pops up and how things change and become a hot topic over time. When something important happens in the news, you will see it pop up as a hot topic in the search. For example, when things started happening in Mumbai, I first heard about it through the Twitter search.

    LJ Jones’s last blog post..Twitter, Snowboarding, and Cell Phone Coverage at 10,315 feet

  3. Martin Edic (Techrigy) Says:

    December 2nd, 2008 at 12:24 pm

    Though it’s a lot more sophisticated (and admittedly more complex to use) than the basic monitoring tools you mention, there is a fully functional free version of SM2, our social media monitoring and analytics app. Try it at http://sm2.techrigy.com
    And we don’t demand that you have a demo or give up your first-born, though we do recommend a demo!

  4. Mickipedia » Blog Archive » 8 More Free Social Media Monitoring Tools You Shouldn&rsquo;t Leave Home Without Says:

    December 2nd, 2008 at 1:01 pm

    [...] 8 More Free Social Media Monitoring Tools You Shouldn’t Leave Home Without – Plus additional list of 26 – ways to monitor your brand in the social media space. [...]

  5. Utah SEO Pro Says:

    December 2nd, 2008 at 1:05 pm

    Great list. There’s some new resources on there I haven’t seen. Thanks.

    Utah SEO Pro’s last blog post..ExactFactor: An SEO Tool Review

  6. Monitoring Social Media « Idea Collector Says:

    December 2nd, 2008 at 1:24 pm

    [...] Social Media By leonardogiuffrida I found this great list of  8 Free Social Media Monitoring Tools that will help us to follow on the (famous) internet [...]

  7. Online-Marketer Says:

    December 2nd, 2008 at 1:46 pm

    all of those medias are really good. i heard by now most of them. i have to make a new list of these social medias. and i suppose these sites using RSS to cope with losing popularity. using them will be so enjoyable absolutely. Thanks for all informations…

    Online-Marketer’s last blog post..Volkswagen GTI Review

  8. jan Says:

    December 2nd, 2008 at 1:57 pm

    A friend of mine just released twilert.
    Well worth a try

    http://www.twilert.com/

  9. Christopher Golda Says:

    December 2nd, 2008 at 3:16 pm

    Thanks for including BackType, Andy. We should be announcing some new features later this week that will extend tracking.

    I would also include FriendFeed in your list — although its effectiveness might depend on what brands, products, services, etc you’re monitoring. It’s worked out well for us :)

    Christopher Golda’s last blog post..Are “Online Conversations” Really Conversations?

  10. Marketing Pilgrim Blog Gives you a View of the Leading Edge « The North Carolina Blogger - WordPress Says:

    December 2nd, 2008 at 4:30 pm

    [...] Type, Board Reader, WatchThatPage, Trendrr, SocialMention, Brand Jacking and Lexicon. Here’s the link to the post for the valuable [...]

  11. 8 More Free Social Media Monitoring Tools You Shouldn’t Leave Home Without | Web Strategy Workshop Says:

    December 2nd, 2008 at 5:02 pm

    [...] Read Original [...]

  12. Erwin Tan Says:

    December 2nd, 2008 at 6:08 pm

    A great list! Great to see Blacktype!!

    Erwin Tan’s last blog post..Unleashing The Niche Genius In You

  13. Wil Reynolds Says:

    December 2nd, 2008 at 8:24 pm

    Andy, great sources thanks!

    Wil Reynolds’s last blog post..I got my a** kicked for being white hat

  14. Chivas Says:

    December 2nd, 2008 at 9:03 pm

    All are good! more Twitter, it’s addictive

    Chivas’s last blog post..Efraín, feliz por seguir con Chivas

  15. Saad Kamal Says:

    December 2nd, 2008 at 9:44 pm

    Oh gr8 list Andy! I must say that some of the tools are new for me! Thanks for sharing.

    Stumbled!

    Saad Kamal’s last blog post..Google Adwords Ad Quality Videos

  16. Matt Says:

    December 2nd, 2008 at 9:47 pm

    Absolutely awesome list….I’ll be sharing this post for sure, a valuable resource indeed.

    Matt

    Matt’s last blog post..Is All Publicity Good Publicity?

  17. Busby SEO Says:

    December 2nd, 2008 at 10:28 pm

    Hi ANdy, thanks for great list. And @Wayne : thanks for adding more source, I never know about them before

    Busby SEO’s last blog post..By: Freddy Hernawan

  18. Matt Helphrey Says:

    December 2nd, 2008 at 11:44 pm

    Thanks for the list. Im only using a few of these and will give the others a shot.

    Matt Helphrey’s last blog post..Creating a Sales Funnel for your Online Business

  19. Jacques Seoman Says:

    December 3rd, 2008 at 2:45 am

    Backtype should be renamed Blacktype….hahahah. First I hear of their service, and a much needed one it is indeed! The facebook buzz tool is another one that really caught my eye.

  20. Christopher Golda Says:

    December 3rd, 2008 at 2:55 am

    @Jacques: lol — maybe we should rename it. People make that mistake all the time … something about the black background :P

    Christopher Golda’s last blog post..Are “Online Conversations” Really Conversations?

  21. Search Geek Says:

    December 3rd, 2008 at 7:07 am

    Great article and information — first thing of real value that I’ve seen in about a week. Nicely played, thanks.

  22. Patrick Says:

    December 3rd, 2008 at 8:39 am

    Great list of social media tools. I really like Wayne Sutton’s suggestion of Quark Base.

    Patrick’s last blog post..Interior Department Opens American Oil Shale Development

  23. Jon Cianciullo Says:

    December 3rd, 2008 at 9:23 am

    Thanks for including Social Mention on the list. We’ve recently added search RSS feeds, trends a a host of new features.

  24. Social Media Round Up — Social Media Optimization Says:

    December 3rd, 2008 at 10:14 am

    [...] 8 Free Social Media Monitoring Tools You Shouldn’t Leave Home Without. Source: Andy Beal [...]

  25. Justin Seibert Says:

    December 3rd, 2008 at 3:03 pm

    @Andy – Great list, thanks. Glad to see digg is back up and working for you.

    Also, I’d back up Martin as I’ve found techrigy to catch a lot of conversations, particularly on twitter.

    Justin Seibert’s last blog post..Poor Lois Feldman – The Speaker, Not the Bathroom Party Time Lady

  26. Andy Beal Says:

    December 3rd, 2008 at 3:07 pm

    Thanks Justin – have you tried www.trackur.com? It monitors Twitter too! :-)

  27. Justin Seibert Says:

    December 3rd, 2008 at 3:10 pm

    @Andy – No, not yet, but I keep meaning to. I was actually thinking about trackur last night on the walk to my car. I’ll give it a spin now.

    Justin Seibert’s last blog post..Poor Lois Feldman – The Speaker, Not the Bathroom Party Time Lady

  28. Mike Says:

    December 3rd, 2008 at 3:32 pm

    Great list, I would also add compete.com

  29. Bookmarks vom 03-12-2008 — ErkenntnisWerk Says:

    December 3rd, 2008 at 3:39 pm

    [...] 8 More Free Social Media Monitoring Tools You Shouldn’t Leave Home Without The original list still remains important, but consider these additional 8 social media tools to be your 2008 update. (Tags: analytics marketing socialmedia reputation monitoring) [...]

  30. Freedom Says:

    December 4th, 2008 at 8:12 am

    Omgili discussion search is a great tool for monitoring and discovering discussions. Many advanced search features.
    http://www.omgili.com/

    A Must

  31. Web Business Tutorials - WebProBusiness.com » Social Media Monitoring Tools You Should be Using Says:

    December 4th, 2008 at 8:57 am

    [...] Comments [...]

  32. Jayadeep Rath Says:

    December 4th, 2008 at 9:11 am

    Hi Andy !

    Thanks for posting such a useful resource especially in the wake of Social Media showing signs of making inroads into the mainstream.

    I like the concept this website is using to monitor positives, negatives and neutrals of a brand, product, individual, etc on Twitter.

    http://www.twitrratr.com

    However, they definitely need to work on their backend to make it more meaningful and useful.

  33. A.J. Says:

    December 4th, 2008 at 12:38 pm

    I have also found that http://tweetbeep.com is pretty darn cool as well!! I can type in s search term I want to watch and it email me what has been tweeted about my search term. Pretty darn cool!!!

    A.J.’s last blog post..Updated Dev Version of Google Chrome to 0.4.154.22

  34. OSYM Says:

    December 4th, 2008 at 12:49 pm

    all of those medias are really good. i heard by now most of them. i have to make a new list of these social medias. and i suppose these sites using RSS to cope with losing popularity. using them will be so enjoyable absolutely. Thanks for all informations…

    OSYM’s last blog post..Aralıktaki Sınav için Son Gün

  35. OSYM Says:

    December 4th, 2008 at 12:50 pm

    Oh gr8 list Andy! I must say that some of the tools are new for me! Thanks for sharing.

    Stumbled!

    OSYM’s last blog post..Aralıktaki Sınav için Son Gün

  36. Del.icio.us: 8 Essential Free Social Media Monitoring Tools | twitAD - Advertise On Twitter Says:

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  37. Analyze this « DOMINO Says:

    December 4th, 2008 at 3:30 pm

    [...] In Uncategorized on December 5, 2008 at 2:30 am What do you think about marketers mining through blogs and social networking sites in order to find out who says what about their [...]

  38. BackType « Impact the Conversation Says:

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  40. Alexander van Duijn Says:

    December 6th, 2008 at 6:37 am

    and another one: http://www.trendpedia.com/

    Trendpedia lets consumers and social media analysts search buzz for free in with three month back-in-time tracking. It is a beta version of the consumer showcase blog trend search engine from Attentio.

  41. Anaokulu Says:

    December 6th, 2008 at 6:48 pm

    @alexander

    Thanks for your sharing. And thanks Andy.

  42. Rob Cottingham » links for 2008-12-06 Says:

    December 7th, 2008 at 12:01 am

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  43. Super Affiliate Traffic Says:

    December 8th, 2008 at 11:43 am

    Hmm, these are some interesting tools you have shared here. I knew about them, but I suppose the combination of them makes the use very powerful. Must have a go at this. Thanks.

    PS: I for one are pretty impressed with http://www.trendrr.com. Really cool.

    Thanks again.

    Super Affiliate Traffic’s last blog post..Super Affiliate Traffic by Erick Rockefeller and Howie Schwartz

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  45. Sherelle Salaver Says:

    December 11th, 2008 at 9:07 pm

    Thanks for the list! I listed the basics on my blog and added a link to yours since it had tools I hadn’t checked out yet. Can’t wait to try them though!

    Sherelle Salaver’s last blog post..Being Omniscient in Social Web

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  49. Leslie Gaines-Ross Says:

    December 17th, 2008 at 10:23 am

    Thanks for another helpful and timely list. Best regards for the holidays, lgr

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  50. Andy Beal Says:

    December 17th, 2008 at 10:31 am

    @Leslie – thanks for stopping by and have a great Christmas!

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  66. oyun Says:

    February 13th, 2009 at 1:34 pm

    very good post thanks

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    May 29th, 2009 at 5:23 am

    very good post thanks