Value: [rating=5]
Recommended link: Talkwalker Social Search
Who are the most important influencers in my sector? What types of content are most popular for sharing? What social media strategies are my competitors pursuing?
Answering these question is a concern for any social media marketer trying to review and identify tactics to improve their social media and content marketing.
To help answer these questions there are literally hundreds of social media listening / monitoring tools options available. Of course, many of these services are paid for which rules them out for many smaller and mid-size businesses.
If you were looking for free social media insight, then the two most popular tools we have previously recommended are Social mention and Topsy. For free tools, these can be a great help in finding the most influential sharers or content and the most effective types of content. My preference for reviewing Twitter sharing is Topsy although since this was purchased by Apple, it’s not clear for how long it will be available.
However, you can expect free tools to have limitations. For Social Mention and Topsy there are several limitations including:
There is now a new and, it seems at first look, a better alternative. It’s Talkwalker, a European company based in Luxembourg.
It has been available as a paid service for several years, but it has recently changed to a Freemium model with free and Pro versions.
Talkwalker seems to offer a wider range of insight, functions and filters than other free social media monitoring tools including:
So what’s it missing? Be aware that there are still big limitations like page and content analytics, historical data access and storage, other social networks like Google+, LinkedIn and Instagram.
That said, it still looks a great addition to the social media marketers’ toolset. How does it look to you? Perhaps you have another free social media tool you can recommend?
By Dave Chaffey
Digital strategist Dr Dave Chaffey is co-founder and Content Director of online marketing training platform and publisher Smart Insights. 'Dr Dave' is known for his strategic, but practical, data-driven advice. He has trained and consulted with many business of all sizes in most sectors. These include large international B2B and B2C brands including 3M, BP, Barclaycard, Dell, Confused.com, HSBC, Mercedes-Benz, Microsoft, M&G Investment, Rentokil Initial, O2, Royal Canin (Mars Group) plus many smaller businesses. Dave is editor of the templates, guides and courses in our digital marketing resource library used by our Business members to plan, manage and optimize their marketing. Free members can access our free sample templates here. Dave is also keynote speaker, trainer and consultant who is author of 5 bestselling books on digital marketing including Digital Marketing Excellence and Digital Marketing: Strategy, Implementation and Practice. In 2004 he was recognised by the Chartered Institute of Marketing as one of 50 marketing ‘gurus’ worldwide who have helped shape the future of marketing. My personal site, DaveChaffey.com, lists my latest Digital marketing and E-commerce books and support materials including a digital marketing glossary. Please connect on LinkedIn to receive updates or ask me a question.
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