Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, MySpace, Google Buzz, StumbleUpon, Tumblr, Digg, Redit — in 2011 over 70% of internet users also use some type of social media. Some platforms are more popular than others, and the landscape expands and changes quickly; what is popular today is passé tomorrow. It is understandable when a healthcare business does not jump on the latest social media trend, but healthcare businesses can’t afford to tune anything out. Simply put, your customers are talking about your company. You need to know what your customers are saying, good or bad, and you must take part in the conversation about your brand. Luckily, there are tools to make this overwhelming task somewhat more manageable. Here’s a quick run-down of what we consider the 8 best social media tools of 2011:
Involver: The Involver social media tool has several levels of membership ranging from Basic to Enterprise, and costs ranging from free to $2749 per month. A basic account will give a user access to a maximum of two applications per Facebook account. Applications available to Basic users include widgets to insert RSS and Twitter feeds and YouTube channels directly onto a Facebook page. Enterprise level users have 24 applications to choose from and can publish not only to Facebook, but to 39 other outlets. Enterprise level applications include Social Quizzes, Flash Embed, Contest, and Music Player.
Monitter: Monitter is a free service that allows a user to watch one or more keywords on Twitter and view the results on the Monitter web page. Searching Twitter is quick and easy; all a user has to do is type a term into the search box, and the Monniter social media tool generates real-time results. If users input more search terms in the dialogue box, Monniter will automatically make a new column on the web page and display more results. Monniter also has a widget that will insert your Twitter search into a web page of your choosing.
TweetDeck : TweetDeck is a free collection of applications for the desktop, iPhone, iPad, Android, Chrome and web. These applications act as real-time browsers for social media contacts, displaying them on your preferred device in a dashboard configuration. The TweetDeck social media tool works with Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, and more. This application puts all of your feeds and updates in one place, eliminating the need to visit multiple sites.
CoTweet: The CoTweet social media tool allows users to manage conversations taking place on Twitter and Facebook. CoTweet has two products, Standard (free) and Enterprise (paid). The Standard application allows users to watch and analyze only Twitter conversations, while the Enterprise application works with both Twitter and Facebook. CoTweet Enterprise also allows an organization unlimited users of the application, extensive analytics, third-party integrations, and unlimited conversation history. The cost of CoTweet Enterprise depends on the functionality, quoted on a customer-by-customer basis.
HootSuite: HootSuite is a social media tool that works across several social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, FourSquare, WordPress, LinkedIn and more. The tool organizes feeds on a dashboard, and the user can monitor conversations, compile reports, and post to multiple social media networks at one time. HootSuite has two levels of membership: Basic (free) and Pro (subscription, $5.99 per month). Pro membership includes advanced features and unlimited social profiles across various social media platforms. Basic membership is ad-supported and supports up to 5 social profiles.
Radian6: Radian6 is another social media tool that provides monitoring of various media platforms. However, Radian6 provides additional information including demographics, location, influence, topic categorization and sentiment. The Radian6 dashboard displays relevant conversations about a company’s brand in real-time and breaks the information down into easy to use graphs and other visuals. Radian6 reports not only the fact that someone is talking, but tells you who it is and the degree to which his or her opinion has influence. Radian6 dashboard pricing starts at $600 per month.
ObjectiveMarketer: ObjectiveMarketer is an application that not only manages social media campaigns, but also includes SMS, email and mobile devices in the campaign. The user defines the strategy on the ObjectiveMarketer online application and identifies the channels, be they Facebook, Twitter, etc. Then the user creates the content he or she wants to distribute and schedules the campaign. After the campaign runs, the application tracks user interactions (tweets, shares, likes, reposts, etc.) and compiles reports. The application also mines the data, identifying trends and patterns, and compiles downloadable reports. Prices for ObjectiveMarketer are unique to the customer and are custom quoted.
Engage121: Engage121 is a social media tool sold as a subscription and quoted directly to the customer. Engage121 not only monitors what customers are saying about a brand, but Engage121 also allows a company to interact with customers in real-time. Customer complaints and resolutions, impromptu focus groups, customer loyalty programs, targeted coupons, polls, games and virtual gifts are just a few of Engage121′s capabilities. Their goal is to integrate social media into all customer interactions.
In 2011, a healthcare business must use various social media to reach its customers. The right social media tool can devise targeted and meaningful campaigns to reach customers effectively. Social media data, when mined effectively, also reveals much about customers’ buying habits and values. When a customer speaks, a smart business listens.
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