We all crave it and desperately seek to create it. In fact, most entrepreneurs spend countless hours and resources to bring it into existence.Generating buzz about your business is an important piece of social media marketing. However, once you have it, you might feel as if you can't control it. This makes monitoring what is being said about you or your brand critical.Unfortunately, listening actively can be expensive and time consuming.So how can you effectively monitor your online buzz without it feeling like a full-time job? While you could part with your hard earned dollars to pay someone to do it, staying on top of your online reputation can be simple and stress free.Check out the 10 FREE social listening tools below that'll help you easily monitor your online buzz!
10 FREE Social Listening Tools to Build and Monitor Your Online Buzz
1. How Sociable
Measure your brand's reach and visibility on the social web. Each of your social sites is graded and given a number based on your “visibility score.” You can also compare yourself against competitors, and then download your findings into a CSV file.
2. Kurrently
Kurrently is a real-time search engine for Facebook and Twitter. It is a great way to see what is being said right now about you and your brand.I use this tool to research what people are talking about, and then respond to or retweet that conversation.
3. MonitorThis
I love this tool! With MonitorThis, you can sift through 25 search engines based on keywords. Type in the keyword you want to research, and within seconds your results are displayed.News articles and social mentions from Google, YouTube, Bing and more can be read with a click of a button!
4. Addictomatic
In a very short time, I have become addicted to this social monitoring tool! Addictomatic allows you to create a news feed based on any keyword or topic.For instance, I’ve chosen “social media marketing” as my keyword. Within seconds, my custom news feed has been created, pulling the top information from Google, Wordpress, YouTube, Flickr and more!
5. Twazzup
Another simple tool that offers real time results based on your keyword or topic.
6. Tinker
Tinker searches both Twitter and Facebook for top news, events, topics and places people are talking about.
7. IceRocket
IceRocket will search blogs, images, Facebook and Twitter to find what is being said right now about your topic or keywords.
8. Social Mention
Set up free daily email alerts about mentions of you, your brand, company, a developing news story or updates on industry changes.
9. Google Reader
I couldn’t live without my Google Reader! This free RSS aggregator pulls all your favorite blogs into one location, so they are easy to keep up with.Set up an account, subscribe to a blog, and then organize by folder for easy viewing.Setting up RSS feeds to monitor your online buzz gives you a go-to location for all keyword related and relevant terms needed to keep up with you, your brand and your niche.
10. Google Alerts
Last but not least is this handy tool. Google Alerts offer you the ability to create alerts based on relevant keywords.You can schedule endless alerts for you, your company name, a specific neighborhood or even an industry topic. Once you have selected your topic, create your alert and set the frequency with which you want to receive your alerts via email.
Final Thoughts
Social media marketing shouldn't be treated like a dartboard at happy hour after a few too many beers.It should be a strategic effort that’s managed, monitored and assessed regularly to determine effectiveness.Manage your reputation and make your social media efforts pay off with these 10 FREE social listening tools that are quick and easy to use.
About Rebekah Radice
Rebekah Radice, co-founder of BRIL.LA, has traded narcissism for purpose. When not driving growth, you'll find her tricking family into thinking she's Emeril Lagasse - likely covered in marinara. The spotlight was fun, but impact is better. These days she's using 20+ years of brand brilliance for good.