Social media has changed the 'Net landscape.
The channel has forced brands to be more reactive to customer concerns (limiting complaints), provided platforms on which to distribute messaging in a very personalized way to prospects and existing customers (increasing awareness inexpensively) and perhaps most importantly, offered measurable performance along the way. So why aren't more companies making the most of their investment in social media? Perhaps it is because they simply aren't using the right tools.
There is no debating that social media is still experiencing rapid growth. Facebook recently reported that it achieved a rather significant milestone - just over 1 billion people used the network in a single day (that's 1 in 7 people on earth and nearly one-third of global active Internet users). For comparison, Twitter has just 316 million monthly active users (MAUs) and sees roughly 500 million Tweets sent per day (on average). That's not necessarily a digital indictment of Twitter though as these networks are very, very different.
Employed by users for a variety of activities, it is a brand's responsibility to know not only which networks their users are active on, but also how to interact with their audience within the constraints of each. For this reason, social media management tools have quickly proved useful in terms of offering a single, unified solution to the complexities of multi-network engagement initiatives - including monitoring, production, distribution and analysis.
Discover seven types of software that can instantly make your website more social, drive audience engagement and shorten the path to conversion for all at wsm.co/7socialsite.
Social media management is, in essence, a very broad term for both the technologies and techniques/tactics in use by marketers to help simplify the processes in this increasingly important channel. The hundreds of available solutions on the market today essentially make it possible to manage digital interactions in a more efficient manner, streamlining and consolidating messaging and communication and making brands active participants in conversations with their audiences wherever they may occur - from Twitter to Facebook and every social Web community in between.
In this edition of Top 50 from Website Magazine, we're focusing on the technology offerings available now that provide these benefits to enterprises of any size or type. Readers will find some well-known brands, along with some unique upstarts that are poised to be immensely useful to today's Web brands.
1. Adobe.com
2. Salesforce.com
3. Hootsuite.com
4. Canva.com
5. Topsy.com
6. Bufferapp.com
7. SproutSocial.com
8. Cision.com
9. Lithium.com
10. Socialbakers.com
11. Percolate.com
12. Mention.com
13. SocialMention.com
14. Sysomos.com
15. Brandwatch.com
16. AgoraPulse.com
17. Offerpop.com
18. SocialBro.com
19. Spredfast.com
20. SumAll.com
21. SocialOomph.com
22. Shoutlet.com
23. MeetEdgar.com
24. Crowdlinker.com
25. Sprinklr.com
26. ReviewTrackers.com
27. Trackur.com
28. Sendible.com
29. GroSocial.com
30. TweetDeck.com
31. MavSocial.com
32. Rignite.com
33. GetSocial.io
34. ReadyPulse.com
35. Oktopost.com
36. WhosTalkin.com
37. Buzzsumo.com
38. AddShoppers.com
39. SignalEngage.com
40. Plugg.io
41. Gremln.com
42. CrowdBooster.com
43. FanChimp.com
44. BundlePost.com
45. HowSociable.com
46. Conversocial.com
47. SocialFlow.com
48. PinAlerts.com
49. FalconSocial.com
50. BuzzLogix.com