Top 50: Social Media Solutions
Interest and investment in social media is incredibly high despite the obvious challenges marketers face within the channel - from shifting consumer expectations to dramatic platform developments, and of course, the demand to generate tangible results.
As marketers and advertisers continue to increase their social media spend, they are becoming increasingly aware they must prove a return on investment (ROI). Current levels of social media spending have witnessed a 234 percent increase over the past seven years, rising from 3.5 percent of marketing budgets in 2009 to 11.7 percent in 2016 (The CMO Survey). Despite that exceptional growth, it falls woefully short of what was predicted five years ago. Marketers spent only 11.7 percent of their budgets on social media in the past year as compared to the 17.5 percent predicted five years ago. One of the reasons may likely be because it can be difficult (some might argue impossible) to accurately prove there is an actual return from social media participation.
According to Simply Measured's "2016 State of Social Marketing" report, 61 percent of marketers identified measuring ROI as their top challenge. In order to overcome that obstacle, enterprises are adopting a range of social media solutions to enable them to gather more useful insights, optimize their participation and monetize the interactions that result. Fortunately, the social media ecosystem is filled with some of the most well-known technology companies and many of the hottest startups in the history of digital.
In this month's Website Magazine Top 50, readers will discover some of these top solutions for social media listening and monitoring, managing, marketing and influencing audiences, as well as engaging followers and analyzing results.
There are thousands of these offerings currently available for enterprises of every size and industry. Let this month's Top 50, however, serve as Web professionals' starting point as they explore the opportunities they have to maximize their use of social media.
The Future Web
Don't miss next month's Website Magazine Top 50, which spotlights solutions 'Net professionals should keep a virtual eye on in 2017 and beyond! To recommend a solution, tweet @WebsiteMagazine.
1. Salesforce.com
2. Hootsuite.com
3. SproutSocial.com
4. Buffer.com
5. Iconosquare.com
6. Klout.com
7. SocialBakers.com
8. Adobe.com
9. Zoho.com
10. SaS.com
11. Bitly.com
12. Microsoft.com
13. ShortStack.com
14. Lithium.com
15. HearsaySocial.com
16. Brandwatch.com
17. SimplyMeasured.com
18. Meltwater.com
19. Mention.com
20. Spredfast.com
21. Sysomos.com
22. Smarsh.com
23. CrimsonHexagon.com
24. AgoraPulse.com
25. OutboundEngine.com
26. SocialMention.com
27. Nuvi.com
28. TrackMaven.com
29. Cision.com
30. Audiense.com
31. Unified.com
32. Curalate.com
33. Falcon.io
34. UnionMetrics.com
35. Klear.com
36. Wayin.com
37. ReadyPulse.com
38. GetLittleBird.com
39. Quintly.com
40. Tracx.com
41. TalkWalker.com
42. Grouphigh.com
43. Synthesio.com
44. Sendible.com
45. Trackur.com
46. Digimind.com
47. Sprinklr.com
48. Infegy.com
49. BuzzSumo.com
50. RivalIQ.com
