Monitor the Leading Blogs to Create Timely and Relevant Content
To keep your content current and relevant, it is vital to know what people are talking about. Monitor the trending topics to make sure yours is a voice they want to hear.
We all know this is the communication age, and that to succeed in business in the 21st century, you need to reach out to customers and engage with them through great content on your website and social media channels.
Reaching out is one thing, but providing the content that people really want to read, watch, share and talk about is another. That’s where an aspect of communication that is often overlooked can make the difference between success and failure – the ability to listen to what other people are saying before you put your own words across.
With the ever increasing amount of content out there, along with the growing number of outlets by which it is published, the idea of monitoring the most important blogs and topics can be easier said than done. There are a number of media monitoring tools that aid social media management – let’s take a look.
Google Alerts
Google has cornered the market in many areas of our online activities, from basic web searches to data analytics, so it should come as no surprise that their media monitoring tool is the go-to app for many.
Given Google’s massive reach, budget and experience in web crawling, you would think it would also be the best available, but it is actually not as effective or reliable as some others we will look at. Having said that, it is free, simple and intuitive to use.
Mention.com
This media monitoring tool allows you to track PR campaigns, identify the influencers in your industry or subject matter and create simple yet incisive reports.
All in all, it feels more professional than Google’s freeware, while remaining simple to use without wasting time on learning any complex systems. Of course, the downside is that you have to pay for it. Basic plans start at $29 per month, and thereafter there is a sliding scale depending on how much usage you need.
Buzzsumo
This content tool combines media monitoring with more general applications to help you find content that is relevant to you and your audience.
It has a very broad coverage and is easy to use via a user-friendly dashboard that puts all the key metrics at your fingertips.
The downside is that it is more expensive than other offerings, but it packs such a punch that used to its full potential, it can still represent a fantastic return on investment.
Hootsuite
More a tool for managing your own social media platforms than monitoring others, Hootsuite is nevertheless worth a mention, as it gives you instant information on what people are saying about you and your brand across all your social media channels, including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+ and others.
It is highly valuable for ensuring that all your content is consistent and on-brand, and for allowing you to react quickly to any comments or discussions that need your attention. After all, in the digital world, Oscar Wilde’s comment about the universal benefit of being talked about does not always hold true.