Before you can start conversing with social media, you need to know what people are saying and how your organization or brand fits into that conversation. Here's a quick guide to get you started on the very first step: listening.

1. How to setup your Dashboard
Intel lige n ce in S o cial Med ia
Before you can start conversing you need to know what people
are talking about, what they care about and how your brand or
organisation fits in to this conversation. It's a simple formula that
follows these four steps:
1: Listen 2: Learn 3: Engage 4: Repeat steps 1,2,3
Social media dashboards act as listening posts for organizations
who would like to:
monitor public opinion
monitor on product launches,
reputation new campaigns
build/boost social CRM or customer
media following service
communicate develop sales/
expertise business leads
There are scores of free and subscription-based tools to help you
tune into pertinent online discussion, alert you about comments
directed at your brand or organisation and determine the social
media influence of select online voices. We break down many of
the top tools here in terms of free and subscription services:

2. Intel lige n ce in S o cial Med ia
For a monthly fee, these services tout their
ability to track social media conversation
Pay-for Tools: around your brand, perform sentiment analysis,
rate influence of select online commenters and
conduct competitive analysis. Each allows you
to chart various analytics for company reports.
Infosys Meltwater Alterian
Radian6
iEngage Buzz SM2
Market Brand
Trackur Scout Labs
Sentinel Monitor
Compared to all-in-one premium pay-for
Free Tools: services above, the following free tools are
good for listening, monitoring/measuring and
competitive analysis.
Listening: Measuring:
Twitter Search Facebakers (measures
Google Blog Facebook and Twitter)
Search Viral Video Chart (videos)
Google Alerts Archivist
Google/Bing Brandpulse
search
YouTube
Facebook Search
Social Mention
Backtype Influence:
Boardtracker Listorious
HootSuite WeFollow
Twazzup Klout
PeerIndex
Comparisons: Tweepfind
Omgili Quarkbase Topsy (Use the
CompeteAlexa "Expert" tab)
Quantcast FanPageList
S o c ial M ed i a I n u e nce o e r s wo rk s h o p s , besp oke Researc hed a nd prod uc e d by
t r ain in g an d e L e a r ni ng s e s s i ons on s o ci a l media S o cial Media I n ue nc e
c on t en t c rea ti on. Fo r m o re d e ta i l , v i s i t
h t t p://s o c ial m e d i a i n u e nce. com / tr a i ni ng / @ s oc ia lin ue nc e