For SMEs, social networks have a relevant value when positioning their brand, that is why at ConsorcioTec we want our members to use their full potential. In this sense, this content from Pymes Go Digital explains how to monitor them, so that useful data and real measurement of the strategies that are carried out there are obtained.

Social networks are no longer just a personal means of getting in touch with old and new friends. Nowadays, companies, and especially SMEs, base a large part of their recognition, and even reputation, on their presence on social networks.

The different social networks are a channel for all kinds of announcements in real time: from the launch of a product to last-minute announcements of an important event, which in a matter of seconds is disseminated through extensive networks of which you are a part.

Currently, social networks reach 49% of the world's population, almost half, which translates into 3,800 million frequent users. But how do you know what number and type of people your ad reached and what reactions did it leave?

There are a number of social media monitoring tools for SMBs that allow you to not only do the above, but also identify chains of mentions about your brand, what hashtags they use when mentioning you, who, as well as how effective your posts are.

Why monitor my SME's social networks?
With this data, your SMEs can improve your social media campaigns, which in turn will allow you to better tune in with your audiences and thus reach leads, that is, users who can become customers.

Here's what these social media monitoring tools for SMBs do:

● Save time: this is the most valuable asset that your SME requires today to safeguard the most operational functions at the service of your growth strategies.
● Profiling your customer: by processing the information of the users who come into contact with your SME the most, you get a whole profile of who they are, what they are looking for and how they have interacted with your publications.
● Act in a timely manner: you will be able to know, instantly, how audiences are interacting with your content and respond correctly, according to the habits of certain segmented audiences.

Here are the 10 most important tools for network monitoring:

1. Hootsuite
It is perhaps the most popular and effective as a social media monitoring tool for SMBs. Hootsuite is a platform that manages to monitor multiple keywords and bring them together in a graphical dashboard, or 'Dashboard', that represents the key performance indicators (KPIs) of the social media campaign you decide to undertake.

2. Sprout Social
It is a great option for social media monitoring for SMBs. It allows you to schedule automatic posts to sites like Twitter and Instagram, but outside of that it has a built-in customer relationship management (CRM) system, as well as tracking keywords and the ability to set specific role levels and permissions.

3. Social Mention
It is a simple tool, specialized in detecting chains of conversations about your SME on social networks such as Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. With this you can have a vision of the opinions that have been formed of your brand and whether there is a positive or negative perception.

4. Sprinklr
This tool provides a platform that unifies five products (marketing, advertising, research, attention, and engagement) to help companies like your SME monitor and interact with current and potential customers.

5. HowSociable
Provide useful tips so that your SME's network profiles are updated and compare the data traffic generated by your brand on each network, based on a score assigned to each of them, according to the mentions or retweets you receive.

6. Brandwatch
This tool is one of the most sophisticated as it accesses data from multiple sources, including opinion sites, blogs and forums that allow you to identify patterns about what is being said about your SME. This gives you a detailed perspective of your audience.

7. TweetReach
This is an analysis tool specifically for the social network Twitter, through which you can check how much influence your SME's tweets have. It also allows you to monitor trends in real time and generate segmented data graphs on the exposure and reach of your brand.

8. Conversocial
It allows you to locate —on social networks— the name of the brand of your SME and integrate the CRM for better customer service. It also provides tools for resolving cases and turns messaging applications into new marketing channels.

9. Google Alerts
It has a simple and beginner-friendly interface, which displays data for both your brand and your competition. Simply set up the terms (or web addresses) you want to monitor and Google Alerts will alert you when it finds mentions of them.

10. Keyhole
This tool is considered the number 1 in hashtag tracking; that is, categories to identify mentions of your SME, by showing the evolution of both these and the name of your company. This way, you can count on compelling and timely reports of your SME's performance on social media.

These are some tools with which your SME can track the efficiency of managing your social networks, but do not forget that for this you must have a strategic plan that allows you to direct its proper use.

This content is adapted from the article 10 essential tools for social media monitoring for SMEs, which was previously published on the Pymes Go Digital website.