Here at T/K we don’t make vendor choices without due diligence. So, when in search of a social media analytics company we spent a great deal of time researching, participating in demos and testing out various systems at various price levels. The bottom line is…. there is no “one size fits all” solution, but there are several excellent options available for businesses of all shapes and sizes. My recommendation is to make the decision based on quality, ease-of-use, price and customer support. No system is going to do everything you can dream up…not yet anyway…so find the system that works best for your needs and then supplement it with the many free tools that are at your disposal. I’d also suggest testing the system first hand for a few days before entering into a contract. That is the best way to know if you are going to get what the demo shows.
During our search, I used one of the latest social media networks, Quora to assist with research. According to the site, Quora is a continually improving collection of questions and answers created, edited, and organized by everyone who uses it.
When I first stumbled upon Quora a few months back, I thought oh, another Ask.com or Yahoo! Answers. However, I quickly found that the network is more business driven -- made up of tons of credible and often recognizable journalists, experts and analysts. Of course, there are certainly sales representatives (pumping their products), but overall the network provided just what I needed. When I asked about the best social media monitoring tools, I found several articles highlighting products that we had already tested, but I also found new ones that were not in our consideration set.
Have you checked out Quora? What are your thoughts? Are you using it as part of your social media and/or research toolbox?