The New Business Intelligence of Social Media – Search Engine Watch (SEW).

As one who runs a social media agency, I’m often addressing questions around the topic of social media research, monitoring, and analytics. The questions vary, but are typically consistent in nature:

1. How is research valuable to social media?
2. What do all these tracking tools provide to guide strategy and tactics?
3. What should we really be doing with social media?

Answers to these questions may be unique to any given effort, but a common best practice for entering and maintaining a wide range of social media initiatives begins withbusiness intelligence (BI), a term first coined over 50 years ago to describe computer-based approaches for analyzing data to support decision making.

The Tools and Top 5 Measurable Attributes

Having worked with lead offerings developed by companies that include Crimson Hexagon, Buzz Metrics, Collective Intellect, Radian6, Sysomos, Filtrbox, and Umbria, here’s a quick summary of function and value:

1. Volume of Conversation and Share of Voice
2. Identification of Key Themes, Opinions and Trending Topics
3. Sentiment Analysis
4. Influencer Identification
5. Social Graphing and Viral Tracking

Continues @http://searchenginewatch.com/3641343