The social media tools are the weapons any Marketer cannot live without , the right, wise usage of these tools can help you to achieve your goals and reaching your targeted audience in short time,the main objective of the social media tools is to reach out to potential customers and keep in touch with the present. Therefore, it is necessary to choose the appropriate social media tool that actively engages the online and, most often, varied audience.
Social media tools are broadly classified into two groups based on their objectives: social media monitoring tools and social media tracking tools.
• Social media monitoring tools
These social media tools enable users to connect socially or professionally in sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook, My Space and so on. Social media marketers use these sites to promote their products and organizations. RSS This is an abbreviation for Really Simple Syndication which a group of web feeds used to publish updated posts such as the recently uploaded blogs, videos, and news headlines. Examples of RSS are Blog lines, Google Reader, Fee Burner and Newsgator. Photo sharing-Using this social media tool, a user can share photographs online with other virtual users. Examples of social media tools that enable photo sharing are Shutterfly, Picasa, and Flickr.
• social media tracking tools
The most common ways of sharing texts are through e-mails and newsletters, forums, wikis, blogs, podcasts, video and micro blogging.Blogs-These are notes and thoughts which are uploaded in specific sites for blogging. Examples of social media tools that enable blogging are Google+, Bloglines, WordPress, Typepad, and Technorati. Micro blogging-This is another form of blogging in which readers can post their comments frequently in response the original comment. Examples of micro blogging sites are Twitter, Pownce, and Tumblr. Podcasts-This is a digital audio which can be played back on an mp3 player. Example of podcast applications are Podcast Alley, Digital Podcast and Allpodcasts.com. Social news and bookmarking-In common parlance, this enables users to save and share bookmarked web pages through the Internet. Websites such as Delicious.com, Reddit, Digg.com, and Stumble.com are examples of resources offering social news and bookmarking.
Video sharing-As the name suggests, a user can upload and share videos online. The tools also support viewers' comments that may be posted for each online video. YouTube, Vimeo, Viddler, and Blip.TV are examples of video sharing sites.Wikis-This website that enables users to edit and add to content that is available online. Examples for Wiki sites and Wiki farms are Wikipedia, Wetpaint, and Wikia.
The social media tools mentioned are only the most widely used ones and the list is not comprehensive. Remember, the purpose of connecting with a virtual audience must be powerful by leveraging the right social media tool.