Edelman’s 2008 white paper Distributed Influence: Quantifying the Impact of Social Media presented a Social Media Index (SMI) that was intended to create conversations that would move people closer to understanding how to measure the influence of this exciting medium.
Since then, the debate on how to measure has raged on. Why just in the last 6-9 months, Lee Odden (ranked in the SMI as one of the world’s leading social media experts, along with Seth Godin) been researching and reviewing a variety of social media management devices that help with everything from source network connections to campaign & social content management to monitoring & measurement. He’s just released a list of 22 Social Media Marketing Management Tools that are sure to knock your socks off. As will Jeremiah Owyang’s list of Social Media Management Systems (SMMS) which he posted after reviewing The New Rules of Relationship Management.
So what are the key developments in social media to watch for and why? From a marketer’s point of view, niche platforms such as gated communities with narrow focuses look interesting, such as those created by KickApps or Ning. But I obviously have a lot of tools to investigate first before I can decide on that. What do you reckon?
Sources: Edelman, Lee Odden, Seth Godin, Jeremiah Owyang, KickApps, Ning
ShapeshifterID's Blog 