Social media command center software is becoming more popular for companies. These command centers allow anyone in the business to access real-time data about their brand on social media. You can then interact and act rapidly in case of a crisis. They also offer other great advantages, from monitoring brand intelligence to optimizing your message during a product or campaign launch. As social media has grown, demand for this software has increased. A lot of companies that specialized in social listening saw the opportunity and created their own social media command center software.
As a result, businesses can be overwhelmed by the numerous options on the market. We’ve got you covered! Here are 5 details you should look for when evaluating social media command center software for your company.
1. Visualization
The main reason to invest in social media command center software is to have access to everything that is being said about your brand in a simple and easy-to-consume view. Good data visualization is therefore essential for quickly and easily understanding large amounts of information. Research has proven that the human brain processes information better when it’s displayed in a graphical format. Nonetheless, some interfaces display data in table format or even paragraphs. Instead, look for a command center that allows multi-screen display and uses clear, colored and relevant charts and graphs. Not only will it be much easier to understand, it will also save you a lot of time.
2. Customization
Even if the data display is good, each business will have prefered ways to access information. Social media command center software should allow you to customize the display based on your business requirements. You should be able to control the colors, the organisation of the data and the elements you want to appear or not. These modification options will allow you to adapt the software to your goals.
3. Data Sources
The more data sources being pulled into the command center, the more information you’ll have at your fingertips. A large number of mentions collected will ensure that you get the most accurate view of what’s being said about your brand and products. Having a large collection of data sources shouldn’t just include the obvious social networks, it should also include mainstream media and sources from other countries and languages. This will be crucial for international brands, as people will talk about them around the world and in many languages.
4. Widgets
A widget is a portion of the command center that has a distinct purpose. It should include a graphical element that “tells a story.” Widgets on social media command centers should be easy to understand and use. If they’re not, you will spend a lot of time digging for meaningful data. Try to find software that organizes data in different categories and subcategories, to make it easier to find what you’re looking for. Icons and pictures are also helpful as they will help consume the data without dealing with a bunch of clicks.
5. Good social listening platform
A social media command center is really a product that consumes data from your social listening platform. The quality of the data that you access via the command center is only as good as the social listening platform that feeds it. Before making a decision, do some research about the different social listening platforms available. You will find that some platforms offer more benefits than others.
If you compare social media command centers using our tips, you can be sure to choose the best software for your company.
Check out Beam, our social media command center, to learn more about our software.
