Image via CrunchBase

If you read this blog even somewhat frequently then you know I’m a little odd. I proudly admit it. I experiment with new Web apps and new ways of doing things that don’t make sense to most people. One thing that I’ve been doing lately (and blogged about) is mashing up Google Alerts, Zemanta for Gmail and Posterous.

Why do I do this? Two reasons really:

1. It gives me an interesting way to consume my various Google Alerts
2. For me it’s the blogging equivalent of “warming up”

3 alerts I have set up are for Twitter, FriendFeed and Facebook. To me these are the three most interesting social networking services out there (right now at least, that could always change tomorrow).

FriendFeed Get’s No Love

From the very beginning I’ve noticed a trend Twitter and Facebook get all the attention while FriendFeed is relegated to the fringe.

If you look at this post FriendFeed gets 1 news result and 5 blog posts. Total 6

A Facebook post from the same day gets 9 news results and 5 blog posts. Total 14

Finally a recent Twitter post gets 6 news results and 5 blog posts. Total 11

These results are pretty consistent. Some days Twitter gets more results than Facebook but they both consistently crush FriendFeed results. And to add insult to injury only two FriendFeed results don’t mention Twitter or Facebook. Meaning that FriendFeed is usually only mentioned when someone is doing a round up of new social media tools. It rarely gets it’s own coverage.

Now Google Alerts aren’t perfect but they are a good indicator.

Is FriendFeed Only For Geeks?

None Found

Monitoring your brand online is critical for two reasons:

• It helps prevent an online crisis from building up before you are aware of it and can respond
• It helps you stay connected to how your brand is perceived by the public

The very first thing you should do is set up a Google Alert and/or a Technorati Watchlist for your company. I’ve found Technorati to be quicker but Google to be more comprehensive.

Some of the less common brand monitoring searches include searching on Flickr and YouTube for your brand. This can be a little bit harder because depending on how the person tagged their photos or videos could make it difficult to find relevant content.

Looking through bookmarking sites like del.icio.us, Diigo and Ma.gnolia can also turn up some invaluable results. I’ve often found stuff here the Google Alerts didn’t even turn up.

Following Twitter through services like Tweet Scan can give you a real-time view of what’s happening to your brand. This is where companies can really shine by being on top of customer service issues.

Finally (this one is really for larger companies) something I’ve started doing is searching LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter for company employees that are using these services. This isn’t so much of a monitoring activity as it is a way to stay connected to what’s happening in my organization.

If I am going to propose an idea that involves buy in or involvement from a separate organization it sure makes it a lot easier if I know an insider that “gets it”. If I’ve already connected to that person they become an invaluable source of information. They can help me talk to the right people and save me weeks of emailing random people or following dead end leads.

Is there anything I missed? Do you have any tips for monitoring your companies brand?

Technorati Tags: Brand monitoring,search,Twitter,Technorati,del.icio.us,diigo,ma.gnolia,LinkedIn,Facebook,Google Alerts,Flickr,YouTube,Tweet Scan

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