Scout Labs

Meet up with Scout Labs this fall at three awesome events

2010-08-25T18:07:37Z

This summer, we've been heads down over at Scout Labs working on our latest release. Now that it's out we're ready to ~~party~~, speak and attend a variety of events this Fall! Here's where you can find us:

Margaret will hitting up Web 2.0 this year with a talk on metrics and analytics in the new social order.

Web 2.0 Expo NYC
September 27-30

Measuring the Future: New Metrics for New Media

New media has made new ways of measurement possible, but many organizations are still using legacy metrics such as impressions and clicks to understand their place in the social web. To make matters more complex, today's online media landscape is fluid; history is being edited on the fly, and consumers behave differently-and have different expectations-depending on where they interact with brands on the web.

BlogWorld
October 14 - 16
Las Vegas, NV

One of the premiere social media events of the year, Scout Labs will be at Blog World in force! If you're interested in getting a demo or learning more about what we think of the social media landscape and how to stay ahead of the game, seek us out.

Geekend
November 4 - 6
Savannah, GA

Margaret will also be speaking at Geekend this year and she is an awesome presenter. If you're planning on going to Geekend, you definitely do not want to miss this:

Mirror, Mirror: The Social Media Reality Check

Social Media can provide an inspiring (and sometimes painful) picture of real world consumer perceptions. Did the customers you targeted in your last campaign really hear your marketing messages? Did they understand them? Are your competitors really who you think they are? And why do customers love (or hate) your product, anyway? Learn how to use free and paid social media intelligence tools that provide real time social media intelligence to calibrate marketing programs and improve customer connections.

And we're just getting started. As we confirm more events for the Fall we'll keep you posted. Hope to see you around!

Release Notes 08/24/2010: New Interactive Search Creation Form, PDF Graphs, New Control Bar

2010-08-20T21:52:27Z

It's been a busy summer here at Scout Labs, what with our acquisition by Lithium Technologies and the need to introduce our new colleagues to the best Thai/Indian/Blue Bottle coffee places surrounding the San Francisco office. Today we're happy to present you with the fruits of our Thai/Indian/Blue Bottle coffee powered development team. The latest enhancements to the Scout Labs application:

1) New interactive query form. A few of the most important changes:
• Edit query terms inline. No more re-typing!
• Select which terms you want sentiment and quotes for- reducing the number of irrelevant quotes and sentiment menu options
• Remove the automatically checked "send me an alert" button which was quite frankly annoying everyone including us
• Drag and drop query terms to reorder them

2) PDF graphs. We've restored the option to export graphs as images, in PDF format now instead of PNG. This is a very handy way to get a universally readable/ usable image from a graph without having to take a screen capture. You just insert the PDF into your PPT and you're good to go.

3) "New Search" button on left sidebar. One of the things we noticed while testing the new search creation form was that users were taking some VERY circuitous routes to create a new search. Though we strive for the minimalist design approach, we can no longer deny that you all need a bigger button with "new search" written on it. You just do. Voila.
4) New graphing controls. Check out this sleek new toolbar. Notice that when you go to "Graphs," the graph type selected is automatically defaulted into "Volume," but "Share of Voice" and all the other handy types are still available.

5) Totals on graphs. Notice that the graph key now displays the total mentions for a search. When you focus on the day, the key will show you the mentions per day. The export, of course, contains the graph totals data so you can make your own visualizations.

The new search creation form is going to take some getting used to. Though we've embedded some help in the application, we highly recommend that you sign up for one of the special new search creation training sessions, or at least watch the helpful 4 minute video.

We recognize that the search creation form in particular is the hardest part of the application to use. We'll always be investing time in making it work better for users. Feedback on this release, or any others, can always be directed to our community or sent to us direct via email at support@scoutlabs.com.

Many thanks to the users who helped us refine this release, including Jeff Esposito at Vistaprint, Ankush Karnak at Citibank, Mark Hopkins at Lenovo, Bryan Kristof at The Marketing Agentc, and Eric Walton at GyroHSR. There are some amazing new features on the way for fall, including a release in mid September with Facebook data and some gorgeous new PDF reporting options. If you'd like to be in the test group for these new features, ping us at support@scoutlabs.com. I cannot resist giving you a little sneak peek:

Old Spice Guy: Engagement Worth Watching

2010-07-14T20:17:16Z

I'll be the first to admit it. Old Spice reminds me of my grandfather. Not that its a bad thing - one whiff of Old Spice and the memories come flooding in so fast that I'm practically moved to tears. I loved my Grandfather. He used to eat apples to the core, love the Chicago Cubs, chew Double-Mint gum, love us up and down, and yes, sport Old Spice. (Personally, I have always been a Drakkar Noir girl but that might be revealing a little too much about my self.)

So a few months back, when I saw the Old Spice Guy for the first time, at first I thought, what is that? The second time, I hit rewind 2X because I thought it was so funny. The third time, it was showcased at South by Southwest, highlighting humor in advertising and social media. Now, Isaiah Mustafa has signed a development deal with NBC and is known as The Old Spice Guy.

Now Old Spice Guy is replying to Tweets and Facebook mentions with personalized video's. Everyone from the Huffington Post to Demi Moore are getting personal replies from Old Spice Guy, in a towel, hanging out in the bathroom.

Maybe I am a little bit of a geek but since I work at Scout Labs, I am super excited when I see a company leverage things that are going well and turn them into social media phenomenons. It's special because it doesn't happen that often. That said, I think that the Old Spice team has done an awesome job making Old Spice sexy (and funny) again.

So far this week, the Old Spice Guy's buzz in the social web is up 859% with almost 4000 mentions.
Mentions of Old Spice spiked when Isaiah Mustafa, aka Old Spice Guy, signed a development deal with NBC and again with personalized YouTube Videos.
On Facebook, anyone can ask Old Spice Guy a question and you might get a video response! Some video's have been up for only 1 day and now have +40,000 views.
OldSpice on Twitter has 42,012 followers

Old Spice has their own YouTube Channel (I just joined 73,000+ subscribers)
Old Spice guy is well on his way into the English vernacular

Major news sources like Huffington Post, LA Times, the UK's Guardian are writing about this campaign.

Every day, I hear reasons why big brands can't engage in social media or reasons why its difficult to scale. I'm not calling BS here - it IS hard. What I am saying is that its time to think outside the box. These video's have got to be inexpensive to produce and distribute. They are personalized for individuals and accessible for the masses, all at the same time. They've leveraged social media touch points in many different directions. They've modeled for all of us how to put the puzzle pieces together.

So next time you watch these commercials, think to yourself, "What about my product makes people laugh? What is ironic? What is provocative? What is timely?" And take those things online. Make them easy to share. Make them accessible to your fans, err customers, err audience, err, anyone who cares.

"Smell Like A Man, Man" is a brilliant campaign. Smart, sexy, funny and engaging. Clearly, Old Spice isn't just for grandpa's anymore.

Is your Twitter Pitch the New Elevator Pitch?

2010-06-11T00:18:35Z

At Scout Labs, we're on Twitter ~~every day~~ ~~a few times every day~~ a lot. I'd consider us to be "Twitter savvy." We're looking for mentions of @Scoutlabs, Scout Labs, @LithiumTech, our competitors, a few hash tags. I respond. I engage. I re-Tweet. I even wrote a blog post about why people should be on Twitter to begin with. You can't stop me.

We have "rules of engagement" and policies that keep us from blasting our stream with messages that come across with message that is too "sales oriented" and with the "right tone." We've thought it out, have a lot of eyes watching it and rarely miss a mention that includes something we care about. I typically use my @erinkoro account for Tweets from me and throw in a @scoutlabs when its work related. Come on, we preach this stuff every day and walk the walk. Or Tweet the Tweet (couldn't resist).

So today, I had an interaction with @chadarizona on Twitter that made me really think. Here's the series of Tweets:

Gulp. I have an elevator pitch down. I know our competitive advantages. I can demo the hell out of Scout Labs. BUT - What is my 140 character description of Scout Labs?? (Actually, less then 140 because I needed room for @chadarizona in the message).

I had a live one. He was in my grips. This is a sales person's dream. I even managed not to come off too much like a sales person. Sort of. But once I had @chadarizona's attention, I had to really think about what I wanted to say. I was away from my computer, on my iphone, couldn't use a bit.ly link to send him to some of our content - I had to just go for it. Here's what I came up with:

Grrr. There's a typo. And if I gave it some thought, I'd probably refine this a little bit. But what I got out of it was much more then just the opportunity to work with Chad. I got a little wake up call that if I'm going to use Twitter for lead generation, then I better have my Twitter pitch down.

So that brings me to a question for you - what's your Twitter pitch? Have at it - you got 140 characters, baby.

You might be wondering, "what happened?!" Well I got about as much as I could hope for - first by having an actual "conversation" with a prospect via Twitter and secondly, @chadarizona's interest. THANKS @chadarizona, I'm looking forward to working with you!

Scout Labs Acquired by Lithium Technologies

2010-05-11T19:54:11Z

At Web 2.0 New York last fall, our half-day workshop included a "fireside chat" with the wise Peter Kim of the Dachis Group. The topic was the state of the market and how brands are currently using and how they want to be using social media. I asked him a question that I hoped would be a layup --given that Scout Labs got him there on stage in front of hundreds of companies and made him look so good ;-). I asked, "What are you seeing on the social media vendor landscape that's interesting? How are we doing at meeting companies' needs?" Again, I thought this was a layup, and that he would answer with glowing words about Scout Labs.

He did glow about Scout Labs, but Kim followed with:

"Actually, the vision of Social CRM is a great one. You have totally sold companies on the idea and they are ready for it. The reality is that you vendors are not delivering on the vision. You are not connecting the social media and customer data dots fast enough for most of the companies I work with."

Ouch.

But he's right.

We SAY "customers are everywhere--tune in" but we social media platforms have focused on indexing, measuring and analyzing open social network content. Meanwhile, companies' on-site customer communities and e-commerce sites are treasure troves of information on their own--game-changers when connected with social media data. But the platforms have not crossed that chasm.

We SAY that you should "know thy customer" but we only give you anonymous social media profile data that is virtually impossible to connect back to your customer lists for marketing, support, sales or REAL campaign ROI. Tech shops are hired to build one-off connectors. Agencies frantically export data, trying and connect the dots in Excel and Google Docs.

We find your influencers--brand advocates and detractors--but only in the channels we track right now. Its kind of like the old joke: Q: Why are you looking for your keys there under the street lamp? I thought you lost them in the bushes?" A: "Well, this is where the light is. We don't know who's influential on your site and how they travel, or more importantly, how their influence travels across channels.

Peter Kim is right. We are not going fast enough to meet the market's seemingly insatiable desire for social media intelligence and customer engagement via the social web.

This is why I am so excited to announce, today, that Scout Labs, the leader in social media measurement and management, is merging with Lithium, the preeminent customer community and Social CRM company. Together, we create a true Social CRM platform with a lens on the whole customer. We have wide social media data. They have deep customer and community data. We help teams connect with social media. They help customers connect with each other.

To our beloved Scout Labs clients, you will not lose a thing. The Scout Labs team, the product, the brand, the culture, the commitment to actionable insight, ease of use and affordability--all are alive and well.

Together with Lithium we have different and complementary pieces of the customer data and analysis puzzle, but we are also very similar!

• We are united by data, data, data.
• We are united by serious IP around analysis and metrics.
• We are united by a passion for both quantitative + qualitative insight for our customers.
• We are united by our unwavering focus on the customer.
• We are united in our desire to be mission-critical across the organization--marketing, sales, community, commerce, support, etc.
• We both define success as delivering real business results across the organization.
• In diligence, we fought over whose customer list was more impressive. Now that we are one, we can honestly say that we (together) are the trusted partner to the world's best, most customer-obsessed brands.

This combination is all about acceleration. This is about more data for you (data-junkies, we hear you standing and cheering). This is about features that you have been begging for, delivered sooner. This is about (finally!) connecting social media and customer data dots that will change the landscape forever.

To learn more, visit the microsite we've created which has much more information about the acquisition. Also, check out this blog post from Lithium CEO, Lyle Fong. Join us for our upcoming webcast on May 19th with Peter Kim, where you can learn more about the acquisition and what we see for the future of social media analytics.

We are looking forward to an exciting 2010 and beyond.

Jenny

Search and Measure Using Boolean Logic

2010-05-06T19:52:44Z

Customizing your searches is the single most important way to gather the data you're looking for. Here are a few tips to set up your searches to get the most bang.

Boolean Logic sounds fancy but really it is just a way to set up advanced search queries. Think of it like this - create keyword combos using the concept of "or this," "and that," but "not that." Here's an example:

Let's say you wanted to monitor the conversations around Japanese Cars and fuel efficiency, but not hybrids. Here's what your search form would look like: (click the image for a bigger version)

What your communicating:

Line 1: Honda or Toyota or Nissan REQUIRED: if a post includes anyone of these brand names, you want to see it.
Line 2: fuel efficient or fuel efficiency or mpg or miles per gallon REQUIRED: if a post includes one of the name brands from above AND one of these options to describe fuel efficiency, you want to see it.
Line 3: hybrid EXCLUDED: you do not want to see any references to hybrid because you've excluded it from the search.

TIP: Some easy ways to change the search around is to switch Hybrid to required - then it acts as a filter and you'd only see posts that include something from each of the three lines. You can also add a few lines that are "relevant" which effects the order that the results appear.

Now that you know how Boolean logic works, be strategic about how you set up your searches. A big thanks to Susan Etlinger (@setlinger) for suggesting this structure:

Industry - what are all the companies in your space? Set up a search form listing each of them on the same line with an "or" between them.

Company - what are all the ways your company name is described? At Scout Labs, it could be Scout Labs or Scoutlabs. Using the example above, you could create a search for each of the companies using the exact same settings. The only difference is that the first line would have 1 company name instead of all 3. (an example using Honda is below)

Products/Campaigns/Events - If there's a campaign you want to measure, put it in a search form. First line is probably all of the ways you say your company name. Second line references the campaign, product or event. Make it required.

Now that you've got your searches structured, you also have something to measure against. Check out this 1 month volume graph comparing the "industry" search to the individual company searches.

Interested in who's getting the most mentions in this conversation? Check out this Share of Voice graph comparing companies to each other (as opposed to the graph above, which compares the companies to the industry):

Want more? Sign up for one of our webinars here.

Happy Scouting!

Social Marketing Analytics Report -- Measure Social Media ROI

2010-04-22T20:46:37Z

Scout Labs is thrilled to have participated in the creation of the Social Marketing Analytics report published today by Altimeter Group and Web Analytics Demystified.

We're all looking for answers when it comes to measuring the value of social media and with that in mind, this report outlines how to measure social media based on your business objectives.

View the report below and jump over to Jeremiah Owyang's blog to read more!

Altimeter Report: Social Marketing Analytics

View more documents from Jeremiah Owyang.

Who says "work" can't be fun?

2010-04-08T21:19:34Z

Everyone knows that at Scout Labs, we love our clients. Just search @scoutlabs on Twitter and you'll see that we connect with them all day, every day - email, Twitter, Facebook and, when we're lucky, in person too.

Jose Gonzales (@josegee) is our client from Tourism BC. When he said he'd be in San Francisco, I knew I wanted to meet him. When he said he'd be here with a big zipline promoting tourism to British Columbia, I knew I wanted to take the afternoon off.

Not so fast, I have other clients after all. BUT we didn't miss the chance to check out one of the coolest things I've seen in San Francisco in a long time - a massive zipline running across the Embarcadero with fabulous views of our gorgeous city.

I've been tweeting about how totally scared I was to do this. In fact, if it had not been a client, I'd probably have chickened out. When we got there, my palms were sweaty, my heart was beating fast and I was all full of adrenaline.

When it was my turn, I looked at Coop, my co-worker and said, "Count to three!" He didn't count, he just jumped (Thanks, Coop)! I took a step off the platform and with that, I was screaming all 600+ feet to the end.

I don't think I've ever had some much fun at work. THANK YOU Jose and Tourism BC and the folks at ZipTreck EcoTours for giving us a great thrill and bringing such a cool exhibit to San Francisco.

The Zipline will be in San Francisco's Justin Herman Plaza from April 8 to 18th. Suggestions: get there early, sign up and eat lunch after you're done. I'm just saying.

Here's some proof that the team at Scout Labs had a blast - as if a zipline could be anything but phenomenal fun. OH and as a side note, the buzz for TourismBC us up by 575% and its only day one. Nice work, TourismBC. I'm checking into weekend get-away's now.

Julie coming down the zipline:

Erin, Jose, Coop, Liza and Julie:

Uploaded with plasq's Skitch!

Gearing Up:

Uploaded with plasq's Skitch!

View from the bottom:

Uploaded with plasq's Skitch!

View from the top:

Uploaded with plasq's Skitch!

Your Guide to Social Media Listening

2010-03-29T19:25:40Z

With so many vendors selling social media monitoring applications, there's definitely a sea of choices -- some fitting certain companies and needs more than others. So how do you choose? As a vendor, we can run our own review, but that's not nearly as valuable as an independent review.

That's why we were thrilled to see, Jeff Esposito's blog post "Picking a new social media monitoring service". Jeff's a PR pro and has done his homework, researching half a dozen vendors.

Jeff embarked on this research while searching for a new vendor. Previously, he'd been spending 10 hours a week manually setting sentiment for his brand with another vendor. Yes, you read that correctly 10 hours a week-- and that doesn't even include diving into competitive data!

Ultimately, Jeff went with Scout Labs for our automated sentiment, collaboration features and his ability to easily research and compare competitors.

One of the takeaways I got from Jeff's review is how well Scout Labs scales in comparison to many of the other vendors. We offer multiple users from Day 1, unlimited results returned and are so easy of use. Scout Labs is a great (and affordable) choice for everyone from the mom and pop shops to Fortune 100 companies looking to dive deep into industry, brand and competitive analysis.

Don't forget to check out his post, and while you're at it, take at look at Jenny's excellent blog post on Advanced Questions that you Should be Asking your Brand Monitoring Vendor.

SXSW or Bust: Scout Labs Is Taking on Texas

2010-03-09T01:44:35Z

It's been a big year for Scout Labs, and it's only March. With a big release behind us, we are already working on new features and welcoming new clients. What's more, we're heading to Austin, TX for SXSWi. We are practicing what we preach and going where the technology and social media conversations are already taking place, and, in March, that is South by Southwest.

A few of us "Scouts" will be in Austin for SXSWi. You won't find us manning a booth or hosting any big events, but we want to meet you, so please don't hesitate to reach out.

Whether you're interested in a demo or getting your burning questions answered, here's who you need to meet, tweet and greet:

Erin @erinkoro

Julie @superlativelady

Laura @laurascout

Liza @lizasperling

Margaret @margaretfrancis

And of course, don't forget about @scoutlabs

We look forward to celebrating the ideas, technology and PEOPLE that make this industry what it is. See you in Austin - Scout's honor.

Photo courtesy of alicenwondrlnd under the Creative Commons License

The New Rules of Relationship Management

2010-03-08T20:22:39Z

Altimeter Group has just released their research on Social CRM, "The 18 Use Cases of Social CRM, The New Rules of Relationship Management"

As Jeremiah Owyang explains, "This architecture lays out all the possibilities (18 use cases) defines the problem and goal for each, and suggests some vendors who to watch. It's also pragmatic, as it lays out a process on how to get started, baseline needs (listening) and what to do next."

With 18 use cases that show business how to put customers first, this is exactly the kind of research we love to see. Check out the full report below.

Social CRM: The New Rules of Relationship Management

View more documents from Jeremiah Owyang.

Four New Weekly Webinars from Scout Labs

2010-03-02T22:28:26Z

Looking to brush up your skills on search creation, metrics reporting or how to use the newest features in Scout Labs? We've got a webinar for you!

We're announcing four new webinars we're running each week through March. We're keeping them small and intimate, so you'll have the opportunity during the webinar to work one on one with the Scout Labs team to learn tips, tricks and get your burning questions answered. Space is extremely limited so sign up now!

Search Creation Fundamentals Webinar
Mondays 3/8, 3/15, 3/22, 3/29
1:00 - 2:00 pm PST

Creating the proper searches is the cornerstone of social media listening. Search is more than just inputing your company name. In this webinar you'll learn how to set up your workspace to search for industry trends, competitors, campaigns and uncover the desires, wishes and likes of your customers.

Metrics and Reporting Fundamentals Webinar
Tuesdays 3/9, 3/16, 3/23, 3/30
1:00 - 2:00 pm PST

Uncover quick and easy tips for how to get the most out of Scout Labs reporting features. Learn how to create customized graphs, export data and set up weekly email alerts.

Assignments and Saved Items Webinar
Wednesdays 3/3, 3/10, 3/17, 3/24
1:00 - 2:00 pm PST

Two of the most exciting new features in Scout Labs, Assignment and Saved Items, are critical to organizing your team around social media listening and outreach. Learn how to use these features and see real live examples from some of the world's biggest brands.

Configuration, Customization and Co-branding
Thursdays 3/11, 3/04, 3/18, 3/25
1:00 - 2:00 pm PST

Agencies, this is for you. If you need to brand a Scout Labs workspace for your clients or create multiple workspaces under one account you'll learn how easy that is.

And as always, every Tuesday and Thursday at 11am PST we will continue to run our Live Demo. Get an overview of Scout Labs and see how to start your own social media listenting campaign. Sign up here.

We do ask that you register for these events, so to ensure your space, please sign up!

Who should buy a Standard Plan? Who should buy Professional?

2010-03-02T00:01:02Z

As many of you know Scout Labs recently introduced some new product tiers, both in number of concurrent searches and data/functionality. A detailed plan comparison can be found here, but since many of you are asking for guidance on which plan type should select, let me offer a perspective on what functional needs each plan type is best suited to meet.

You should buy a Standard plan if:

You are part of a small team of 5 members or less that is unlikely to expand in the near term
You rely primarily on digital dashboards and in-application/ email alert delivery of information
You can use saved items and screenshots to prepare reports
You are concerned primarily with the very recent past- last 3 months or less- and do not need more longitudinal tracking
You either use other tools for workflow and assignments, or are in the listening/ insight gathering mode rather than a response function

You should buy a Professional plan if:

You are part of a team of 5 or more members, or if driving organizational awareness and adoption of social media across functions and groups is of paramount importance
You need for data export in .htm or .csv to prepare custom reports or unique visualizations
You desire longer timeframes of data to baseline against, or are tracking phenomena that exceed a 3 month timeframe
You need a response platform that spans all mention types- video, Twitter, blogs, etc.

A couple of notes about both plan types:

In both plans saved items are saved indefinitely- by virtue of having saved something, it remains available even if the mention is outside the 3M or 6M timeframes
Automated sentiment and Quotes come with all plan types
Co branding and customization come with all plan types

With Scout Labs' recent pricing changes, we wanted to keep as many options available in the sub $500/month category as possible for the budget conscious, while making sure that the additional data and functionality are available for the enterprise.

What the HELL is Social Media?

2010-02-26T22:35:49Z

Living in San Francisco we're surrounded by technological early adopters, so it's hard to believe that some companies are *still* asking this question, but it's true.

In response I came across this awesome video from timetogetsocial that helps answer that very question.

If you, or someone you know, is still questioning the usefulness of social media for businesses, I think this video will get you one step closer to understanding its relevance for all businesses. Are you listening?

Why Agencies Buy Scout Labs

2010-02-23T23:20:53Z

Jenny, the CEO of Scout Labs, and I first met while working at an agency (er- it was called marchFIRST), and it was from an agency (Razorfish) that Jenny lured me when she started Scout Labs. So many of the things I wanted to do for my clients I could not efficiently execute, due to lack of tools in market. As a former agency strategist, I have a special affinity for Scout Labs' agency customers and the use cases they have for our platform. Here are some of the reasons agencies give me for needing a social listening platform:

We need to know what is happening with the client's brand to be effective strategists. Agencies' stock in trade, especially digital agencies and high end marketing agencies, is that they are better placed than their clients to anticipate trends and craft breakthrough marketing strategies because they have the benefit of cross-company and cross-brand experience. It isn't possible to maintain that positioning if the account team isn't up to speed on what's happening with the client's brand on Twitter and YouTube, much less their competitors' brands.

We are monitoring a particular campaign. Agencies are often responsible for the design, execution and tracking of marketing campaigns. As the power of social media to reach consumers grows, agencies are more and more interested in tracking campaign performance in this channel- or even in defining campaign success by social media criteria. After all, if your big campaign idea is to let a consumer shoot your Superbowl ad, you might want to know how many people saw it, if the people who saw it liked it, and if so, why. Forwarding around a couple of Google Alerts is just not going to cut it.

We are engaged in a social media listening program on behalf of a client. More and more of the agencies I talk to- PR, traditional, digital, media only, creative, branding, SEM, etc- are engaged in retained listening programs on behalf of their clients. These range from pay per tweet to ad hoc studies delivered in PPT for $5-50K to inclusion of social media data in traditional brand health measures for $20K+ to outsourcing response to Twitter and blog mentions and so forth for $100K+ month.

In almost every case, the agencies that we talk to decide that they need to standardize on a single platform that can provide the backbone of their monitoring and measurement program. They may do some additional work to add proprietary or other data, or to produce custom analyses, but there is usually a core content aggregation, analysis, and metrics platform that the agency team can build on.

We need a common digital dashboard/ application to share across the company and the agency. A really good agency is often deeply embedded in a client organization, more like an extra arm of the clients' organization than a "vendor" to it. It's essential for the holistic team to be able to share a single app for content, analysis, and response.

We needed a tool for our own internal research and business development. Sometimes the agency just need to look really smart in a pitch, or to engage in a little research that the client isn't exactly paying for- yet. Sometimes the agency is in the business of market research, creative development, or even product development- all of which are morphing to account for the rise of social media.

Of course none of those reasons is totally unique to Scout Labs, nor is Scout Labs the only solution in market. I see agencies using everything from free tools like Google Alerts to other agencies to help them address these use cases. Here are some of the reasons I see agencies embracing Scout Labs:

Easy to use for the whole team. We get consistent feedback that Scout Labs is the easiest, most intuitive, user friendly application out there, for newbies and veterans. If you're trying to drive social media awareness throughout a Fortune 1000, you need an application that the masses can use. A lone specialist does not organizational change create.

Ad hoc search. None of this advance commitment to a lone word or phrase- "Neutrogena"- and only that word, for which data begins accumulating when you contract for it. Agencies not only need data now, they need some trend on it- and who wants to wait 6 months for 6 months back data? And what if that initial scan turns up issues around self-tanning or an ingredient like pomegranate? Agencies need to see trends and data on those, too.

Real time market intelligence. People are flabbergasted at how fast it is get data across across all social media channels. Especially people who have used other platforms that have a lag to their data collection. Being able to not just retrieve the data fast, but get speedy analysis of it- frequent words, back sentiment, 6 month graphs- likewise gratifies the time starved agency strategist.

Saved items, graphs, and exports. So your deliverable needs to be on the agency PPT template/ HTML email/ Flash presentation. We understand. Scout Labs make it easy to do things like export graph data so you can make the line in the graph your client's exact brand color, or add your client's logo and your agency's logo to the application header.

ROI! Having relatively low price points and plans with unlimited users makes this the biggest no-brainer purchase of the year. Go check out prices and see. With Scout Labs you get the productivity boost of a dozen interns for the cost of less than one, just on the content aggregation side- before you even get into metrics and insight from our NLP driven features that no intern is going to provide.

This isn't a complete list of either use cases or reasons to choose Scout Labs, but it's getting to be a long post. I'm always open to hearing from agencies about what they need to be more effective on behalf of their clients. Please share it- you might get pleasantly surprised by what we have in development for you.