New companies help brands manage their social media

What never ceases to amaze me is how whole industries seem to pop up almost overnight around internet trends. The latest I've become aware of is a swathe of companies who help brands (including agencies on behalf of clients) manage their social media accounts.

Social media is becoming more complex with some brands having dozens of accounts in multiple languages across the globe. Many companies are starting to recognise the need to listen and respond to the growing audience in social media, and to handle that inflow and involve increasing numbers of employees within an organisation.

We’re suddenly seeing the rapid development and adoption of a new breed of tools and the companies that offer them—call them Social Media Management Platforms—which include solutions from Buddy Media, Vitrue, Awareness, ExactTarget, StrongMail, Involver, Hootsuite, Context Optional, RightNow, Expion and others.

We've had a presentation from Buddy Media which was very good but the service is expensive and many clients will try to go it without these kind of tools. It's going to be an interesting space to watch.