Social media monitoring is a key component of any social business initiative.  IntelliBuzz are one of the lead players in this market, and they've recently released a new cloud-based tool that helps brands to automate the process.

The product trades on its ease of use, with configuration similar to setting up a Google Alert.  Once you have keywords entered and social network accounts attached, the system will begin to monitor the social web.

The real value comes in connecting what is monitored with internal workflows.  For instance, complaints raised by customers can automatically be sent to the customer service team, who can then engage with the customer and solve their problem.

It also comes complete with various rule sets.  So for instance, if a customer complaint isn't solved within a prescribed timeframe, the director of marketing is alerted.

The software uses sentiment analysis to determine the nature of particular messages online.  This system can be trained to regard certain words and phrases in a particular way.  For instance a recycling company might not regard mentions with the word garbage as negative.

There is also functionality to rate comments from influencers differently to the average person.

"So if someone with a high Alexa rank or strong Google page rank makes a comment, I might want to have an alert sent right away to the director of marketing instead of waiting that half an hour," said VP of Marketing Frank Paterno.

Combining things with your CRM system allows you to have a holistic approach to your social media management.