How Social Media Management and Referral Management Relate
Social Media Management has quickly become a very important marketing practice. Recently, Radian6 was bought by Salesforce for 
$326 million which helped to increase the buzz around the industry. . . but many people still don't have a clear understanding of what it is or why its important.
What is social media management?
Here's the basic definition: “Social media management solutions can help you manage outbound and incoming online interactions . . . They streamline and consolidate how you listen to and participate in relevant conversations in the different places they’re taking place — blogs, social networks like Twitter or Facebook, and other public and private Web communities and sites”. SmallBusinessComputing.com "What is Social Media Management and Why Should You Care?"
Who's Using It?
Altimeter's Jeremiah Owyang reports "Although the nascent Social Media Management System space is only one year old, 58% of corporations have adopted at least one of these 28 (Social Media Managment System) vendors" Read the rest of his blog post here.
What does it mean?
The sudden success of the social media management industry reveals that companies are developing an intense interest in what people are saying about them to their networks. However, one thing that most social media management companies do not do is to motivate more people to talk about them. They listen, where Referral Management companies help to stimulate Advocacy. As more companies focus on the interactions of their Advocates on social networks they will also seek out ways to increase, influence and measure the effectiveness of these conversations.
Learn more about the marketing space that includes both Referral Management Systems and Social Media Management:
