Salesforce Radian6 versus SDL SM2

As we discuss in our Digital Marketing Technology evaluation research, not all Social Media Monitoring & Intelligence (SMMI) tools are created equal. Let’s have a quick look at two contenders we often see customers evaluate in their search for the right fit.

But first a little detour to remind you: Just like there is no best CMS, nor best DAM system, there’s no “best” digital marketing technology in this marketplace. But there might be a system or two that is a good fit for your purpose, objectives, and scenarios.

With that, let’s start with Radian6, which was acquired in 2011 by Salesforce – a software giant trying hard to be everything to everyone. Radian6 is mainly offered as SaaS and appeals to those organizations looking to improve their efforts in Social Media Monitoring, Social Media Intelligence, and Social Media Engagement.

The SMMI tool known as SM2 has changed ownership hands many times throughout its evolution: from Techrigy to Alterian to SDL. Often, SM2 competes with Radian6 in the same set of scenarios.

SM2, in comparison to Radian6, is somewhat more refined. At the same time, it's complicated underneath the covers. I doubt that many organizations are ready to even consider deep linguistic analysis and virtual ethnography right now.

One of Radian6's strengths is its comparatively broader range of extensibility and integration with third-party modules. But Radian6 is also fairly complex and expensive, and lags behind when it comes to its excessive reliance on Flash applications and thick clients within its overall product offering.

Overall, this is just scratching the surface, of course, when it comes to exploring the differences between Radian6 and SM2. My best advice for you is: do your homework carefully and select wisely…


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