Much has changed in the two years since that post was published. Here is a 2012 remix featuring a mix of (mostly free) tools you can use on a daily basis.

Listening/Research

The foundations for any social media marketing activity start with listening and in-depth research, ranging from influencer identification to campaign planning.

Listening tools:

Best in class: SocialMention.com. As far as free options go, this is as solid as it gets.

Alternatives: BoardReader.com (discussion board specific), Addictomatic.com (a general listening dashboard), and PeopleBrowsr.com (big data, big insights).

As for more specific listening tools, each of the major social media platforms can be analyzed using a combination of specific tools including:

Domain/username checking: KnowEm.com, CheckUsernames.com, Claim.io (all solid options)