Social Defender: Your Brand’s One-Stop Online Reputation Manager

Andrew Cross Jun 30, 2012 Tweet

As most entrepreneurs and small business owners can attest to, issues on social media can crop up quickly. Appearing on the scene nearly as quickly are startups promising to serve as the one-stop shop for managing all things social.

The most recent is the aptly named Social Defender, which has more than 500 users despite being live for a mere 3 weeks. The startup offers analytical and account management tools to help companies manage their brand across channels through a convenient web platform. Tiered pricing plans cap out at $40 for an entire year, and planned upgrades include suggested keywords and even outsourced social media management. Its bread-and-butter client? Online or brick-and-mortar SMBs.

Social Defender is competing in a crowded space that already includes scrappy startups like Mention and Sprout Social (founder Justyn Howard was recently named to Chicago’s Techweek 100), and more established players such as Radian6. But in the social enterprise land grab, Social Defender is going for every inch. Among the channels it monitors: YouTube, Pinterest, and Google+, along with Facebook, Twitter, and blogs (Quora is perhaps the most notable absence).

In addition to its widespread coverage, Social Defender is betting big on the use of integrated teams, rather than individuals, tasked with managing a brand’s social presence. Its tool incorporates a workflow module that offers sub-admin access so that account managers can structure team member responsibilities by account or even by time of day.

For most small businesses, managing a social media crisis or even rote day-to-day monitoring means hopping around to different sites with different usernames and different passwords. If Social Defender gets its way, it will be the only website you’ll need to visit.

Social Defender was a showcased startup at Tech Cocktail’s Techweek mixer.