Strengths

• Analyzes what is being said about your company. This produces value for the company.

• Decoding the noise and chatter of user generated content which is of great relevance to a company and its brand.
• Encourages direct consumer interactions.
• Allows companies a real time view on consumer perceptions about their brands.
• Helps develop a marketing plan from consumer interactions and conversations.

Weaknesses

• Limitations of technology, ultimately requires a human touch to it.
• Huge volumes of data to process from numerous sources and innumerous languages.  Difficult to make a one stop technological solution.
• Its such a huge media space which is rather intimidating to a beginner.
• Ongoing disagreement between the data compilation over being comprehensive and insightful, which is rather difficult to achieve both successfully as yet.

Opportunities

• Potential to become a hygiene factor for every company with more technology improvements making monitoring more effective.
• Monetization of social media. Many companies have profited from social media and many more to yet to venture. This medium offers immense opportunities.
• SME’s who felt left behind due to their lack of resources to spend on advertisements can now capitalise social media without any penny spent to advertise their brand.

Threats

• There are no defined industry standards, will make it difficult to benchmark success and outcomes.
• Many new entrants/ board room level executives do not really understand the how to take advantage of user generated content.

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Image source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeanlouis_zimmermann/3055864480/