Four Tools for Scouting Social Media Leaders in Your Network Social analytics companies serve up ways for businesses to be influential. Here's how these rankers compare.

Congratulations. You finally have a handle on the social media thing. Now the real work begins: pinpointing the most powerful people in your online networks and cultivating those relationships into more business wins.

Big brands like beauty retailer Sephora and giffgaff, the U.K.'s fastest-growing mobile network, have called on enterprise social media suite provider Lithium Technologies to help launch and sustain their strong online communities. According to Lithium's principal scientist Michael Wu, a key part of that process is identifying top influencers and turning them into company advocates.

For small businesses with smaller budgets, there happen to be a number of low-cost (or free) social analytics companies--several with targeted business offerings--that provide scores and reports to help you find and engage your network superstars.