My new favourite Twitter tool

Yes, I love Twitter. And I write about Twitter tools a lot. But that’s only because there are so many awesome and clever things out there. And RiteTag is my new favourite (sorry Buffer, I still love you too…)

RiteTag is a seriously clever tool for figuring out which hashtags to use. I have tried hundreds of hashtag tools, and generally been unimpressed. This one is much sleeker and much more impressive.

So when you log in, the first thing it will do is analyse your own Twitter feed. You can run 10 of these audits a month for free or go pro to get more. Here is a sample from my own personal feed (note most of these aren’t very good because I’m often quite lazy with hashtags on my personal account…)

You can look through all the recent hashtags you have used and see what similar tags you could have used. For example, #NowPlaying is ridiculously overused (not a surprise, as Spotify adds it automatically when you share a playlist). If I actually wanted people to see the tweet, the drop down box informs me that #Spotify would have been a better choice. It’s not perfect, because it also suggests #ValentinesDay as a suitable alternative, but this can easily be resolved with a little common sense.

As well as reviewing this for my own posts, I can also run searches from any Twitter users, from tweets I have favourited and by uploading planned tweets in bulk (up to 100). Again, you get a certain amount for free each month and can then go pro to get more.

Finally, you can create and schedule tweets within the tool. Obviously there are several other tools that do this very well, and this may not be the best option for our clients. However, if you have a chance, I would recommend having a play with it – it is extremely well set-up for split testing and might be a good option for, say, outreach campaigns where we are posting a lot of very similar tweets. If you do create and schedule through RiteTag, you can also build up an idea of what hashtags perform well, which could be really useful on an ongoing basis. Obviously I’ve only just started playing, but you can see below what analytics I currently have available:

I know there are a billion Twitter tools out there, but I really, really recommend you give this one at least a cursory glance. Even if you only log in once a month to see what hashtags are worth using for each of your clients. It could be a great way to build up a bank of effective hashtags.

Just remember, it is still in beta, so things are likely to change a bit and it is a bit slow sometimes… But it really is worth persevering with!

The Holy Trinity of Content Sharing: Feedly, Buffer and Followerwonk

I love Twitter. Lots. I love reading it and I love finding interesting articles to share with my followers. But it can be really hard to find the time to manage this sensibly. It can be really tempting to blast out 6 tweets in a row when you have a spare 10 minutes, but this is likely to just annoy your followers.

Luckily, there are a wide range of free Twitter tools entirely devoted to making this easier. My favourites are Feedly, Buffer and Followerwonk. Individually, they’re useful. Together, they’re amazing.

Find great content with Feedly

Feedly is a content aggregator (or RSS news reader) – one of the many that sprung up after the death of Google Reader, but this one is particularly nicely designed. It’s really easy to find interesting content and set up lists to categorise this content. When you log in (which can easily done through a Gmail account), all the recent news stories for feeds you are following will be shown to you. To start getting content in your feed, click the ‘Add content’ button on the left and type in a keyword. If you find a feed you like the sound of, click the plus button next to it. You can add it to an existing list or create a new list. There are lots of social sharing buttons along the top to allow you to share to your social network(s) of choice.

My personal Feedly. My two great loves are social media and gaming…+

Space out your content with Buffer

Now you’re finding all this great content from Feedly, you’re going to want to share it. But your followers probably aren’t going to appreciate 6 tweets in a row. This is where Buffer can be brilliant. You can sign in with Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. The first time you sign in, you are going to be greeted with a blank screen. This is where all your scheduled content is going to go. Buffer will show you what is going out and when, and also let you edit and change this from this screen:

For illustrative purposes only – I haven’t been sharing enough recently…

In reality, while you can share messages straight from the web app, this is unlikely to be the main place you share from. The best thing about Buffer is that it is integrated into all sorts of other apps. Including Feedly. So when you find all this great content, you can share it all at once using the Buffer share button at the top of the article, and it will schedule it to go out sensibly for you. Just remember you can only schedule 10 messages at once on the free app (although if you’re a true addict, you can spend $8.50 per month on unlimited posting).

There are lots of clever things about Buffer. If you install the Chrome app, the Buffer button will appear next to your URL, so you can easily add any articles you find. The Buffer button will also appear on Twitter, so you can Buffer retweets. You can find a full list of clever applications here.

Maximise your impact with Followerwonk

So you’re finding great content and scheduling it sensibly. But we can get even cleverer. Buffer can also integrate with Followerwonk. Followerwonk is a fantastic tool that (among other things) tells you lots of data about your followers. Including when they’re online. It can then share this information with Buffer so tweets are automatically scheduled for when your followers are likely to be active:

My followers are most active between 5-6pm and 8-9pm, which is fairly common.

To access this data, go to ‘Analyze followers’ tab. Enter your Twitter username in the box and select ‘analyze their followers’. Click ‘Do it’ and scroll down until you see the screen above.

It literally takes about three clicks to get this all connected together and working sensibly. And then you have the holy trinity working for you.

One of my favourite things about all of these tools is that they are so incredibly user friendly that nobody should have any trouble replicating this. But give me a shout if you do have any questions. And happy sharing!

Social Media Developments – 15/07/13

Facebook’s ‘new’ Graph Search

Facebook has announced a new ‘advanced Graph Search’ that’s a “new way to find people, places, photos and interests on Facebook” [Source: A New Twist in Facebook’s Graph Search Tale]. Facebook have highlighted the change with a reminder on users’ home pages. Facebook are also working on making Graph Search easier to use, with more advanced features.

New features and integrations include:

• Easier to view and use interface
• Fastest way to search and showcase results
• More relevant results
• The new tool understands more and different ways of asking questions

Facebook are also working on a mobile version of Graph Search.

Twitter syncs Direct Messages

Twitter have rolled out the ability to sync direct messages across all apps. This will make keeping up to date from various devices a lot easier. The update coordinates with Android, iPhone, iPad, Mac, twitter.com, mobile.twitter.com and TweetDeck.

Users will need the latest version of each app to ensure they are synced.

Is Twitter Analytics worth the hype?

I know we were all very excited when Twitter announced it was launching Analytics, but so far, I haven’t exactly been blown away. Here are the stats for my personal account:

I know that I have had 7 mentions in the past week, which aren’t in the graph at the top – although in fairness to Twitter, these were all just before Analytics went live, so perhaps it just isn’t able to backdate this information – but there is no clarification of this. The information on follows and unfollows is quite nice to have and I do like the summary of recent tweet performance, but I am disappointed that there is still no information on reach/impressions.

There is also a second page of analytics about Followers, but apparently Twitter doesn’t have enough data to display analytics at this time and I should try again later. I promise I will do!

It’s nice that Twitter has implemented this feature and it’s an interesting step forward for them, but so far I am feeling quite underwhelmed. I’ll keep playing with it and see if it gets better, but I wouldn’t recommend moving over from Sprout Social just yet.

In the meantime, I will continue in my quest to find a tool that accurately measures Twitter reach….

Social Media Developments – 17/06/2013

Facebook Hashtags are here!

After all the talk, Facebook has finally started rolling out Hashtag support.  According to Facebook, many users already post hashtags anyway, so their motive is ‘why not make them work’.  Hashtags will now be both clickable and searchable.

If I’m honest, I’m not sure whether I’m ecstatic or sceptical about this. I can see many Facebook users using Hashtags inappropriately and because there is no character count, I’m keeping my eye out for who can post the longest Hashtag.

I’m also interested to find out whether Facebook will integrate Hashtag search results with the likes of Twitter and Instagram. Only time will tell.

What do you think about Facebook’s decision to finally integrate Hashtags?

Lights, camera, Twitter! Twitter launches #FollowMe video service

Last week, Twitter launched a new tool that allows users to instantly create shareable movies depicting their social footprint, top tweets, photos and followers. The new venture called #FollowMe, allows you to include music from a selection of 30 licensed soundtracks from Rumblefish.

Personally, I love this idea. It might not be client-focussed but it would be great to use on your personal Twitter accounts.

For more information about #FollowMe, visit: http://mashable.com/2013/06/13/twitter-launches-followme/

Social Media Developments – 7th June 2013

Facebook launches verified pages and profiles

These new pages and profiles allow authentication for celebrity or product pages. Facebook is still rolling this out, but once available, can be seen by the ‘Verified’ tick next to the page/profile name.

Twitter adds additional security

Twitter has added a second verification stage to the login in proces to ensure the user is who they say they are. This is one worth mentioning to clients to warn them this will happen. Users will be asked to register a verification email address or phone number.

LinkedIn launches new navigation bar

Some of you may have noticed that LinkedIn has updated it’s look yet again with a new navigation bar. I’m actually a fan of this (once you work out where they’ve moved features like groups etc.) as the look is more simplistic and makes it easier to move around within LinkedIn. This seems to have been on some profiles for a while, but it’s still in the process of being rolled out.

Twitter launches lead generation cards

These cards specifically allow marketers to gather information directly from tweets – could be useful for collecting information about candidates interested in certain jobs. Currently this is only available from Promoted Tweets.

Useful tool – WhoTweetedMe.com

Owned by Hubspot, this is a free tool showing most influential tweeters and potential reach. This could be useful for monthly reports.

Social Media Developments – 31/05/13

Facebook launches verified accounts

Much like Twitter, Facebook has now introduced verified accounts. Verified accounts will be specifically available to public figures with large audiences, namely, celebrities, government officials, popular brands and some journalists.

New Twitter lists

Twitter has undergone a major upgrade this week which mean Twitter lists have changed. Previously, you could only create 20 lists. Now, you can make up to 1,000, and those lists can contain as many as 5,000 accounts. This could be potentially interested with clients who target various areas e.g. engineering, mining, oil, HR, finance etc. I think it would be worth creating multiple Twitter lists for each area/department of a client. This could help with finding retweets, interesting industry content and even potentially targeting candidates.

Google introduces stand-alone hangouts app

Google has announced an upgrade to its Hangouts real-time communication service for the web, Android and iOS. The new Hangouts app will focus on conversations, rather than contacts. You’ll be able to contact friends, colleagues and loved ones on any platform, regardless of the operating system.

Here’s what’s new with the upgrade:

• New Google+ Photos features keep photos organized and looking their best
• Make your photos look even better with Auto Enhance
• Browse highlights from all your photos
• Share short animations, panoramas, and more
• Hangouts has moved to its own app for messaging and video call
• Discover interesting content via related hashtags
• Ability to edit more profile fields and upload a cover photo
• New interactive Google Offer posts in the stream
• Control how often What’s Hot posts appear in your stream
• Support for displaying strike-through text
• Ability to edit comments
• Ability to copy the post’s permalink

Twitter Introduces Lead Generation ‘Cards’

Twitter cards – multimedia seen in expanded tweets – now have the functionality to allow marketers to collect leads directly within the tweet. User information (name, username and email address) is already pulled into the card, so there’s no need to fill out a form, all the user needs to do is hit ‘submit’ on the call-to-action.

Here’s the example shown on Twitter’s Advertising Blog:

Currently, this feature is available on Promoted Tweets, which is a paid feature of Twitter Ads, for managed clients; but it will soon be available to small and medium sized businesses.

As you are only able to collect a limited amount of information from Lead Generation Cards, they could be used in supporting campaigns to build a database of candidates to me mailed.

Having said that, the first job listing allowing candidates to apply for the role though Twitter Cards has been posted:

Once again, this highlights the importance of visual content in social media. Lead Generation Cards give you 240 characters for the tweet, description and CTA, and an image to put across your message.

Social Media Developments – 26th April 2013

Facebook changes

Facebook have been busy over the past couple of weeks, so here’s a run through of what they’ve changed:

1. Facebook introduces status updates with feelings – You may have seen in my last blog post that there were rumours Facebook was going to include feelings and other activities in status updates – Facebook are now rolling this out in the US, so we’ll slowly see more and more of this in our News Feeds. This could potentially expand the range of statuses we could use for clients, but I sense won’t be of huge advantage to us.

2. Facebook launches home – You may also have noticed Facebook Home on Android over the past couple of weeks. I actually quite like the new Messenger functionality which appears on the front screen of your phone. This shouldn’t have any particular effect on clients, but attempts to make the Facebook experience more social, with your friends profile pictures appearing more often.

3. Facebook new link formats – there are 2 types they’re testing. The first has bigger pictures, the second, more similar to the current layout, where an icon shows the link source. These both take advantage of the new Facebook layout.

4. Facebook adds groups to timelines – this has limited use for us, as only open groups will show, and only if you’ve accepted the invitation to join.

5. Facebook has made changes to the Page Admin area – where the notifications section used to be, there is now a Posts section, encouraging page owners to spend money on promoting their posts. They are also pushing that you pay for more page likes.

LinkedIn recruiter gets a facelift

As with much of the other functionality on LinkedIn, the recruiter seat design has been changed. The new design is meant to mirror the way the LinkedIn homepage looks. Just something to bear in mind in case clients start asking questions about where LinkedIn have hidden the buttons that they could previously find!

Twitter launches a music app

Twitter is aiming to change the way people discover new music by launching their own music app. It uses Twitter activity to show the most popular tracks and new artists, based on the number of tweets and engagement – is number of retweets going to be the new measurement for No.1 singles?!

Blogger launches Google+ comments

Blogger now allows you to add Google+ comments to your blog – begging the question, where else will this functionality be rolled out to (YouTube…?)

Twitter supports line breaks in tweets

Twitter has added support for line breaks, a feature which lets you spread your 140 character message over several different lines.

The ability to add line breaks already exists on its mobile and desktop platforms – iOS, Android, and Twitter for Mac. Line breaks are currently supported on Twitter.com, as well as through Twitter’s official mobile app, but not on most third-party Twitter clients or in embedded tweets.

A few people have looked into it and found that by typing in one letter per line you could take up to 70 lines for one single tweet. However, apparently, the screens can view only 33 lines.

This update has had mixed reviews, with some people embracing it and others concerned over the possibilities of over-use and spamming.
The creative possibilities for using line breaks could be interesting. It certainly opens up Twitter to those poets who specialise in the Haiku. Line breaks will inevitably be used by advertisers who want to place more emphasis on tweets but it also offers up a brilliant creative opportunity too.

#linebreaks shows some of the ways people are currently using it.

How could we use line breaks for content? Would it be engaging or annoying to our audiences?