Tracking A Tweet

Why track your tweet you may ask? Well, for many reasons. Besides @replies to your tweet how do you know if your Twitter followers are finding your links and information of value? Social Media is about 2 way conversations, information sharing – it’s not about shouting into an empty room or standing on a soapbox – which is what you’re doing if people aren’t reading your tweets, clicking your links or finding the information you provide valuable – or at the very least mildly interesting. Also, it takes time to share that information – so if you’re sharing the wrong information or information that your followers don’t think is relevant it would most likely be a better use of your time to share different information or resources.

The most basic way to track your tweets is by doing a search for your tweet or subject on Google or Twitter Search.

Or – you could use a new tool that combines these two into a powerful search engine called Twoquick

A more focused twitter search/tracking method could be had by adding a meme or hashtag to a specific keyword. hashtags.org provides real-time tracking of Twitter hashtags. Opt-in by following @hashtagsto have your hashtags tracked.

Budurl offers a free service to shrink and track your shortened link. Budurl allows you to see referrers, click charts, and more. You can create multiple BudURLs that point to the same destination so you can tell which source generates the best ROI. This allows you to see which cities, states, and countries drive your traffic. Their basic service is free and their dashboard is pretty intuitive.

PeashootApp offers to shrink and track your shortened link  but also allows you to set goals for your campaign. Like Budurl it allows tracking and a personalized dashboard. It’s good that it sets goals for measurement but the coolest option was just added. It now also lets you build an audience around a particular keyword or theme. In essence:

Peashoot’s Audience Builder automatically follows people on Twitter who are relevant to you or your company. Over a matter of days Peashoot can increase your total audience size giving you more people to connect with and help spread the word about you or your company.

Both Budurl and PeashootApp offer paid monthly plans and free trials. 

Do you currently track your tweets and if so have you changed the nature of what you tweet based on the measurement stats you’ve received?

Social Media Expert (Your Name Here)

The term “Social Media Expert” is bandied about so much these days you have to wonder what is a Social Media Expert – and what qualifies one to be labeled as such – and further if everyone is a Social Media Expert – maybe it’s a title that’s lost it’s meaning or value, since everyone can’t all be Social Media Experts can they?

The devaluation of this term has been discussed in other blogs, most notably on the article in Open Wire called “You’re NOT a Social Media Expert, you idiot” where the author Joel Mackey sets new definition criteria for determining what truly makes one a Social Media Expert.

Joel defines 5 categories of true Social Media Experts:

  1. Authority Experts – Those who are able to transition their thought leadership from another arena to Social Media. His examples include : @joelcomm, @guykawasaki, @jimmyfallon, @aplusk 
  2. The Power User Expert – Someone whose gotten to the top of one social media platform and sets their sites on another. Usually are early adopters: @zaibatsu, @mrbabyman @LouieBaur  @stejules
  3. Content Creation Social Media Experts:  Those who report on trends and current themes are are able to disseminate that information effectively across the internet and social media platforms.  @murnahan, @mayhemstudios, @jessenewhart, @szetela, @fantomaster
  4. Natural Social Media Experts: Social People who are great connectors online : @AlohaArleen, @BuzzEdition, @MariSmith
  5. Social Media Salesmen: Internet Marketers putting out a one way content stream: (you can visit the original article for his examples)

Just like being canonized as a saint, elected class president, or named People Magazine’s sexiest man of the year – I don’t think Social Media Expert is actually a label one can apply to themselves. Rather it’s a label that’s applied given or more rightly earned by sharing your passion for social media, showing innovation and thought leadership. Being creative with your social media usage and in the most social sense – open and sharing with your information, insights and ultimately results. 

Results not in the sense of pay-per-click marketing of click-through rates, impressions and user views. But rather, measured in the quality of the 2 way communication, comments, replies and overall engagement of both the expert and the audience.

It’s the user community that grows around these individuals – those of us who read their blogs, subscribe to the feeds, link to them and generally subscribe to their thought stream and appreciate their viewpoint.

In Sept 2008 (which feels like eons ago in internet time/space) ReadWriteWeb identified these 7 Social Media Consultants that Deliver Tangible Value – I think these serve as an excellent example of who some of the true experts or thought leaders are.

  • Chris Brogan
  • Jeremiah Owyang
  • Charlene Li
  • Dawn Foster
  • Dosh Dosh
  • Gary Vaynerchuck
  • Nancy White

I guess the next question is – what should we call them? Since we collectively are the ones who are responsible for the number of Twitter Followers, Technorati Authority and Google Page Rank – we should come up with a title to bestow upon these social media luminaries of the moment. If the title “Social Media Expert” has been worn out by the hordes of them suddenly around – do we come up with a new name, or put them in categories that define exactly what type of expert. So let’s hear it – what do you think true social media experts should be called?

Techniques for Leveraging the Power of Twitter

Including Twitter in marketing strategies and goals for expansion is becoming common place. Many have realized the power of social media marketing, and Twitter is one of the most used and prominent tools the social media experience has to offer. While it is very simple to log into Twitter and begin broadcasting to your Twitter followers, read over these tips, tricks and techniques for harnessing the full power of social media marketing on Twitter.

List Your Contact Details. There are millions of Twitter users on the service every single hour of every day. While it is impossible to interact with every single Twitter user, it is important to make yourself available for those who want to interact with you. If you’ve decided to include Twitter in your social marketing strategy, it is important to give open yourself to every opportunity to reap the benefits of your work. By providing a link to your brand’s webpage, or a custom background that includes your email address, instant messenger handles and other ways to contact you, you are sure to see more results from marketing on Twitter. Interested parties may contact you for business opportunities, interview requests or permission to promote your product on their blogs or webpages. A key to social media marketing on Twitter is to make yourself available for all opportunities that may come along.

Get personal. When you receive notification of a new Twitter follower, take a moment to review their profile, interests and any webpages or portfolios they may make available. Consider sending a direct message to introduce yourself personally to your new Twitter followers, giving your brand a more friendly face. The social aspect of social media marketing is what makes it so effective.

Play nicely. On Twitter, you are the face of your company, your brand, your products and your offerings. Any marketing strategy employed on Twitter is sure to fail if you give off an air of rudeness, elitism or unpleasantness. Twitter is contains your target audience, and social media marketing relies on your target audience wanting to interact with you. Be helpful, informative and polite at all times when employed Twitter as a social media marketing strategy, in order to ensure a positive reputation and perception of what you have to offer.

Using Twitter for Marketing: Three Twitter Tips for a Notable Brand

Using Twitter for social media marketing is becoming more and more a standard practice for brands and companies looking to expand and connect with their target audience. When marketing on Twitter, branding is extremely important, to give a distinctive personality to what you have to offer and stick in Twitter users minds. While branding is often still a bit of a fluid concept, especially when it comes to using social media and Twitter for marketing, the following tips will help you along the way to establishing a solid and impressive presence for your brand on Twitter.

Broadcast Relevant News. If you’ve expanded your marketing strategy to include Twitter, then you have obviously spent some time on the Internet. When your feedreader, co-workers or other contacts provide you with breaking news related to your industry, share it on Twitter. Not only will this make you a valuable asset an contributor in the eyes of your Twitter followers, but it can also lead to retweets, where your tweet with a link back to your profile included is rebroadcasted out to widening circles of Twitter users. Those interested in the same type of news are likely to join your Twitter followers.

Find Out Where Everyone Is. At industry conferences, it can be frustrating to try to get face time with popular and influential people in your field. These days, not only do most people Twitter throughout conferences, but conferences themselves also have their own Twitter accounts. If you are attending, presenting or exhibiting at an industry conference, follow along on Twitter to find out where these VIPs are and what they’re interested in seeing. Befriending these social media giants can be a very effective tool in your social media marketing arsenal. Take advantage of the information offered on Twitter to arrange a brief meeting or one on one conversation with these users, in hopes that a good impression will lead to them tweeting about you and your brand in the future.

Monitor Your Reputation. Nothing kills a brand, product or company faster than negative experiences. Negative experiences and stories travel with amazing speed with the advent of tools like Twitter. When Twitter is a part of your social media marketing strategy, monitoring what people are saying about you or your offerings is one of the main benefits of the service. By keeping track of what is being said about your brand, you have an opportunity to quickly turn negatives into positives. If you are able to use Twitter to respond quickly to customer concerns, your social media marketing will allow you to head off the negatives of the problem and instead, create a more powerful reputation for your brand due to your swift and responsive actions.

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Copyright © 2011 Jackie Cuyvers