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Monday 27 September 2010

Twitter to Release a Real-time Analytics Solution This Year

Twitter plans to launch a free analytics dashboard that will help its users – especially businesses – understand how others are interacting with their tweets.

Member of Twitter’s business development team Ross Hoffman has revealed at the Sports Marketing Summit that Twitter plans to launch the dashboard in the last quarter of 2010. He was speaking in the context of sports, but there’s no reason to believe the tool won’t be available to other users, too.

The team that works on this tool is the one behind Trendly, which Twitter had acquired in June. Trendly was all about highlighting important changes in the traffic that reaches your website, and, according to Hoffman, Twitter’s analytics solution will show you which tweets are spreading and which users are influential in your network.

There are two interesting things about this announcement. First of all, if the product will be free, then Twitter won’t be making any money out of it, and one possible business model for Twitter was charging for this type of tool. Of course, this doesn’t mean that Twitter won’t later release a more advanced version of the dashboard, aimed at businesses, which will not be free.

Secondly, this is bad news for companies that are building their versions of Twitter analytics tools – some that come to mind are Klout, Omniture and Twitalyzer. It is possible to compete with Twitter at their own turf – just check out third-party apps such as TweetDeck— but these companies will now have to try twice as hard to reach customers.

Sunday 5 September 2010

16 Lessons on Using Social Media for Business

  1. Define your goals to keep you on track — this all has to have a purpose otherwise how will you know what you are doing, where you are going, what you are creating and how you are getting on.
  2. We can be everywhere — the internet opens up potential markets across the globe and, so, thinking globally will help you expand your reach. Don't be limited by geography.
  3. The internet has a long memory and is an echo chamber — Be careful what you say and how you act as the internet has a long memory as everything gets archived
  4. It doesn't have to be expensive — most of the social tools on the internet, at their basic level, are free.
  5. Don't try and be everywhere — reflecting on lesson 2 can mean that we get over-stretched. So, pick what fits and works for you.
  6. Be helpful and contribute to others — be social, comment and help. If you write a blog…offer to write (guest post) for someone else
  7. SEO is important but great content is more important — this is a bit of an art/science that I have not mastered. It is important but don't spend too much time crafting SEO-optimised content. Concentrate on generating good content first and foremost
  8. This use up a lot of time — limit yourself to a set amount of time/activity to make sure that it doesn't take over your time.
  9. Get to know and learn from the players in your niche — this is all about leverage. If you can get to know them that's great and they can be a great help. But, realise they are busy people too and always be respectful. Reading and commenting on their stuff is a great start.
  10. Spamming your readers = no traffic — be social and act social. You wouldn't/don't sell to your friends, do you?
  11. Not everyone is going to like you — there is so much truth in the variation of the old saying ‘You can please all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot please all the people all the time'
  12. Do a little often — social media takes commitment and so doing a little often is a better way of getting results rather than showing up on an infrequent basis. Remember: if you only show up some of the time what does that say to your readers or followers
  13. Find the niche forums for your interest or business — forums are places where people with niche interests gather. Find one that applies to you and get involved answering and posting questions.
  14. It takes time, persistence, consistency and commitment to generate results - relationships, trust and credibility are not built overnight so be patient. However, don't forget to measure your progress to see how you are doing. If not on track then do something about it.
  15. Anyone can do it, but NOT everyone ‘does' it - It will make sense for many businesses to have a social media presence and many businesses are talking about it. However, there is a lot of talk and your competitive advantage may come from actually doing something rather than just talking about it. Only, if it makes sense for your business.
  16. Pick and keep refining your niche — Your niche will not always be what you think it is so keep think about your target market and refine your content accordingly. Alternatively, listen to your readers/customers and let them tell you what your niche is or is becoming.