Archive for the ‘Guides’ Category
Tracking Instagram, Vine and more with TweetReach
TweetReach Quick Tip: Did you know you can track anything on Twitter? Even though Instagram has revoked its display cards (effectively removing in-Twitter viewing only), the hashtags and other keywords still show up, so you can effectively track an Instagram campaign that’s cross-posted to Twitter. Same goes for Vine posts, and anything else. You just need a hashtag, URL or keyword to find those posts on Twitter. Simply enter the hashtag or keyword into our search box, and you can find any tweets that include it, even if they originated on Instagram or Vine– or anywhere else.
Want more on using hashtags? Twitter has a best practices post on their Development Blog.
A SXSW 2013 shot from our Union Metrics Instagram account
How to measure a Twitter campaign with TweetReach
You’ve planned out your Twitter campaign; you’ve strategized and you’re ready to launch. Now, how to measure the impact of those tweet? (You want solid numbers that reflect all of your hard work, after all.) You have several options with TweetReach, depending on your budget and time.
Twitter measurement doesn’t have to be a bear. [Image courtesy of the New York Public Library Digital Gallery]
Use our free snapshot reports as soon as you launch your campaign, and capture information at the end of every day. Do it ASAP to get the best info – tweets are only available for a few days. No account is required, but you can create one to save your reports- extra backups never hurt! Are you getting more participation than anticipated? Purchase a full report and capture up to 1500 tweets about your campaign. Just 20 bucks.
I want to set up everything once, not have to worry about capturing data every day.
Set up an ongoing, real-time TweetReach Pro Tracker and it will capture all your results from the beginning of your campaign to the end. And no 1500-tweet limit, so it’s great for larger conversations. Each Tracker monitors up to fifteen search queries, so you can track all iterations of your campaign hashtags (hey, people make spelling mistakes!) and keywords. You can later edit your Trackers once they’ve started, if you see participants start using their own hashtags or other keywords you also want to track.
What if I want to go back at the end and capture data for something I missed initially?
Say you notice halfway through your campaign that participants have created their own extra hashtag or started using keywords you didn’t anticipate, and you want to capture that data. Or maybe you didn’t remember to set up tracking in advance, or you just got an analytics budget. We can access any older tweets with our premium historical analytics. No matter how far back or how many tweets, we can get to anything from Twitter’s full archive, all the way back to March 2006.
Have you used TweetReach to track a campaign? How’d it go? Tell us about it in the comments!
Miss a conference? 5 tips for getting the most out of the hashtag on Twitter
We’ve covered how to get the most out of a conference using hashtags as both an attendee and as the host before, but what if you planned to go to a conference and missed it, or can’t afford the trip?
- Go to the conference website and check someone’s feed that you know attended to see what hashtags were used; this will cover all the bases if either source missed one
- Search those hashtags to see what the main conference chatter was about:
- Making connections: maybe someone you have a good relationship with connected with someone else you’d like an intro to
- Notes from presentations/keynotes: find links to SlideShares and recordings
- Photos: get a feel for what events were like
- Observations about the location: if you’re planning to attend in the future, you can remember the restaurants, bars and other sites attendees recommended
- If you’re familiar with the area and you know in advance you’re going to miss the conference, consider tweeting out some suggestions for places to go eat and socialize on the hashtag(s)
- See if someone made a Storify of the conference, or consider making one yourself and tweet out the link with the conference hashtag(s)
- Run a free TweetReach snapshot report for the main hashtag to see top contributors (you might want to follow them) and what the most retweeted tweets were. Be sure to do this as soon as the conference ends so you can get the best information. (And if you want more, you can buy a full report for $20, no account necessary.)
- Ask if anyone has a link to a blog post about the conference from past years; that way you can really get a complete picture of how it changes year over year
Did we miss any good tips? Leave ‘em in the comments.
Using Twitter as a nonprofit
We talked to Beverly Robertson of the March of Dimes about using social media as a nonprofit in one of our TakeFives earlier this year, and here’s what she had to say:
“TweetReach: Do you feel the approach or reliance on social platforms is different for a nonprofit organization? What would you recommend to one that is just starting on their social strategy, or is uncertain of how to even begin?
Beverly Robertson: Social Media is critical not only for delivering mission messaging, but in introducing the organization to a new audience, as well as keeping track of what people are saying about you and your mission. It also is critical to take the opportunity to thank your donors and volunteers publicly for all of their hard work and support. I cannot tell you what a tremendous response we get for doing that. My recommendation is jump in, but listen before you speak.”
If you’re a nonprofit who would like to get more out of social media, here are some tips to get started on Twitter:
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Listen before you speak: see what other non-profits have to say in their Twitter profiles and down their timelines before you jump into tweeting.
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Listening to other accounts can give you a good idea of etiquette and basic interactions, but be sure to use your organization’s voice and be human
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Find supporters and follow them. Interact where it’s appropriate: proactively answer questions and provide links to more information
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If someone is spreading misinformation about your organization on Twitter, you have options:
a. Address them and gently correct the information, sharing a link for them/those following the conversation to read more
b. Send out a tweet from your own account that does not directly address the account spreading the misinformation, but corrects it Either way, try to avoid getting into a verbal battle with someone on Twitter. Neither party ever looks good.
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Take major issues offline: if someone comes to you on Twitter with a big problem, make sure you’re mutually following one another and then DM an email address where a deeper discussion can take place
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Check for hashtags related to your cause and monitor them; this is one way to track what’s being said about your organization
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If there aren’t any obvious ones, create a hashtag and start using it. Encourage your supporters to pick it up as well.
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Regularly monitor search results for the name of your organization, both the version you have for Twitter (such as @marchofdimes) and any iterations of the name without the handle: March of Dimes, MoD, etc. (Use Twitter’s search, create columns in TweetDeck and even run a free snapshot report with us.)
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Consider hosting a tweet chat. Those interested in supporting your cause could find you through another’s timeline or the chat hashtag, and will have a chance to interact with and follow you, as well as ask questions.
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Finally, be sure you have easy-to-find, working social buttons on your website! Supporters won’t know where to find you if you don’t tell them.
Want more information on how nonprofits used social media in 2012? Check out the infographic below featured on Mashable (and if you have any tips for us, leave them in the comments!):
9 tips for watching TV on Twitter
Live-blogging has spawned a new generation of itself, and the cool kids these days are live-Tweeting and Tumbling while they watch their favorite shows. Sound like something you’d like to get in on? We’ve got some suggestions to help get you started using Twitter while you watch TV.
After all, 4 in 5 Americans multitask while they’re watching TV now, did you know?
From Marketing Charts
If you want to be one of them, here are some tips for getting social while watching your favorite shows:
- Check for an official show or episode hashtag. Using this, you can join in the voices of the multitude – or minority – watching. It’s easy to connect with like-minded people this way. You can find these hashtags by searching for an official show handle by typing the show name into Twitter search, and then go to that account to see what hashtag(s) they use. If there’s no official account, or they’re not using hashtags, click through other search results to see what other people are using.
- If a hashtag doesn’t already exist, make up your own. People who follow you who watch the show might join in, and it can spread from there. Or someone who follows you who doesn’t even watch the show might start, because they know someone else who watches it.
- You might want to announce ahead of time if you’re going to be live-tweeting a show, and that you’ll be using a hashtag, just in case anyone wants to mute it if they’re not interested.
- Do not tweet spoilers. Ever. Remember that not everyone is watching live, and you don’t want to be the one who ruins the ending for everyone else.
- Interact with other people talking about the show, replying to and retweeting them when appropriate.
- Mention official accounts for the show, the actors or the characters. You never know when you might get a retweet, and those accounts often have a large following. You can find them by searching Twitter for the show name and choosing the official account that pops up with a verified checkmark, or by going to the show’s website – they all have their social profiles prominently displayed.
- Follow people you have an interesting interaction with – that’s what being social is all about, after all. You may find some new friends.
- For big events where you might have people over to be social IRL too – like a Super Bowl party or Oscar party – post pictures of your setup, and include guest’s handles in your tweets.
- Share your content from other networks like Tumblr and Instagram. But be careful of auto-sharing everything you post elsewhere; those who follow you in multiple places might get bothered by the redundancy and decide to unfollow you. It’s great to cross-post some, but be selective.
Do you tweet while you watch TV? Got any tips we missed? Tell us how you do it in the comments below.
TweetReach Tip: Find & engage influencers on Twitter with TweetReach Trackers
We’ve already covered how to find influencers when you run a TweetReach snapshot report, but how about on a Tracker? They are set up a little differently. On a Tracker, you’ll want to check out the Top Contributors section, obviously:
In this case, we’re looking at a Tracker for Canadian astronaut and current Commander of the International Space Station (ISS) Chris Hadfield, tracking his Twitter handle @Cmdr_Hadfield. In this case, the contributors will be people who are retweeting, mentioning and talking to Commander Hadfield on Twitter. This shows you in a glance who is doing that and generating the most impressions from it.
Looking more closely at contributors is also a great way to connect with those who are influential in your industry, or about the topic (or account) you’re tracking. This shows you who to follow and talk to in a specific industry or around a certain topic. You can do this by clicking on any username anywhere in your Tracker, which will take you to our contributor detail page, which includes more information about the account and how much that person has contributed to the topic you’re tracking. It looks like this:
You can see that this account is engaged with Commander Hadfield’s – they’re the top contributor behind Hadfield himself – and generated a respectable amount of retweets for a tweet they sent out showcasing the recent turnover in ISS command. You can also see more detailed information about the account, such as how many tweets and impressions they’ve contributed mentioning or retweeting Commander Hadfield, as well as their average retweet rate, amplification, and more.
Aside from Top Contributors, you will also want to look at the Highest Exposure and Most Retweeted tweet listing sections:
Pictured: Tweet with the highest exposure
Pictured: most retweeted tweets for this Tracker
Watch to see which users show up in your Tracker’s most popular tweet with any regularity; these are definitely people to connect with – if you aren’t already connected – because they’re interested in your content and they get a lot of attention from whatever they’re putting out into their own stream. These accounts are great to engage with by following back, having conversations with, and retweeting interesting content, if that’s appropriate for your brand or approach. You can also engage by seeing if they take part in Twitter chats, and if they’re about a relevant topic or industry, join in. This will lead you to more likeminded people to connect with.
How do you use your Trackers and reports to find influencers? Tell us your story in the comments below!
TweetReach Tip: Find & engage influencers on Twitter with TweetReach snapshot reports
You can do a lot with your TweetReach snapshot reports and Trackers, and one of the most important and often underutilized tricks is identifying and then interacting with your biggest influencers on Twitter. How? It’s pretty simple:
- Run a TweetReach snapshot report
- Check out your contributors
That’s it. It’s that easy! Here are some screenshots from a report we ran about Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield:
Top contributors shows you the top Twitter accounts talking about Col. Hadfield. @Gizmodo earned the highest number of impressions from their tweets about the astronaut, @NewsBreaker garnered the most retweets, and @csa_asc (the Canadian Space Agency) generated the most mentions. (You can find a breakdown of a snapshot report here if you need one.)
What do these numbers mean? Exposure is the total number of times a tweet is delivered to Twitter streams, or the overall number of impressions generated. A high exposure means that account has a lot of followers, and tweets from that account were delivered to lots of other Twitter accounts. NewsBreakers got the most retweets, meaning many of that account’s followers found the Hadfield-centered tweet interesting enough to pass along to their followers. Finally, the Canadian Space Agency Twitter handle was mentioned in the most tweets about Col. Hadfield.
If you run regular snapshot reports and notice that you have repeat top contributors, those are definitely accounts you want to engage with, if you aren’t already doing so. And remember, you can save your TweetReach reports if you create a free account, or download PDFs or CSVs for later reference.
Don’t just limit yourself to your top contributors either; be sure to look at the full list of contributors. Paying attention to everyone who is talking about you or your brand will let you see who is retweeting your content and generating impressions. These people might not be able to generate as many impressions as an account like Gizmodo because they have fewer followers, but having lots of followers isn’t necessarily as important as being able to influence others. Not everyone following Gizmodo will be interested in everything they retweet or talk about, but someone with a lot of pull with his or her followers – even if there are only 200 – may actually have more followers paying attention, possibly even clicking through and reading a link, or ultimately purchasing something. If that kind of person is consistently in your contributors list, you should be engaging with him or her.
How do you engage? Follow these accounts and talk to them when it’s natural. Do they take part in Twitter chats? If it’s relevant, join in. This will lead you to more likeminded people to connect with. Do they share interesting content? Retweet or reply to it; start a conversation.
On a related note, looking closely at contributors is also a great way to connect with those who are influential in your industry, or about the topic you’re tracking. Then later, if you want to join into that conversation, you know who to talk to.
So that’s how to do this with a snapshot report. How’s it different with a Tracker? We’ll cover that in our next post. Stay tuned, and as always, comment with any questions!
Twitter Tips: Keyboard shortcuts for navigating on the site
We’re all busy, and some of us are too busy to bother with our computer’s mouse or trackpad. If that sounds like you, check out this handy list of Twitter keyboard shortcuts (we posted something similar over on Tumblr, if you’re into keyboard navigation on all of your social sites):
B → block user
U → unblock user
F → favorite
J → next tweet
K → previous tweet
L → close open tweets
M → new direct message
N → new tweet
R → reply
T → retweet
G + A → activity page
G + C → connect page
G + D → discover page
G + F → favorites
G + H → home
G + L → lists
G + M → messages
G + P → profile
G + R → mentions
G + S → settings
G + U → go to a profile
Space → page down
/ → search
. → load new tweets
? → load shortcut menu
Got any we missed? Leave them in the comments. Happy shortcut tweeting!
9 tips for getting the most out of Twitter chats: As a host
Interested in Twitter chats? This is the second in our two-part series about Twitter chats. Check out the first one here, and get some tips for participating in a Twitter chat as yourself or a brand.
Hosting a Twitter chat? It can feel overwhelming, so here are some tips to help you get started and stay organized:
First things first:
- Check that the hashtag you want to use isn’t already in use elsewhere, and isn’t common enough that your chat will be flooded with irrelevant chatter (you can do this by checking the spreadsheet in the next point, or simply utilizing Twitter’s search function).
- Check the master schedule of chats and schedule yours at a time that won’t compete with another established chat in a similar topic vein (if there’s a time you want and the other chat is completely unrelated, go for it).
- Add your chat to the master schedule, so interested parties can find it.
Promote your chat:
- Announce to your Twitter followers that you’re starting up a Twitter chat, and be sure to include the time and hashtag.
- Reach out politely to influential followers to help you promote it, if it seems like something they’d be interested in.
- Reach out to influential followers and/or industry folks who might be interested in being a special guest. An intriguing or high profile guest can spark more participation.
Moderate:
- Keep the conversation flowing with prearranged questions, but don’t be afraid to throw them away or save them for later if the conversation picks up on its own
- Don’t be afraid to block someone if they’re being consistently rude to other chat participants
- Welcome newcomers: most will proclaim themselves, so give them a warm hello and follow them if you feel its appropriate
Got any tips we missed? Add them in the comments!
10 tips for getting the most out of Twitter chats: As a participant
Interested in Twitter chats? We’ve got a quick two-part series of posts about them! Here’s the first. Check back tomorrow for the second.
If this spreadsheet is any indication there are a lot of Twitter chats out there; no matter your brand or area of interest, there’s sure to be one you can benefit from joining. But where to start? Check out these tips for maximizing your Twitter chat experience.
First things first:
- Identify the chat or chats you want to join in on, and schedule them on your calendar with a pop-up reminder. This way they won’t sneak up on you and if you get busy, you won’t forget about them.
- Lurk before you jump in: most chats are completely welcoming of newcomers, but if it makes you more comfortable just to sit back and observe a few times, do it.
- Read over a transcript of an old chat session before joining in. Searching a chat hashtag will show you if they have one, and allow you to discover if it’s a good fit for the type of chat you’re looking for, and you can learn the conversation style.
When you tweet:
- When you do join in, tell everyone that you’re new! Many will go out of their way to welcome you, and encourage you to join in on the conversation.
- If you’re planning on tweeting for your brand, consider joining in on a personal handle first. That way you can get a feel for the way the conversation rolls in action, without any potential harm to your brand from a misunderstanding. 140 characters is short, especially when you’re adding a hashtag!
- With that said, keep your tweets short and sweet: other chat participants can more easily add their own thoughts and retweet you if you keep it as succinct as possible
Chat étiquette:
- Don’t be afraid to respectfully disagree with someone else’s opinion on a strategy or tool, etc, but keep it courteous; it goes without saying that you don’t want to be contentious enough to get blocked from the chat
- If you think someone misunderstood you, clarify your meaning and intent. If they’re determined to be upset, apologize and drop it
- Don’t talk over the host or special guest, if there is one meant to be answering prearranged questions. Add your thoughts or expertise and share resources, but don’t dominate the conversation when you’re not the special guest
- Some chats won’t have special guests and the hosts act more as roundtable moderators, moving the conversation along. Chime in freely here.
Joining in on Twitter chats is a great way to connect with people in your industry, learn more about a topic or facet of an industry you’re new to or want deeper knowledge of, and to pick up new tools of the trade recommended by others.
By making regular twitter chat connections, you’ll potentially find yourself with more meet-ups at the next conference you attend, an online mentor to ask tricky industry questions to, or simply some new and wonderful Twitter friends.
Got any tips we missed? Disagree with one? Talk about it in the comments!