Social Media Quick Picks from the Networking Ninja
Need some good tools to spruce up your social media usage? I’ve tried many different programs in my forays as the Networking Ninja for Kiwano Marketing, so here are some quick picks to maximize your time and efficiency on social media.
A few days before I came out with The Benefits of Third-Party Twitter Clients (and totally unknown to me at the time), Nick of Marketing Shindig was busy evaluating three of the biggest twitter clients out there. I highly recommend reading his post, as it’s the most concise comparison of Tweetdeck, Seesmic, and Hootsuite I’ve seen so far. If you want to know specific functions of these powerful clients without testing them out for yourself, then Nick’s post will definitely save you some time.
This Ninja’s Social Media Secrets
Do you find yourself duplicating content on more than one platform? If so, get on ping.fm – now! This is a huge time-saver for me, as I sometimes want to publish the same content across more than one network. Ping goes far beyond the social media Big 3 (twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn). In fact, it’s a great way to organize all the different networks you will sign up for at one stage or another and then forget about. Sure, some of them are obsolete (AIM status?) but overall, Ping is unbeatable in the sheer number of social media networks on offer. It’s easy to integrate, too; Hootsuite has it built right in, and there are a variety of mobile apps that support Ping – heck, they even came out with a Ping-specific device. The native website is uncluttered and easy to navigate – give it a try today!
Are you staying up to all hours of the night to tweet? Guilty. And there are ways to keep you from being tied 24/7 to your computer or mobile device (unless, of course, you choose to be). Tweetlater, currently reincarnated as SocialOomph (and no, I really don’t see the logic in the name change), is a good standalone tweet scheduler. Want to catch that overseas audience while you sleep? Simply queue them up with a time and it’ll all get published without you being there. Tweetlater isn’t pretty, but it does get the job done. Thus, it’s a good alternative for those who don’t use the Hootsuite client – as delayed tweeting is built right in to this web-based, third-party client.
Do you want to start tracking social media but aren’t sure of where to start? Try bit.ly. There’s a new URL shortener popping up every day, but bit.ly has been around long enough to have taken on some sweet features. Simple and built into some twitter platforms already, bit.ly’s most useful option is tracking click-through rates. Sign up for a free account, shorten your link through its webpage or over a host of third-party clients, and bit.ly will continue to monitor some basic statistics: how many people clicked on your links, how many referrals (or RTs) you received, and even the physical location of those clicks.
What are your favourite tools when it comes to social media? Please get in touch or drop me a comment. Finally, check out some of these related resources below:
Social Media for Small Businesses
Tips for Successful Social Media Time Management
Essential Twitter Applications Part 1 – Twitter Client Reviews and Recommendations
An awesome free tool for monitoring your brand mentions in social media: Social Mention (www.socialmention.com) Also provides some insights like sentiment, passion and strength, but I’d take it with a grain of salt as it’s all automated and not necessarily accurate.
Another great one for monitoring Twitter influence is Topsy (www.topsy.com) or Twinfluence (www.twinfluence.com)
Thanks for linking to my post on the Twitter client reviews. It’s great that you pointed out alternatives for scheduling tweets because that ability is the reason why some people stick with HootSuite.
I also like Kelly’s suggestion of socialmention.com, a great tool for monitoring brands.
Thanks for this list. Agreed, a monitoring and measurement tool would be a good addition to this list. Biz360’s Community Insights (www.http://ci.biz360.com/) allows you to track custom searches relevant to your business across all types of social media – including twitter. We took our robust solution for enterprise/global clients and have now made it available to businesses of all sizes.
@Kelly thanks for the links on social media monitoring. Too many companies don’t look at metrics while starting up social media – it’s definitely an important way of making sure what you’re doing is worth it! Have you worked with ScoutLabs at all?
@Nick Shin you’re very welcome, good content always deserves to be linked! I’m not sold over tweetlater’s interface. I wonder if between the two of us, we could rummage up a nicer app with a better interface.