There are numerous Twitter analytics applications available for your use. If you need metrics, believe me, they are readily available. You can use them as a guide to ensure that you’re meeting your goals, and to enhance or protect your brand. How? It varies.
Different apps focus on different aspects of Twitter use. I’m going to describe a few of them which I use as a guide. There are many apps; these are the ones I use most frequently. For some, I used to check my metrics every day. However, I determined that I didn’t need to always do that (although sometimes I still do). You can determine your general usage patterns from the apps and adjust your tweeting as you’d like to meet the goals you’ve set.
My focus all along has been on content. I prefer to find and share information that I think would be of use to my followers and don’t focus on general conversation as much. So far, that has enabled me to meet my main goals, and various analytics apps freely available show that. However, in reviewing my metrics, I know what I should work on, so I make changes from time to time and then check stats again.
What amazes me the most, though, is knowing that my tweets, followers – everything associated with my feed – is analyzed in many ways by so many apps. All these tweets are public and apps are using them. Every once in a while I see my tweets pop up in some new place I never heard of and analyzed in a manner I never imagined. The lesson: don’t ever think your tweets just stay in Twitter or whatever app you’re using to manage your account. They’re everywhere. Forever. Even ones you delete.
Whether or not you want to use any of the analytics apps readily available, they’re there – and the public can see most. If you have a public account, anyone can look you up at any time in various apps.
Here are the seven apps that I use most regularly. I think you would find them both interesting and helpful.
Update: October 25, 2010
I’m updating this post today to include current information so you can see what sort of changes evolve over time in the various analytics apps. I’m adding new screen shots and additional information for the apps.
Twitalyzer
This is one of my favorites. Actually, it might be my favorite. If I were on a desert island and had to pick one, this would be it. Twitalyzer tracks numerous items. It takes a 30-day average and comes up with a grade for a number of topics. What’s also nice is that it shows you if it’s increased, decreased, or stayed the same for each metric from the last update. In addition, it gives you some recommendations about your usage.
In a previous iteration, anyone could see a good deal of information for any feed. Now, however, just basic information is available for the public to review. To see your own stats, you have to log in using your Twitter password. It’s definitely worth it! Check it out.
Here are two screen shots of the information publicly available for my feed. Both reflect the data calculated at the time of post publishing. Tomorrow, the number might be different. As you can see, there is quite a difference in the two reports. There are a number of reasons why my number and type have changed. However, I did use data and recommendations in Twitalyzer to guide my tweets to some degree. I didn’t change my overall plan, strategy, or goals. I just tweaked things a bit.
August 18, 2010
October 25, 2010
Note: The Impact Score was 3.5% before I updated it. So while it’s down, it’s not down much. There aren’t always significant changes day-to-day.
Twitalyzer also has subscription options, which I haven’t looked into. Judging by what you can access for free, though, I can only imagine how helpful a subscription version would be.
When you log in using the free option, this is the other information you can see:
- Impact
- Engagement
- Influence
- Clout
- Generosity
- Velocity
- Signal
- Klout Score (see below)
- Retweeted
- Retweeting
- Retweets
- Referenced
- Referencing
- References (per 1K followers)
- Reference Ratio
- Followers
- Following
- Lists
- Updates
If you’re serious about your Twitter usage and haven’t looked at this yet, consider doing so. It, above all others, in my opinion, shows exactly what’s working and what isn’t. It also identifies areas that might require more focus.
SocialMention
This is definitely another favorite. This tracks more than tweets. It provides metrics and information for blogs, comments, and other items – as well as a combination for a look at your entire online presence. For Twitter, check the Microblog item.
One interesting item for this one is that it identifies positive and negative wording in tweets. That counts! I’ve noticed that in some other app which escapes me at the moment. However, I usually look at that item. It has impacted what I say sometimes in a tweet – or what I retweet. Word choice is important.
To see this, once you’ve entered your account name, click Microblogs. Look at your list of tweets. If you see a green button next to one, it’s labeled as positive. A red item is a negative. I do my best to keep mine at neutral or positive, and have been successful in that regard.
I like SocialMention.com because it provides more of a high-level overview of everything. I can see ratings for my blog posts, too. It also has some metrics for each topic (blogs, microblogs, etc.) that, for me, tell me that I’m on track for meeting my goal of providing content helpful to followers.
This is one that I’ve plugged into a spreadsheet. It’s nice to have the historical information so I know if there’s a big change in one of the metrics.
TwitterGrader
For a quick snapshot of how you’re doing, go to this site. In addition to providing a rating for a specific account, it also enables you to view lists for brands, cities, and users.
August 18, 2010
October 25, 2010
TweetEffect
This, to me, gets high points for being most interesting. If you want to see how individual tweets are affecting your follower count, this is the app to check. It lists all your tweets and highlights ones that resulted in an increase or decrease in followers. Very interesting. It doesn’t always make sense to me – why one tweet results in more followers while a similar one lowers the count. Who knows? I still like checking this from time to time, though. So far, I even out much of the time. It can definitely get you thinking, though. Always interesting.
FriendorFollow
Want to see who you’re following that’s not reciprocating? Or vice-versa? Maybe you’d like to catch up on following your followers. Or do you just want to clean up your account? This is an app for you.
I definitely check this from time to time and adjust my follower situation. Keep in mind one thing, however. There will always be some accounts you follow that won’t follow back. For instance, I don’t imagine the CEO of a company following me, or some large news organization or something like that. Don’t worry about those numbers too much! This is a great tool for fine-tuning your account.
Klout
This is another favorite. This app zeroes in on the overall effect your Twitter feed is having. I see it as a report card. Back in August, what pleasantly surprised me was that it somehow took in all my tweets and the like and categorized me as a Syndicator – which met my goals exactly.
August 18, 2010
Klout tracks other metrics as well regarding retweets and potential reach. What it has told me is that I’m meeting my basic goals: provide useful content and have some impact. This app is also used in several places of which I’m aware: in HootSuite and Twitalyzer. It may be used other places as well, but I’m not aware of others. It also has numerous charts available that show historical scores and information. That’s another helpful aspect of it. You can update your Klout rating once every six days. So you may have to wait a while to be able to refresh your score.
October 25, 2010
Fast forward to today, and I find that I’m now listed as a Conversationalist. My follower count is up, my Klout score has risen, and yes, my tweeting has changed to a certain degree. However, this is not where I’d like to be. I prefer to be in a Syndicator-type listing. So I’ll be checking all the apps, looking over my tweets, and try some adjustments. I’ll see what happens. This will be interesting.
Twitter Analyzer
http://www.twitteranalyzer.com
When I first published this post, I excluded this app. Not by choice, believe me. It was down for a while. This is also one of my core apps. It tracks demographics, hashtag use, gender, follower activity – all sorts of data. It amazed me, and taught me – among other things – that what you write in your bio is definitely something to carefully consider.
What I find from this app is that I am reaching my target audience. Even with my audience expanding and follower count increasing, it tells me that my content is working for the people I am trying to reach. It is shifting somewhat, though. I’ll keep watching it to see what develops. One thing I’ve noticed, though, which I find interesting is that the gender percentages are changing as my follower count increases.
Update: March 18, 2011
This site is down again. It happened once before, but came back up after a while. I don’t if it will be reinstated. However, I’m leaving it here in case it does come back. It’s an excellent resource, and I haven’t seen anything similar as yet.
Thoughts
Keep in mind that metrics vary due to your Twitter usage. When I was out on vacation for a week, my numbers reflected that. They may be affected for a couple more weeks, I imagine. I thought: “I should get a ghost tweeter for when I’m not around.” (Which reminds me – if you need a ghost tweeter, contact me! Perhaps I can help.)
I hope this was helpful to you. Keep in mind that it’s just the way I use these apps. It might be different for you. Or you might find others you prefer to use. Whatever you want to track, though, there’s probably something out there that would help.
I’ll be posting more articles related to the use of social media in the coming months, and will be launching my Twitter webinars soon. So be sure and check back!
In the meantime, follow me! I’ll announce new posts and webinar dates in my feed – and provide content that I think you’ll find useful.
http://www.twitter.com/2morodocs
If you have any other apps you find helpful, please note them in the comments. You can also find more on Pam Dyer’s blog. Here’s her comprehensive list of apps:
20 Top Twitter Monitoring and Analytics Tools
Happy tweeting!
Update: October 25, 2010
I now have three Twitter accounts. They have different topics and purposes. Two are very new, so it’s early on in their development. I’ll list them here.
My main feed
This focuses on content related to social media and technical communication
http://www.twitter.com/2morodocs
#tcchat Twitter chat feed
Tweets related to the chat, which I manage and moderate
http://www.twitter.com/TC_Chat
Tailored Thoughts: my company
This is brand new, so I’m really building it from scratch. There will be overlap with the @2moroDocs feed, but there will also be separate information here.
http://www.twitter.com/TailoredThought
So three accounts, all with different purposes. This is what community management is about, I guess. I’ll see what’s needed for each account, each use, and see what works best to achieve goals. I’ll keep you posted!
Related Post
This post focuses on wording to include in tweets and why it matters.
Hi Julie,
What an awesome job on this Blog post, factual, informative and well written. I’ve RTed your Tweet about it as well. Thanks………
Hi Julie,
Awesome job on this blog post – thanks so much. I’ve RTed it out via my Twitter account as well.
Lee
Great job on this blog post.Thanks!
Thanks, Lee! Glad you like the post. I love working with all these analytics apps. They each cover something different. Much has surprised me, including finding out how simple word choices can affect different metrics. Very interesting, indeed. I’m looking forward to seeing the new analytics app that Twitter itself is rolling out.
I found lots of interesting information here. The post was professionally written and I feel like the author has extensive knowledge in the subject.
Thanks so much for your comment! I’m glad you found the information helpful. I do have a related article on my company site that discusses some considerations for writing tweet content: The Art of the Tweet. I hope that helps as well -