Want to make your efforts on Twitter more manageable? Want the ability to easily analyze your stats and determine when the best times to Tweet are?
Well, tools such as SocialBro, TweetDeck, HootSuite, Sprout Social, and Tweepi–to name a few–are there to aid you in your social media strategies. Managing your social media can be difficult if you have limited resources. To make the most of your time, these services offer important insights, monitoring tools, scheduling options, and more.
Of course, there are many other options–in fact, there are dozens of these tools to consider before settling on one. However, in an attempt to remain somewhat concise, we'll stick with the more commonly used tools mentioned above.
While some of these offer free versions–or at least free trial versions–many require you to lay down a credit card. It is also important to note that some even add a "signature" to each post, as a way to advertise to readers that your company uses their services–this can be bothersome and come across as a less genuine way to post. So, as you well know, do your homework before choosing.
It's true that a lot of the available features are similar, but each company has its own way of doing things. And, of course, any business seeking to employ one of these Twitter management tools will have its own work styles, needs, and desires to consider as well.
- SocialBro
SocialBro gives you several different plans to choose from, or you can personalize a specialized plan to meet your needs. They offer a free 15-day trial, too.
"Discover Twitter Users" allows you to not only search users by name, bio, language, and location, but also search through Tweets in real time. This includes an option to monitor certain hashtags, allowing you to follow relevant conversations and keep up with the people you\'re interested in.
One exciting feature of SocialBro is the "Best Time to Tweet Report." After a close analysis of your followers' timelines, Social Bro produces a report displaying what time of day your Tweets reach the most people and garner the most replies and re-Tweets. These are the kinds of features that put SocialBro at the top of many users' favorite list.
- TweetDeck
With TweetDeck you can arrange your feed into customizable columns and use filters to bring attention to the information that's really relevant to you. They also offer generic monitoring and management tools, such as scheduled Tweets and notification alerts.
We'll leave you to decide if it's really something to write home about.
- HootSuite
HootSuite offers both free and pro versions, and their social media management tools include options that extend beyond Twitter. You can use the HootSuite dashboard to keep track of Facebook, LinkedIn, Wordpress, Google+, Foursquare, and Myspace, too.
As far as Twitter goes, HootSuite allows you to send and schedule Tweets, track certain lists and keywords, and monitor things such as mentions, direct messages, and favorites. They also have their own URL shortener.
- Sprout Social
With Sprout Social you can also manage different social media outlets in one place. They offer reports, analysis and scheduling options across multiple platforms, just like the other guys. However, their collaboration feature can be used to create content that team members can review and approve, which is pretty cool.
"Optimal Send Time" is Sprout Social's answer to SocialBro's "Best Time to Tweet Report." They help your company increase reach by encouraging social media engagement.
- Tweepi
This is more of a follow/unfollow management tool–with a few added bonuses, such as the Klout score. You can easily identify inactive followers and unfollow them, as well as follow users back who follow you. They also offer a free package, so it's at least worth trying.
A great way to gain new followers and find relevant users to follow is the "Follow Followers" feature. You simply enter the username of a very active account, an influential person or company, or a competitor, and then Tweepi will automatically allow you to follow the followers of that account.
As you can see, a select few of these Twitter management tools offer some attractively unique features. And while it is difficult to really say which is "the best,â" there are certainly some that can be recommended over others. All that's left to say is good luck.
Other's worth checking out: ExactTarget's SocialEngage, Buffer, CoTweet, Visibli, Argyle Social, TweetLevel, Tweriod, BuzzBundle, SocialOomph, Twitterfeed, TwitterCounter, and CrowdBooster.
Have a Pawsitively Tail Waggin' Good Day!
P.S. This information was provided by Ruff Haus Design - Your Loyal Marketing Companion. Established in 1997, we are a special breed of full service graphic design company that works with a premier pack of clients. We bring a fresh outlook and tail-wagging enthusiasm to your marketing program. Learn more about how we can help improve your brand management and support your marketing needs at www.ruffhaus.com.