19 January 2012

Top Tips

Four Tools You Should Be Using To Monitor Your Brand Messaging in 2012

Each time we send out a message to our audiences across whichever social networks we use, it can seem like we’re skimming pebbles along the surface of a rather massive ocean. You’re lucky if you make a ripple, let alone get a response or see that message shared again.

Now the purpose of this post isn’t to talk about how you can optimise your social messaging to encourage more buzz around your brand, but how you can monitor their effectiveness with some of the web’s latest social engagement tools.

1. Buffer App (Founded: 2010)

Buffer App is a Twitter scheduling service with a toolbar browser add-on which allows you to stock up your tweets as you find great content you want to share with your network. By simply clicking “Buffer This Page”, you can keep adding interesting content as you go. What’s more there are apps for iPhone and Android devices, so it’s also great for when you’re on the go.

Apart from being extremely easy to use, it also provides you with engagement data such as how many clicks your content encouraged; how many retweets you got; and the number of impressions the tweet received. That’s really useful information if you’re trying to work out what messaging strategies work best, meaning you can replicate or use the same approach again.

2. Crowdbooster (Founded: 2010)

Crowdbooster is another Twitter scheduling service working on the same principles as Buffer App. However, what it also does is tell you who your most influential followers are as well as the people who retweet you the most. It also provides a bubble graph which allows you to see quite clearly what tweets have been working well for you and who is engaging most with your social messaging.

A neat little feature with Crowdbooster is that it tells you who you should be interacting with, using Klout scores to determine users’ influence. That’s quite handy if you’re concerned with your own influence scores.

3. TwentyFeet (Founded: 2010)

As a self-described ‘ego-tracking’ tool, TwentyFeet allows you to track your influence across multiple platforms, including Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Google Analytics, Bit.ly, and that oldie most people have forgotten about, MySpace. It works by aggregating metrics such as the number of followers your accounts gain or lose; the replies you receive; and the number of times you are listed etc. All of this information is charted on graphs, which allows you to track quite accurately how changes in your messaging or temporal activity affects your user engagement.

Perhaps what really sets TwentyFeet apart is the fact that you can actually see who has stopped following you, allowing you to assess how well you are catering to your target niche.

4. CubeSocial (Founded: 2011)

Designed with businesses in mind, CubeSocial is a social management platform which enables teams of marketers to monitor conversations about their brand online, by setting up search filters and also tracking where a brand’s target audience is hanging out. For instance, it tells you what percentage of your contacts are active on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn and several others. You can also use tags to segment your contacts which allows you to tweak your brand messaging accordingly.

In common with the tools listed above, CubeSocial also allows you to schedule your messages across multiple networks, but its unique selling point is the fact that you can assign tasks to team members within your organisation, making your social strategy much more workable.

There are a growing number of tools out there, each of which offers its own unique functionality. I’d be interested to hear about your favourite platforms and why you think they are simply awesome.

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By Adam Cowlishaw