If you’re following us on twitter (@MicroProPCShop) you will know that we’re making a casual appearance at the #irishbizparty and #m50bizhub (on odd nights & mornings). If you didn’t, then we’d suggest you to get on it, get following and start tweeting. That’s where the business networking now, and thanks to the both parties we have gained a lot of relevant leads, connections and gained new friends.
Twitter app are also very handy in setting the filters to help you find customers relative to your business. Say you’re selling… flowers! Maybe there’s someone looking for flowers in your area. Well, just try putting in words like ‘flowers’ and ‘dublin’ (if you’re in Dublin) and see if anyone is looking for those. And you can even save this search result on Twitter to get notifications every time anyone is looking for flowers. Try it out with different keywords. Sure, you can even geo-search it – but that’s another story. Let me know if you want to hear it.
So. Tools. Let’s see the pro’s and cons of some of these.
1. Twitter (Web based & App)
You can always use Twitter in your browser. Just go to twitter.com. It’s handy – because you can check it everywhere. However, if you want to apply the filters I told you about and follow all the Twitter networking parties around it could get overwhelming. You’d really have to open new tabs for answers & updated filters. Loading old messages is quite slow and if you’re using it on the phone it doesn’t always display all the messages related to the Twitter parties – so you’ll be missing out.
2. TweetDeck (http://tweetdeck.com/)
his is really the best tool I have tried – for both Mac & PC. The interface is extremely appealing (especially if you set it to ‘Dark’ in the settings). You can add extra columns for your searches & Twitter party hashtags to it. And I particularly enjoy the subtle ‘beep’ sound when you get a notification on a new message from it. You can also set a notification for your filters. So, if anyone tweets about ‘flowers in Dublin’ you will get a subtle ‘beep’. It’s very neat and I have been using it for over three years myself.
It’s extremely intuitive, easy to start you going and free!
3. MetroTwit (http://www.metrotwit.com/)
A wonderful app – especially if you have upgraded to Windows 8 and you’re looking for a good Twitter app for your new Operating System. It works on the same principle as TweetDeck: you can add multiple columns and search results to it. You’ll get a pop-up notification if someone mentions your name or any of the filtered keywords. On the downside: you can only add one Twitter account to it. On the upside: when you’re typing a tweet and you type in a hashtag it will auto-suggest the most relevant hashtags of the moment. Way to make the Tweet relevant!
4. HootSuite (https://hootsuite.com/)
This was the first app I tried to install on an iPad I had. It was great for a while because I could utilize it in a similar way as TweetDeck on my laptop. However, I find it quite tedious that both the mobile and browser apps don’t have an automatic refresh option. This is especially frustrating during #irishbizparty when the tweets are coming at 100 per second (dramatic but not far exaggeration) and you can’t find where you’ve started from.
Also the layout is not what I particularly enjoy. But, on the upside: you can add all other social networks to it. You’ll get a feed for you Facebook and Google Plus accounts if you want to. A one-stop-shop Social management.
A lot of Social Media pros are also using HootSuite for analytics. And these could be a lot of fun & a handy marketing tool. Although they do come under a Premium Paid version. Make sure you spend your penny only if you know how you could use the data you get from analytics. Otherwise it’s not going to be particularly worth it.
In a nutshell
There are plenty more apps that I have tried out – but the ones above I find to be most effective if you’re planning on taking part in Twitter networking events or want to get notifications on certain search terms, or even delve into analytics. So,
Twitter web/iPhone – if you just want simple Twitter view and you don’t have problems following conversations. The Mac app for Twitter is also handy for a single account with minimum interactions
TweetDeck – if you want to take your interaction to the next level and apply multiple filters and search terms, get notification (for Mac & PC)
MetroTwit – your best Windows-based Twitter buddy with all of the TweetDeck features
HootSuite – for advanced analytics & additional Social Media Accounts.
Hope this has been helpful. If you have any questions or any comments – let me know in the comments below. What Twitter app do you use and why? Would you like to get more ‘Twitter for business’ updates?
Alex
MicroPro Computers