Talk It Up!

HootSuite users: how to see all your RTs

HootSuite users can not currently see all their reTweets. Here is how to make sure you are covered.

I discovered something interesting this week: my favorite social media management app, HootSuite, doesn't have the capacity to show all of an account's reTweets.

The skinny: HootSuite doesn't show native Twitter RTs

This week, I noticed that my Boxcar iPhone app was showing me more reTweets than HootSuite. I contacted HootSuite and was informed that HootSuite will show your Mention stream, the same stream as if you viewed the @username tab at Twitter.com. However, any RTs that are made directly from Twitter will not appear in this stream.

Where in HootSuite do they appear? Nowhere, it seems. From the HootSuite team:

There is currently no way to see who retweeted your tweets in HootSuite with the new RT style in twitter. You can only see which tweets were re-tweeted by going to your sent tweets. If a tweet was re-tweeted, it will say so underneath the tweet in your sent tweets stream.

You will only see a Re-Tweet in your mentions stream if the tweet was re-tweeted in the "classic" style. This means that the person re-tweeted the tweet, and selected "classic" style, so that the tweet appeared as RT @yourname.

What's odd is that while HootSuite claims the Mentions stream is exactly what users see on their Twitter.com @username tab, when I check the @username tab on Twitter.com, it is actually now showing everything that I see in Boxcar: all the RTs, mentions and even when someone has favorited a Tweet:

Five RTs, one mention and one favorite. By contrast, here is that same time period on the HootSuite Mentions stream:

Three RTs, period.

The quick fix: use Boxcar to see all mentions and RTs

Since HootSuite doesn't yet have the capability to show native Twitter RTs, here is what I recommend until they do: Boxcar is a fantastic app that will track and notify you whenever you have a mention, reTweet or when someone has favorited a Tweet, no matter the method. Install Boxcar on your smartphone to make sure that you are properly thanking everyone who reTweets you, even those that aren't shown in your HootSuite feed:

Until HootSuite adds the capacity to show the entire Mentions stream, use Boxcar to make sure you don't miss anything. Anyone else have good fixes for this?

Five steps to Twitter engagement for small business

Why should my small business be on Twitter? It doesn't help my business to say "I'm at the mall having a sandwich."

These days, it's unusual to hear this objection, since Twitter has reached a mainstream adoption level. Personally, I find this refreshing and wish I heard this objection more often. Instead, what social media consultants will hear is, "I need to be on Twitter. How do I do that?"

Tweet

The answer to both objections is a question: I don't know. What are your small business' marketing objectives? And that is followed quickly by another question: where are your customers?

Step 1: Establish marketing objectives

There is no point to initiating any marketing campaign without solid objectives. What would you say to someone who says, "I need to be on a fax machine. How do I do that?" Twitter, like a fax machine, is a communication tool that serves the needs of its master. Or rather, its master's goals.

And "getting more followers" isn't a goal because it carries no inherent benefit, just as "sending a fax" isn't a marketing goal. To whom? For what purpose? To what end? Sending a Tweet with no goal is like sending a fax to a random 10-digit phone number; it's pointless.

A few sample marketing goals that might carry a benefit, especially for a local small business:

• Increase awareness of the organization's charity efforts
• Increase attendance to a particular event
• Build customer loyalty
• Build personal relationships within the community
• Establish our organization as a thought leader in X category
• Increase foot traffic to a specific store or set of locations
• Provide immediate customer service
• Establish a channel for crisis communications
• Establish a loyal user focus group for product development

Step 2: Marketing research

Before initiating ongoing participation and engagement through any new social media tool, organizations must first determine where their fans and customers are gathering. In short, it's important to fish where the fish are. To determine if local content enthusiasts and experts are actively engaged on Twitter, begin by doing Twitter bio keyword searches with a series of keywords. FollowerWonk allows for easy searches of Twitter bios with the option to search by city/location.

For example, if a Seattle green construction company is considering reaching out to the Twittersphere, the marketing research would entail tracking down Twitter bios with the keywords Seattle, green, construction, building, environment, sustainable to get a feel for the number and influence level of both individuals and organizations participating in related discussions via Twitter.

If those searches turn up a level of active accounts engaging the public on these topics, it's a sign that the Twittersphere is likely a viable channel for a local green construction company to achieve some of its marketing and PR goals.

Step 3: Monitor key influencers

The next step is to follow and monitor the influencers discovered in the first phase of research with the goal of gaining insight into the type of content that is most relevant to key influencers and followers within the local green building community. Which conversations generate long threads? Which posts get reTweeted the most often? Which hashtags and Twitter chats are the most active? In this phase, the organization should:

• Follow relevant accounts and follow new accounts daily (be more concerned about who you are following rather than who is following you--this is your information stream)
• Track and monitor relevant hashtags
• Track and follow relevant lists
• Begin building Twitter list of key influencers

Step 4: Develop content strategy

Armed with information on the dynamics of the relevant community on Twitter, the organization can now develop a realistic and relevant content strategy for posting content on a regular basis. And a quick note: it's okey to insert some personality into a corporate Twitter account. Let's not forget that Twitter is for people with common interests to connect, so it's perfectly acceptable to be personable.

Step 5: Measure, rinse, repeat

Content creation and community engagement is an ongoing process. It's less important to have the perfect content right from the start but rather to use tools to analyze metrics for ongoing analysis of the most relevant and engaging content. HootSuite, my favorite free tool, provides fantastic analytics as to which links gained the most clickthroughs and which Tweets were referenced and reTweeted most frequently.

Tweriod is also useful for determining the best time of day to Tweet based on your followers' online availability. I recently posted an analysis of my own Tweet timing using Tweriod. Your metrics will tell you if your content and conversations are relevant and if you are ultimately reaching your marketing goals, and they will also tell you how to redirect if the current strategy isn't working as well as you'd hoped.

To sum up, Twitter isn't a set-it-and-forget-it tool. As with any social media tool, it requires a level of strategy for content and for ongoing participation and engagement. What would you add to the four steps?

More info: Twitter basics and best practices link database is here

The best time of day to Tweet

Testing Tweriod to discover the most follower-heavy times of day to Tweet

This week, I tried out a tool that was new to me--Tweriod. It's a diagnostic tool that determines when most of your followers are online to help you choose the optimum times of day to Tweet for best exposure and engagement.

It's a pretty simple tool, although the analysis takes a day or two. It turns out that most of my followers are online between 1:00 and 4:00 PM on weekends and 2:00-3:00 PM and 4:00-6:00 PM on weekdays.

Weekdays:

 

The combined chart:

Conclusions:

This last bit of information is actually quite helpful, as I've never been sure when is the best time to schedule content to post over the weekend. I do schedule posts for the weekends, and I usually set them for 10:00 or 11:00 AM, thinking that some folks sleep late and then check their feeds. I've been following Tweriod's weekend diagnostics for the last week, and I'm seeing more RTs and mentions during that time frame. Huzzah for using metrics to inform content post timing!

Where to post your status

This graphic illustrating which social network is best for which type of posting was all over Facebook yesterday. It seems like all the social media geeks and a few non-SM-geeks got a chuckle over the logic that was all too accurate. My favorite qualifying questions:

1. Do you want anyone to see it? ("No" response leads to Google+--ouch!)
2. Is it boring? ("Yes" response leads to LinkedIn. Again, ouch!)

However, as a follow up to the Google+ owie above, Chris Abraham has written an information-packed post on why it makes sense to use Google+. Abraham reports that Google+ was rushed out early as a response to Twitter cutting off access to Google for search results. The big benefit to using Google+, he reports, is search results:

For anyone that really cares about being part of search, anyone who cares even a little bit about Google’s search hegemony, there’s another benefit to participating in Google+:  search priority, search timeliness and search relevance.

As for the LinkedIn boring rule? Sorry can't help there--LinkedIn is for the run-of-the-mill stuff in my book.

5 years on Twitter - thoughts on the 140-character lifestyle

It's been five years--and the Tweet goes on

Hat tip to Dan York for inspiring me to write this post. Turns out he and I have the same TwBirthday; we both started Twitter five years ago today, on October 24, 2006.

Tweet

Dan of course remembers the day and date due to his high level of geek cred. I remember because a 'bot reminded me.

In 2006, I was stamping my geek feet in annoyance that I hadn't been able to get to SXSW, where Twitter hit the scene and I wasn't lucky enough to be among the first cool kids to try it out. But, since my gateway drug to social media was podcasting, a field in which I became entrenched in early 2005, I heard about Twitter on my then- and still-favorite social media and PR podcast, For Immediate Release.

Shel and Neville made it sound interesting, so I created an account with Chris Brogan as my godfather and took a stab at Tweeting. Brilliant it wasn't: "Trying out Twitter. I don't get it."

Since then, a lot has changed about how I use Twitter. At that time, I remember saying that I didn't believe I could really follow and consume content from more than about 200 people at a time. As Twitter exploded, that idea changed, and filters were created.

Following, Filtering and Conversion

Now, I have a policy of following people that I meet or strangers who follow but whose content is interesting. I do open HootSuite and check my feeds every day, but under the veil of a few filters. I check the main feed rarely; I've set up lists on my personal account of my favorite social media Tweeters and of my Seattle Tweeps. We all stay very busy, so Twitter is where I have conversations with people that I only get to see in person once a month or better. Here is an example: I rarely get to see the awesome developer goodness that is my friend Sasha, since we both work for startups, but look at this great two-way conversation from this morning:

The transition to widespread use of Twitter has been fascinating. In 2007 up through last year, I would still often hear the defensive: "I don't Twitter. I don't see the point." And then, grudgingly, even my dear friend and last Twitter holdout created an account just last week with the purchase of a new iPhone. His curmudgeonly excuse? "The iPhone 4s really wants you to Tweet."

How I use Twitter today

These days, I use Twitter in a few different ways. Yes, I use it for real conversations. I use it to bookmark interesting articles and videos that aren't quite blog-worthy. I use it to express solidarity with causes and outrage at events. I use it to crowdsource presentations and talks (just did this last week, in fact). I use it to help others find jobs, provide customer service and to get an afternoon chuckle. I use it to catalogue both joy and pain. I use it to solidify friendships, share photos and establish clients as information resources.

Over the past few years, I've written a bit on Best and Worst Practices for Twitter:

Twitter Best Practices

Best Practices for Twitter, Part 1

Best Practices for Twitter, Part Deux

Best Practices for Twitter, Part 3: Twittering Your Brand

Best Practices for Twitter, Part 4: Rules of the Repeat Tweet 

Twitter Worst Practices

Don't Be a Self-Serving Jerk

Don't Be This Guy

How Not to Do Customer Service on Twitter

But really, it comes down to this: Twitter has proven to be a great tool for staying in touch, catching news and stimulating conversation in a world that is just too busy. Whether I'm using it for business or posting photos of the French toast I just ordered, it's a way for me to stay connected with friends and thought leaders alike.

Topsy real time search

For monitoring: Topsy, a real-time search tool

In the realm of free monitoring tools, Topsy is head and shoulders above Twitter search. More sophisticated information, more analytics and more options for narrowing searches. Plus a great tool for social media marketers: the ability to find the key influencers on a topic at a glance!

Topsy launched as a real-time search engine in 2009. While the focus is on microblogging sites such as Twitter, the site also evaluates Tweeted links while considering the influence level of the person citing the link. For real-time search on a developing topic, such as a hot hashtag or a live conference, Topsy is a nifty little tool. It's even referenced in Twitter's official guide for journalists as a tool for researching news topics!

What's different about Topsy is that it gives preference to Tweets posted by influential Tweeters. In this case, "influential" means Twitter accounts that are reTweeted or mentioned with a higher level of frequency.

Sample search

I did a quick search on the #Blogwell hashtag, having recently attended the event. At a glance, the weighted preference for influential Tweets rang true:

The Experts Tab

In the left sidebar, the Experts tab shows influential Tweeters whose posts about the topic are often cited. This is an incredibly valuable tool for marketers and a speedy way to determining the most influential posters on a topic or hashtag at a glance.

Sample Analytics

Interestingly, Topsy provides some valuable analytics. I tested it out with a hashtag we track at Spoken Communications. We provide cloud call center applications, and I blog, comment and Tweet a substantial amount of content surrounding customer service, call centers and IVRs. So I did a quick search for a common Twitter call center hashtag, #cctr. 

The analytics box in the right sidebar provides daily, weekly, monthly and all time analytics for mentions  of the search query term. Interestingly, the term #cctr tends to spike at 8:00 AM and secondarily around noon to 1:00 PM. The valleys (not surprisingly) are on Saturdays, with Sunday evening growing to peak volume on Mondays.
The pattern is repeated relatively consistently every week:

In terms of content creation, these analytics would provide insight that for this hashtag, Monday through Wednesday at 8:00 AM is the best time to post content. Analytics such as these are a great way to test timing for new content.

Has anyone else tried Topsy? What are your experiences? Is there a real time search tool you prefer?

Why I will never believe that Twitter is a waste of time

Why I will never believe that Twitter is a waste of time: because connections and community build great things

Thanks to Lee Aase for sharing this video.

When I meet people, I often hear the following confession: "I don't do Twitter." And it's just like that--a confession, as if I would somehow either stand up and walk out in a huff at their lack of social media enlightenment or spend the next hour convincing them of Twitter's innate benefits.

I don't do either, as it turns out. It's not like I'm an early investor in Twitter and stand to gain millions if we can just get one more user. I don't get a toaster every time I convert someone to the glories of 140-character updates.

I usually shrug and say, "OK. It's not for everyone." What follows is usually almost always a revelatory therapy session as to why the person fears Twitter, social media, wasting time or oversharing. I suspect that more often than not, even though all I do is sit and listen, conversion follows speedily.

Below is a story of one of the beautiful benefits of participating in social media in general and in Twitter in particular. Did the daughter join Twitter with the goal of getting her mom a kidney from a stranger? No. She joined to share updates with friends, family and concerned citizens. But the power of social media lies in the ability to tell truly human stories and make truly human connections.

While events of this magnitude don't happen for everyone, I'm convinced that they can. Connections and community bring about amazing things. So go ahead. I dare you to tell this mother and daughter that Twitter is a waste of time.

 

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Bin Laden's takedown: message over medium

Twitter won't change the world. But one citizen Tweeter providing news about the Bin Laden takedown did grow the biggest story of the year

Twitter is a unique tool in that it is one part word of mouth, one part citizen journalism, one part opinion column and one part breaking news. It's not news that Twitter is used to break news. It is still news when Twitter users act as primary sources for events that are far beyond the reach of journalists.

Mashable reported that last night's Bin Laden announcement had the highest sustained Tweet rate ever, an average of 3,440 Tweets per second over the span of last night's events. At the event's peak, there were over 5,000 Tweets flying per second, more than even during the SuperBowl.

Last night, Twitter user Sohaib Athar (@reallyvirtual) unwittingly became a primary source for the Bin Laden takedown event when he reported helicopters in the area of Abbottabad:

This situation is unique because of the dearth of firsthand accounts of the event by news agencies. Athar reports on the lack of power in the area, indicating that there is only power available for communication six hours out of 24. Before journalists knew, before most citizens knew what was going on, Athar was innocently reporting live from the scene.

And without reporters on the ground, news agencies apparently bombarded the citizen Twitter user with requests for interviews and information into the wee hours of the night:

Currently, Athar has over 56,000 followers.

I have written that while Twitter is a powerful tool, it does not cause social change. People and the actions they take are the source of social change. However, in a world in which communication is scarcely powered and primary sources are rare, Twitter is a powerful tool for citizen journalists who may not have access to any other medium; in fact, Athar reports that he doesn't even have a television. In an isolated location with few news sources on site, one lone Tweeter can indeed make and break a powerful news story.

That being said, while this Twitter user proved to be an invaluable source for American news agencies hungry for information, it wasn't the only medium for spreading the news. For example, do you know how I heard the news? I was in the midst of a two-hour aqua workout, no iPhone around. And yet, as I stretched in the hot tub afterwards, a fellow gym-mate asked if I'd heard the news.

Yes, that's right. The biggest Twitter event of 2011, and I heard it from a live person. Good, old-fashioned word of mouth. The story carried because it had power; Twitter was merely an extremely useful tool for relaying the real-time story. The message is more powerful than the medium.

Social CRM: Managing Online Relationships

Had a great time at Huzzah's Wappow event this afternoon! One thing I do love about the world of social media is that it is ever-changing. Every time I go to present the basics, Facebook or Twitter have changed in some essential way that requires a bit of finesse from the online manager.

The most substantial update to this deck: profile or page? With Facebook's recent updates to add more facilitation, notifications and profile-like features to brand pages, the advantages to having a page versus a profile alone have shifted. The quick rundown:

Benefits of Brand Page

• Your name is positioned as a brand entity
• Capacity for multiple administrators
• Access to analytics
• Ability to message over 5,000 fans simultaneously
• Ability to capture unique ID with over 50 fans

Drawbacks of Page vs. Profile

• Friends can't friend you
• Friends can't tag photos of you
• Friends can't invite you to events
• Lack of desire to friend a brand
• Page mesages go to a separate, oft-neglected inbox

In the end, I would generally believe that it's a good idea to have a personal profile so that you can make your presence known at events, friend new business contacts, and have your photos tagged when you attend industry events. Likewise, the brand should also have a page with a strategized presence that can easily interact with fans.

Social CRM: Managing online relationships

View more presentations from Heidi Miller

Twitter isn't social? Is, too!

There is something I need for all of you to do right now. Sit down, take a deep breath, and get over the fact that Twitter is useful.

Tweet

I don't know about you, but I'm really tired of the articles shouting that Twitter is dead, that Twitter is an echo chamber or that Twitter controversies are storms in teacups.

As with any other tool, Twitter is what you make it. I'm sure I can find a study that says that fax machines are dead, but that doesn't mean that most offices don't still have one somewhere. And I can use a teaspoon to plow a field, but that doesn't mean it's the best tool for the job. For many users, especially those with affinity to certain groups and a certain type of social exchange and/or marketing goal, Twitter is a valuable social networking tool.

Twitter is indeed social.

Here is what I'm reacting to: Econsultancy recently interpreted the results of a Yahoo! study with the title Twitter isn't very social.The study reviewed 260 million tweets sent on Twitter between July 28, 2009 and March 8, 2010 containing bit.ly-shortened URLs. Additional findings:

• A whopping 50% of all content consumed on Twitter is generated by only 20,000 users.
• Individuals on Twitter follow back far less than they're followed.
• There's significant fragmentation on Twitter. In other words, "Celebrities listen to celebrities, while bloggers listen to bloggers."

First, since Twitter usage changes daily and has shifted dramatically in the last year, I wonder how relevant these results are. Social networking is a fast-paced world, and a study from a year ago doesn't reflect how users actually use the service in 2011. In 2010, Econsultancy reported that 27 million Tweets flew through the Twittersphere each day, and in 2011, the number is 95 million Tweets per day. With a growth rate of 250%, it seems likely that the way participants use Twitter might have shifted in 12 months as well. And annoyingly, it's difficult to determine how many of those 95 million daily Tweets translate to active users at this point.

Additionally, on the second two points, I find those norms to reflect appropriate social networking. I follow about one-third to one-half as many people as follow me; that still leaves thousands of users pushing data into my stream. I follow back those that are relevant to me; following back less is a sign of appropriate content filtering and should be applauded, not criticized as less than fully social. No one interacts with every single human being who interacts with her on a tit-for-tat basis.

As for segmentation, doesn't that also reflect a natural social tendency? Humans flock to those like us who cover similar topics and content. Interacting with those with whom you feel an affinity is social behavior. And here's a fun statistic: social media users are even more likely to be active in a social group: 82% of social network users and 85% of Twitter users are group participants. Of course social media users are social in a way that reflects their priorities and preferred topics.

In short, get over the fact that while some people just use Twitter to update their location and current activity, there is a percentage of users for whom Twitter is actually useful. I've used Twitter to:

• Find a job
• Help others find a job
• Pass on contract work
• Promote NFP events
• Find a coffee buddy while traveling
• Find a power charger while traveling
• Conduct a poll
• Find people to speak French with
• Be snarky
• Pass on joyful moments
• Warn others of traffic delays
• Share last-minute event changes
• Get blog post ideas
• Complain about/praise customer service
• Find studies related to Facebook usage
• Solve an HMTL coding issue
• Get a ride home
• Document breaking news

Those tasks reflect social behavior (and some marketing behavior); it just so happens that Twitter is a valuable tool for conversing in these situations. For some, Twitter might not be the right tool for their purposes, but that doesn't mean that Twitter isn't a valuable part of the social web. It means that users have preferences for socializing. Welcome to humanity.

Does social media heighten or hinder the event experience?

Does Twittering an event heighten or hinder the experience?

Recently, I attended an event over the border in Canada. Since AT&T charges an arm and a leg for both roaming phone and data service, I put my iPhone in airplane mode and hoped to rely on wifi for Twitter and Google Maps access.

However, apparently the wifi in Canada is different, because I wasn't able to connect to any of the public wifi networks available, either.

Uh oh. I'm at an event with no way to Tweet it. Whatever will I do? Does the unTweeted event exist?

In spite of the mild teasing I got for my internet addiction, I will report that experiencing an event without the opportunity to Tweet, process and bookmark key moments changed the experience for me.

Some say that reporting an event detracts from the experience of the event itself, and I don't entirely disagree with that sentiment. As an avid podcaster, there is definitely a difference from an event that I simply plan to attend and enjoy versus an event for which I have the goal of capturing audio. Having an information-collection goal does change the event for the reporter in a variety of ways, including:

• the choice of sessions to attend, with the focus being on what the podcast or blog audience would enjoy versus what *I* might enjoy
• "in the hall" moments are focused on capturing key interviews instead of on organic conversation and serendipity
• coffee and dinner breaks are strategized around deepening conversations with possible interviews instead of random chance

This isn't to say that a reporting POV is entirely unpleasant; however, it does come with a differen goal, focus and drive than the luxury of attending as a participant only.

So when attending an event as a participant, does Tweeting the event change the focus for the participant in that same way, creating more of a reporter mentality at the expense of spontaneity?

In my experience, this wasn't the case. I actually did feel a lack of spontaneity due to the absence of Twitter. See, at live events, I use Twitter to bookmark the key moments as they happen: those moments that are never as funny in the retelling after, but that are of value precisely because they are happening right now with the people who are right here. Without that documentation, the moments happen; they pass; they are done.

It's the difference between Tweeting a funny OH at a party and then trying to describe the party afterwards. Inevitably, I'll revert to a generic summary statement such as, "Oh, it was a good event. Lots of good people, great conversation. I learned a lot." This is vastly different from Tweets such as these that truly capture the moment as it is happening:

There is also value to documentation in terms of deepening the experience for the documenter. That is, the practice of actually taking notes or going to the effort to select a relevant tidbit of information from the fire hose, refine it to 140 characters and share it with the world forwards the experience for the poster. In a way, bullet-pointing Tweets during an event is a way of live-action information processing that might not happen after the fact. In much the same way that I get more out of a talk when I take notes than when I don't, I find I get more out of an event when I Tweet than when I don't.

Twittering an event is a way of processing the information so that it will be more readily cemented in the mind of the poster. So to those who frown at my HootSuite and say, "Just relax and listen," I say, "This is how I learn."

People, not Twitter, make a revolution

Does Libya need Twitter?

Tweet

During this period of change and protest Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Iran, Algeria, Yemen and Bahrain, observers have noted the role that social media has played in facilitating both communication for protesters and providing news sources for journalists. In the quest for flashy headlines, it's possible that some have given Twitter and Facebook a tad too much credit for engendering political change.

Dean Takahashi in Social Beat claims that the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt were "set off by social media" and notes Twitter and Facebook's uses as "tools of the revolution." Takahashi concludes:

If social media has ever had its greatest moment, it’s now. It shows that the power of the network effect can work in political revolutions just as it does in other parts of our lives.

Interestingly, NPR reported that in Libya, anti-Gadhafi activists have taken to using a Muslim dating site to communicate, passing coded messages back and forth to each other. Because the Libyan secret police monitor common internet sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, the activists were forced to find another platform for communication. Enter the Mawada dating site: what a democracy uses for coffee dates, those under dictators use for revolution.

Notice here that bloggers and journalists aren't rushing to label that phenomenon "the Mawada Revolution" to succeed "the Twitter Revolution"? Perhaps our love of social tools such as Twitter and Facebook are leading us to give too much credit to the tools rather than the craftsman. Recently, since repressive governments are hip to Twitter and Facebook as communication tools for populist political communications, activists are finding alternate methods of communication, such as the creative idea of communicating via a common dating site. Where once the use of Twitter during government crackdowns was news, now a dating site is providing the newest social media platform for communication in times of unrest.

And while I find it fascinating at the creativity of sending coded messages through a dating site, let's get some perspective and credit the activists here, not the tool.

This shows that the platforms, while useful and innovative, aren't revolutionary. What is astounding--and astoundingly consistent--in the tales of political change we've seen over the last few years is the extraordinary human capacity to find a platform for communication, no matter the restrictions.

Malcolm Gladwell criticized the gloating Twitter aficionados, saying

But surely the least interesting fact about them is that some of the protesters may (or may not) have at one point or another employed some of the tools of the new media to communicate with one another... People with a grievance will always find ways to communicate with each other. How they choose to do it is less interesting, in the end, than why they were driven to do it in the first place.

Yes, the use of Twitter and Facebook to facilitate political change is interesting. Let's just not forget that behind every Twitter account is a human being seeking to express him- or herself.

How to create a Twitter news bot

Sometimes, you just need a robot: Twitter automation tool

I've been playing with dlvr.it, an online app for automatically delivering content to your social web. Of course, I'm a fan of posting interesting links with personal commentary, and that is always my first choice. However, one of the downsides of being a social media practitioner is that, when things get going, you have less time to spend on your own social media presence. The time commitment of remaining constantly connected can be overwhelming.

So maybe a 'bot isn't that bad. Dlvr.it is a service that will automatically deliver content to your social web, including Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr. "Content" is defined as anything with a feed, including your blog RSS, but what I'm finding useful is the ability to post specified items in a Google Alert to Twitter and Facebook.

So I tried it out for the Spoken Communications Twitter feed, something that benefits from more timely updates than my current schedule allows. I already have a Google Alert set for the keyword "IVR," so I just grabbed the feed and set is as a source, directing it to post to Spoken's Twitter feed.

The most useful aspect of dlvr.it is the capacity to schedule the pull from the feed, so that new items are spaced out over the day. For examle, I asked for items to be posted every three hours with a maximum of 12 items daily:

Each post is tagged with #IVR; I recently added the tag "news" as well to acknowledge that these Tweets are part of a news feed:

So far, the #IVR news Tweets haven't seen a great deal of response in terms of mentions and reTweets. As I play with the feed content and scheduling, I will report back on the engagement success of the tool.

For a more detailed tutorial on how to set up a dlvr.it feed, check out this awesome video by Troy Janisch at Social Meteor on using Dlvr.it to create a Twitter news bot:

How about you? Has anyone else tried dlvr.it? What tricks did you use to earn the best engagement and provide the most value to your followers?

Twitter vs. Phone vs. Web: the Customer Service Smackdown

How does Twitter stack up against phone and web as a channel for resolving customer service issues?

Tweet

Fortune has just published an article with the provocative title, Can I help you? On Twitter, the answer is no. In an interesting customer service experiment, the editors contacted eight different companies with different yet typical customer service requests using different modes of contact to see which was most effective in resolving the issue.

The companies: Zappos, Delta, Rubbermaid, Hyatt, Dell, Microsoft, Comcast, Bank of America

The issues: relevant to each, from finding a hotel in Nebraska to shipping three golden retrievers on a plane. However, for the most part, the issues were not standard ones; they didn't fall within the 80% of customer service questions that can easily be answered with the company FAQ. In short, the experiment was geared towards how the company dealt with non-standard, unusual customer service requests--the 20% that require a human touch and a little extra attention. That is, they did not ask Delta airlines if there was a gate change or if the flight was late, which would definitely have fallen within the 80% of typical questions asked and would probably have been shown different results.

The results: I'd encourage you to read the entire article, but the quickest response times were through the phone, followed by the web form. The experiment found that Twitter was typically slower and less effective at resolving the issues posed.

Does this mean Twitter isn't a good tool for customer service?

To me, the result weren't surprising and were even a bit validating--coming from a company that provides virtual call center and IVR services, it's refreshing to see that the phone is still the most effective resolution path for complex consumer customer service issues. However, the results also don't prove in any way that Twitter isn't an effective communication channel for customer service. They show that Twitter isn't the most effective communication channel for this type of customer service.

First, as I pointed out earlier, for the 80% type of questions, Twitter would undoubtedly have fared differently. Second, and more relevant, being the fastest and most effective doesn't necessarily matter to consumers. What matter is which method lies within the consumers' comfort zone in terms of communciation channels.

Pick a channel Look at it this way: for years, I've been telling people that to get a response from a company, they must write a letter. Calls don't cut it when it's a serious, complicated issue. However, most folks never take my advice because their preferred communication channel is the telephone. Asking them to shift to a different communication channel, even if it's proven to be faster and more effective, isn't worth the effort within their busy day.

Where the customers are Therein lies the value of social networks such as Twitter and Facebook as communication channels: they might not be the absolutely most effective, but it's where the consumers are. Even if the service request takes a bit longer or requires a bit more effort, it's still a win for the consumer, because he doesn't have to shift activities and pick up the phone or fill out a web form. It's a matter of giving the consumer the chance to stay within her comfort zone.

The personal touch Third, Twitter allows for at least the illusion of a personal touch in the customer service interaction. For each Twitter account mentioned, there is a person with a real voice behind it. A website or IVR interaction do not hold the promise in the consumer's mind of a personal interaction, even if the reality is that the agents behind the web form and phone interactions might be well-trained, helpful and incredibly friendly. Twitter feels like you're interacting with a human being, and most consumers do not feel that calling a company IVR will give them that personal exchange. In reality, the level of personal attention does vary widely based on the company's corporate culture, but that's the perception.

In conclusion, as I've stated before, Twitter won't fix your bad customer service. However, it is a channel that will allow you a level of interaction with your consumers. And studies have shown that users prefer to choose their own communication channel, so corporations would be well advised to have a presence across all channels, not just phone and web. And if engagement with your users is part of your corporate culture, social tools such as Twitter shouldn't be ignored.

Cross-posted from the Spoken Communications blog

2010 in Tweets

Tweet

Yes, I'm a sucker for the end-of-year navel-gazing social media infographics. I admit it. But I can stop any time I want. :-)

Want a word cloud of your year in Tweets or Facebook status updates? You can even get it on a mug or tee-shirt (although I'm not sure why you'd want that).

And now I can't help but wonder: did I really mention Foursquare THAT much?