How To Use Twitter For Business Competitive Intelligence
Posted by Jody Raines
Much has been said about Twitter over the last four years since it was created. Whether you like it or not, use it or not, you have to admit, that Social Media and the micro blog changed the way we get information, share information and communicate.
In fact, a recent article published in Information Week states: "Twitter has evolved into a major distributor of timely information, as opposed to a social network, making the microblogging site an oracle on the future of news, a recent study shows."
For the record, I agree that Twitter can be compared to the media, and I've often used that analogy as well. It is more social, but nonetheless, it is similar to a broadcast media but more powerful due to the word-of-mouth transformation that re-tweeting conveys to the 140 character micro blog statements.
In other blog articles, I've shared my thoughts about inbound marketing and using social media as a tool. The purpose of this article is very specific. This is a how-to that shares some real insight into using Twitter for competitive intelligence.
Why would you use Social Media for competitive intelligence? If you subscribe to the philosophy that "Twitter is a waste of time" or "I don't want to know what you had for lunch today", then clearly you are missing the power of this amazing tool. The wealth of info is truly better than any broadcast or website. If the broadcast stations are not monitoring Twitter, they are missing the boat!
Here's why I feel Twitter has changed the information landscape:
- Real time information
- Breaking news before the traditional media has the info
- If Twitter is set up properly, the information comes right to you!
If you aren't sure how to use Twitter, follow these step by step instructions, and you will be amazed at how much real info you can dig up on an industry, a company, or a person... Sometimes the info is more than they would want you to know!
1. Set up a Twitter account. To do this, go to Twitter.com. My suggestion - use your name or use your company name. Also, be sure to set up your profile and use your picture. You can even get a free background using Twitbacks.
2. Use a Twitter Client to set up your monitoring. There are three that I recommend:
Seesmic is a great platform... It's easy to use and it has some features that make it much easier than the Twitter interface. Loic LeMeur has made some terrific advances that make Seesmic a "Social Media" platform and not just a Twitter client. The ability to interface with multiple social media programs in one place with plug and play capability add to the value and future value of Seesmic as more than just a Twitter client.
Tweetdeck is a platform that is downloaded and which is resident on your computer. It's efficient, but its a memory hog, so if you are someone who typically opens a ton of windows and taxes the computers RAM, it may not be the best choice. That being said, Tweetdeck is still a favorite of many Tweeps because it has a reliable interface and it's easy to use.
Hootsuite has made some great changes and it enables multiple people to manage a Twitter account. I recommend Hootsuite for my corporate clients who want to have an account that can be accessed from multiple laptops and which can be manage by mulitple associates. It also has the advantage of interfacing with Facebook, MySpace and Linkedin in addition to Twitter.
All three platforms can handle multiple Twitter accounts and multiple columns. It's the column feature that you want to be sure to have available.
3. Create lists of people or companies that you want to follow. By dividing your Twitter stream into lists, you can easily follow and identify what is being discussed and seperate the relevant discussions from the 'noise'.
4. Create columns to follow your lists or to follow specific relevant keywords - whether you are interested in a brand or company or product - you'll learn what's happening with your targeted keyword or companies before the information hits the general public.
5. Use tools like Tweetscan to monitor what the conversation for relevent data or keywords, and have the information RSS fed to your inbox.
Keep your eyes open for new and improved Twitter and social media monitoring clients - case in point, Microsoft will introduce Spindex, a late entry into the market, but with the Microsoft name, this could be an important contender.
Overall, Twitter is one of the most powerful tools today for real time reporting and status updates. The strength of the collective input by the user community coupled with increases in popularity as well as improved search techniques make Twitter an invaluable ally in the competitive intelligence and business intelligence arsenal.
WebMarCom is an Internet strategy and Web Marketing Communications Agency based in South Jersey and Philadelphia.