In July this year, Twitter released its version of Analytics – for tweets. What was previously available only for advertisers and publishers to determine the performance of their tweets is now available to all Twitter users. The only limitations are that the Twitter account:
- Must be at least 14 days old
- Is not restricted, suspended, or protected
- Tweets must be in English, Spanish, French or Japanese
To use the new dashboards, you need to have access to Twitter Ads or Twitter Analytics. Once you are logged in, you can choose from a variety of dashboards available.
While looking at the features of Twitter Analytics, we also looked for a few similar tools that help with the analysis of Twitter data. After reviewing about 50 such products, we identified two – Twitter Counter and Twitonomy. In the following lines, we take you through the features of the two tools in comparison with Twitter Analytics.
| Feature | Description | Twitter Analytics | Twitter Counter | Twitonomy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic Metrics | Tweets, Mentions, Retweets, Favorites, Followers, Following | |||
| Trend Overview | Charts depicting trends of metrics | |||
| Customizable Charts | Customize comparison between 2 different metrics | |||
| Metrics Comparison | Compare 2 different metrics | |||
| Worldwide Rank | Compare all the accounts in Twitter Universe and gives the rank for your account | |||
| New Followers / Unfollowers | Gives details of new accounts that have followed or unfollowed you recently | |||
| Scheduler | Feature to easily schedule your Twitter posts | |||
| My Retweets / Mentions | Retweets and Mentions you have done | |||
| Interactions | The time and day graph of activities that shows the time when the visitor interactions happen | |||
| Browser Plugin | Plugin to see some Twitter Counter stats in your Twitter Account | |||
| Twitter Mail | Feature to post Twitter posts via mail | |||
| ProfileChecker | Health check of the profile with action items | |||
| CompareAccounts | Compare the metrics between your account and competitor’s | |||
| My Tracker | Tracks Tweets on specific keyword of your choosing | |||
| My Widget | A widget to showcase your recent followers | |||
| My Buttons | A widget to showcase your current total followers | |||
| Auto Follow | Feature that automatically follows influencers to increase your standing | |||
| Get Followers | Features your account in the top rankings page to get more followers for a cost | |||
| Statistics (Another Account) | One time payment for statistics for competitor’s account | |||
| Word Cloud | Words by frequency in Tweets related to the brand | |||
| Sentiment Analysis | Positive or negative sentiments for the brand | |||
| Details of Individual Tweets | Tweet, author, sentiment and date | |||
| Reach | Influencers who interacted with your account | |||
| URLs | URLs tweeted in the tweet | |||
| Twitter Universe Stats | Gives metrics for overall Twitter (all accounts) | |||
| Link Clicks | How many clicks did the links in the Tweets receive? | |||
| Demographic of Followers | Location and gender of followers | |||
| Top Interests of Followers | Top interests of your followers | |||
| Other Followings | Others your followers follow | |||
| Install Attempts | Twitter cards keep track of every install attempt | |||
| Predictions | Predicts the number of new followers for up to a month |
1. Basic Metrics
The basic metrics are obviously available in all the tools and hence we have to look at the presentation. Out of the three tools, Twitter Counter is given a call out for its feature to compare metrics. For example, in Web Analytics, all analysts will know that it is not worthwhile to look just at the number of visits. It is better to look at it with other engagement metrics. Hence, in Twitter, it is wiser to look at the tweets with retweets, mentions, etc., to gauge their impact on your target audience. Twitter Counter gives a better idea of what level of interaction can be expected from you tweets. Given below is a screenshot of the comparison chart from Twitter Counter:
2. New Followers and Unfollowers
A part of the basic metrics is also the list of followers. Some tools like Twitter Counter also give unfollowers for the users’ understanding of where the account might be slipping. With this data, it is possible to know if it is your core followers or followers who just followed that are unfollowing you. It is a cause for concern if it is the former but not as much if latter. Furthermore, the list of new followers will give you an idea of where the account is heading and may also point out to posts under new topics previously not interesting to existing followers.
3. Interactions (Engagement Times)
We already discussed how interactions to your posts are important. Would it not be better to know when to tweet, to get the most out of your posts? If your posts are about celebrities, what is the best time to tweet them; during lunch-breaks or tea times? If it is about analytics, what is the best time? The start of the day when everybody is gearing up and the typical analytics team meets to discuss their tactical plans? These reports show how your current posts are doing with the interactions to them in terms of 24 hours, given over a span of the date range you choose. If you see consistent interactions for a specific time, you would know that it would be a starting point to post your tweets. Given below is a screenshot from Twitonomy:
4. Profile Checker
One feature that both Twitonomy and Twitter Counter boast is the Profile Checker. Would it not be good if an analysis were available that shows the current standing of your Twitter account, areas where it’s lagging and how to improve those areas? The Profile Checker does just that; a health-check of your Twitter profile. Below is from Twitter Counter:
5. Comparison of Accounts
So, looking at your accounts data is not enough? You want to take a peek at your competitors too? That’s nothing to worry about. Tools like Twitter Counter give you an option to add multiple Twitter profiles to the same analytics account and get a comparison of your different Twitter assets. You will also get an idea of how you competition is doing in terms of the same metrics as yours. They go the extra mile to compare them side to side!
6. Tweet Trackers
These features allow users to track tweets with keywords they are interested in. This keeps you from having to sift through thousands of posts to find ones helpful for you. Given is an example of how a tracker works:
7. Follower Profiling
Twitter Analytics gives you the basic details of your followers. Knowing the demographics, will help you reach your target better. Understanding new influencers and other people your followers follow will show how your industry is diversifying in terms of interests and updates. These will help you build better content and social media strategy.
8. Predictive Analytics
Twitter Analytics gives you the basic details of your followers. Knowing the demographics, will help you reach your target better. Understanding new influencers and other people your followers follow will show how your industry is diversifying in terms of interests and updates. These will help you build better content and social media strategy.
How is Analyzing Your Twitter Data Helpful?
These are just some of the important features to help you increase your following, improve follower responses and generally get a better visibility on Twitter. There are a lot of other features which will help you fine-tune your strategy in Twitter. Please check the comparison table given above. Also note that there are many good tools available out there, and just three are taken into consideration for the purpose of this article.
Social media marketing has become a necessary business strategy for engaging with people from all over the world. However, it is not enough to simply ‘do’ social media – you want to do it properly and successfully so that you can improve your reach, engagement, and ROI. The only way to do that is by analyzing your performance, identifying areas that need improvement and fine-tuning your efforts accordingly. You can do this effortlessly by using any of these tools.