Social Media

The 7 Phases of Twitter

This is a guest post by Matt Andaloro.

Twitter, the never-ending story.

It’s a platform I find myself pitching to my friends and family more and more, as it has increasingly become a platform that the general public has become more open to using on a regular basis.

As a result of this, people I know have been gradually joining this social media snowball.

Which, truth be known, is pretty exciting because it means this social network is simultaneously becoming more powerful in general, and more personally pertinent for myself.

Along with this, If I look at who I follow, I am able to see a snapshot of different people I know in various stages of their journey through the Twitterverse.

This has caused me to think about my own trip through Twitter and what I considered the evolution of my Twitter experience. After putting some serious (but not too strenuous) thought into my Twitter milestones, I found that I was able to break my entire experience into 7 distinct phases.

Phase 1: The Beginning

The beginning is literally where it all started for me, from the initial set-up, the choosing of that first (sexy) avatar, following several celebrities, news sources, and friends who are already on the platform. Then came the daunting task of sending my first tweet, which I CLEARLY put so much thought into:

This tweet was followed by several weeks equally as insightful tweets, until some combination of the novelty of this new toy wearing off, and a lack of understanding of the platform induced a dormant and update-less Twitter-state.

Phase 2: The Second Push

After the 10 month dormancy came my second push into Twitter. For whatever reason, maybe another social media account has asked me to link up my various accounts, or I was simply harassed by some people in the social sphere, interest was sparked again.

This time I started discovering many more interesting people to follow, and my Twitter feed began to become much more interesting (and more tailored to my tastes), and it began to dawn on me why Twitter is so? Magical.

To quote a friend on his own dawning moment he said:

When I was on Twitter and I saw a David Bowie Official tweet right below a CBC News tweet, and I thought to myself: Oh? I see why people love this.

Suffice it to say, I was hooked like many of those before me had been.

Phase 3: Learning How To Tweet

The quality of my tweets didn?t see any remarkable improvement in the first little while, mostly because I was sitting in front of my computer trying to sound insightful or make meaningful observations.

It wasn?t until I got Twitter on my phone and started relaying actual observations that I received my first non-gratuitous re-tweet!

It was a big day. Tears may have been shed.

From that point on, my tweets became less angst-y, and my thoughts were those that more than one person could share, as I learned more Twitter-oriented ways of expressing myself.

Phase 4 ? 5: Searching and Engaging

Phase 3 was arguably the longest phase of my Twitter experience, as I spent month after month content with my micro-blogging and my information ingestion.

One fateful day, however, I was scrolling through my Twitter feed, and I wanted to talk to someone and I realized that the amount of people I was following who would actually message me back was very low, so phase 4 became finding and following real people.

I started with Hamilton, Ontario, then searched for people from my University, and then drilled down even further to people in my classes trying to find anyone to interact with. Phase 5 then became actually reaching out to these new connections I?d formed and starting ?actual- conversations.

The results led to phase 6.

Phase 6 ? Twitter IRL

The people I started connecting with online started connecting with me in real life!

(Note: Prior to this, being a very recent transfer into the Communication Studies program, I knew very few of my new classmates.)

I connected with a bunch of people and was afforded the opportunity to establish a common ground that I had been unable to do previously while a professor was lecturing. This then built into several relationships.

The power of this platform simply continued to grow.

Phase 7 ? The Present

Which brings me to my present phase. Although I recognize that it may be the seventh phase of my Twitter adventure, I still find myself plagued with nearly as many questions as I had in phase one.

How do I create valuable content?
What value do I bring to online interactions?
How do I interact successfully in a professional manner?

I even find myself re-facing some of the questions from the previous stages, if only at a greater stage.

How do I create messages that my audience will jive with?
Do I sound cool enough?
Is what I am talking about old news?
Am I too sensational?
How do I make sure my personality bleeds through?

Whether or not I?ll find answers to these questions in this phase, or in an unknown phase in the future (The 10,000th tweet? Building a Following? Becoming a Source?), remains to be seen.

All I can do right now is work at it while trying to enjoy the journey as much as possible.

If you made it to the end of this story, I would love to hear your story. Do your phases reflect any of mine? Or did you have an entirely different experience? Do you have any advice for someone entering phase 7?

Thanks for reading.

About the author: Matt Andaloro is currently a Marketing Analyst and an aspiring blog writer at Jugnoo. A lover of magic, learning, stories, and the intricacies of interpersonal communication, Matt is an avid rock climber, a part-time improviser, and a self-proclaimed outdoorsman. You can converse with Matt on Twitter, but be forewarned, he is exclamatory and excitable!

Justin Bieber, Green Bananas and Upsetting Canada – All in 30 Minutes

It seems strange to think that?Jugnoo?s Social Mix event?was way back in July.

It still seems so fresh, and we?re continuing to get great feedback and praise today, almost two months later.

There?s no doubt it was an incredible day, with lots of lessons learned and shared.

On a personal level, I feel really fortunate to have been able to speak and share the stage with people I both admire and look up to, as well as long-time friends and peers.

So what did I talk about?

Your Business Is Not The Story

People often credit social media for making businesses realize they?re not the story ? but good business owners have known this all along.

You are not the story. You never have been. Not even in the ?bad old days? before social media were you ever the story.?But the story? That belongs to the customer. Every time.

This would ? to me ? seem obvious, and yet you see examples every day of where businesses take their customers for granted, fail to address issues and plough on the path they want, as opposed to the path their customers need.

And then they wonder why their sales are down?

Think like a customer, be the customer, and you?ll get and keep the customer.

Being Human in a Non-Human World

While the tools like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc ? as well as more advanced?Social CRM platforms?? allow us to connect and engage with our customers like never before, we?re still human beings.

Automated systems and the bits and bytes that make up these social platforms are all well and good ? but it still takes the handshake (real or virtual) of human-to-human connection to solidify the relationship that leads to the sale.

People are not conducive when it comes to creating an ideal world for brands to operate in. We?re too human for start.

Instead of canned responses and sterile corporate voices, we need to bring the human aspect of our offline personas online to our business ones. After all, who ever bought from a diode?

My talk is below ? I hope you enjoy, and would love to hear your thoughts in the comments on the bigger picture the video discusses.

Cheers!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUGH_rGC7h4[/youtube]

Using Social Media to Manage Relationships Through the Sales Funnel (jugnoo.com)
Who Shouldn’t Worry With Social CRM (socialcrminfo.com)

The State of Social Media Marketing 2012

Social marketing software company Awareness has just released the second part of its bi-annual State of Social Media Marketing report for 2012, and it makes for some pretty interesting reading.

Surveying 469 marketers from a variety of industries, expertise and verticals, the report looks at how businesses are using social media (or not), the key pain points, and where businesses are heading in 2013.

Some of the key findings include:

44% of companies with social marketing budgets of $100,000 or more are using social CRM software, compared to 16% in general.
68% are interested in expanding their social footprint.
50% see the need to tighten integration between social and more traditional marketing.
Social marketing ROI, a larger social presence and reach, and increased content creation and publishing are three areas executives are looking to concentrate on in 2013.

What’s interesting from these points alone is that social is definitely seen as a core strategy for many businesses to take on in the next 12 months and beyond. Yet, clearly, there’s still some ambiguity around social – the ROI question continues, as does building a strong presence where results can be actionable and measured.

The good news is, despite the ambiguity, when you look at the top business objectives for social media it’s clear that the customer experience is key (click to expand):

Seeing two of the top three objectives geared towards the customer is encouraging – it would seem that brands are finally realizing the amplification social offers consumers, so they’d better improve and tailor the experience while continuing to foster the initial touch-point.

So what else does the Awareness report tell us?

Social Media is Still a Challenge

It’s sad to say, but social media continues to be a challenge for many businesses in 2012. This, despite many seeing the tipping point of social media as 2010, when the ROI question and the business benefits of social media were really taken into the mainstream.

So what are the challenges that businesses continue to face when it comes to social media?

While the lead challenge is still that of ROI, what’s interesting is the percentage that are struggling to integrate with the rest of the marketing vertical.

This accounts for almost a third, and is a clear indication that businesses are finally starting to realize that social isn’t a standalone strategy, but a core part of the bigger marketing picture. While it’s a struggle at the minute, the recognition it needs to be integrated bodes well for the future of these businesses.

Social Media and Measurement

For any business, knowing how successful a campaign is – whether that’s external or internal – is key to understanding where that business needs to grow and improve, and where it’s already doing a good job.

When it comes to social media, measurement is just as key – and brands are definitely keeping score when it comes to how effective their business is on social media:

What’s interesting about this particular section of the report is that almost every single respondent chose number of fans and followers as the #1 barometer of social media success.

This, despite the fact fans and followers can be bought for as little as $5 for 10,100 Twitter “followers”. While it’s great to have a large following, it’s how engaged and involved with your brand that really matters. Numbers mean squat unless they add to your business overall.

Social influence is truly becoming a mainstay of the business landscape when it comes to social media, with almost 2/3 of businesses looking to increase their influence in the space. As Kred, Klout and others look to grab this slice of the action, expect that number to rise in 2013.

Social Media and Revenue

Perhaps one of the biggest questions around social media is that of revenue and lead generation. With ROI still being the leading business question around social media channels and campaigns, it’s no surprise that revenue is a core part of the equation.

What is surprising are two of the answers to the revenue question:

While the top three responses make perfect sense, the next two are a little worrying. If, as a marketer, you don’t know where your customers are online, you’re immediately at a disadvantage to your competitors who’re actively profiling their customers.

Even more concerning, perhaps, is the percentage that uses social media when it comes to the lifetime value of a customer. To these businesses, there’s a simple question in return: if you’re not using the simplest way to track a customer’s satisfaction, what exactly are you using?

By knowing your customer’s social footprint and combining that with monitoring and profiling, you can get an untainted and unbiased overview of what they think about you, your brand, your product and/or your service.

Social media continues to be the greatest focus group out there, because it’s tuning in on natural conversations – so why are just over a quarter of marketers understanding this? Scary stuff.

The Future of Social Media

As you can see, there are still some major challenges in the adoption of social media when it comes to business, regardless of size and resources.

As well as the points above, other challenges include tracking multiple channels, choosing the right tools, delegating the right people and tying social media results to actual business results.

The social CRM issue continues to be one that’s lacking in uptake, with only 16% of businesses currently using a social CRM system. While 21% are planning to, 17% don’t know what a social CRM system is and why businesses need it.

It’s perhaps this last stat that’s the most concerning since, without a CRM platform in place, how do you expect to truly measure activity and results, and allocate the right resources and team members, to ensure the customer experience is everything it can be?

The good news is, companies are beginning to notice where they’re lacking and what needs to be done to improve:

53% of businesses are now using more than two Facebook accounts, to offer a more targeted experience (13% have more than five profiles).
45% of businesses have two or more Twitter accounts, with 11% having more than five profiles.
80% of marketers are creating teams of up to three people to manage social media.
65% are using community platforms to engage with their customer base, while collaboration platforms like Basecamp and Huddle are expected to be used more in 2013.

There’s no doubt that social media is here to stay. Consumers continue to be the driving force behind its growth and businesses are clearly realizing they need to catch up.

The State of Social Media Marketing report offers hope that they’re doing just that.

To receive the full State of Social Media Marketing 2012 report, click here.

Is Social Media a Waste of Time? (dannybrown.me)
How Much Listening Does Social Media Listening Really Offer? (dannybrown.me)
A Special @JugnooMe Invite to @Seesmic Users #Seesmic (dannybrown.me)

A Special @JugnooMe Invite to @Seesmic Users #Seesmic

Dear Seesmic User,

As the news of Seesmic being acquired by Hootsuite settles and you look to decide what you wish to do next, we’d love to offer you another option to moving to Seesmic’s new home.

As someone who used Seesmic back when it was a simple video-sharing tool, and seeing how it progressed to a full social dashboard, it was kinda bittersweet to see it lose its independence.

Ryan Holmes, the CEO of Hootsuite, has already stated:

If someone is a casual user of Seesmic, go this way [e.g. to Twitter]. We’ve always been very focused on the Enterprise.

While this is great for Enterprise-level users, it’s probably not so great for solo entrepreneurs, smaller or mid-sized businesses, or even casual users of Seesmic.

This is where Jugnoo would like to help and offer another option for you.

More Than Just a Social Dashboard

As a Seesmic user, you already know how to manage your social accounts across multiple networks, as well as uploading rich media and creating search streams, etc.

However, social media – whether you’re a casual user or a business user – is much more than just being able to have multiple streams and team members.

You also need context of your social media activity; your most influential conversations; multimedia promotional tools; analytics and much, much more. This is where Jugnoo and our Social CRM solution takes your Seesmic experience to the next level.

Here are just some features, some you’ll already know, others you’ll want to know:

Social Dashboard

Much like Seesmic, the Jugnoo social dashboard allows you to consolidate several social accounts under the one roof.

Currently supported platforms include Twitter, Facebook (Profiles and Pages), LinkedIn, YouTube, Buffer, Posterous, Tumblr and Google, with more being added regularly.

This allows you to post updates to more than one network, and our Buffer partnership ensures you can schedule these updates at a time when the majority of your audience is online.

Multiple Search Streams

Jugnoo saved searches — Multiple saved search streams (click to expand)

As well as being able to update your networks, you can also set up various streams just for search purposes. This is perfect for brand monitoring; customer service; keywords; reputation management; competitive analysis; and much, much more.

You can then just choose which streams you have open in your browser, and our responsive design ensures the optimum amount of information is on display at any given time.

Oh, and if you’re a regular Twitter chat attendee, and use a stream dedicated to the hashtag, we automagically populate your tweet with the chat hashtag when you reply to someone – bonus!

Social Monitoring

While being able to manage multiple accounts is all well and good, if you’re not measuring then you’re not using social media to the full potential for your business.

With Jugnoo’s social monitoring solution, we help you understand the impact of your online actions. Who’s talking about you; where are they; who are they; how are they describing you; and more.

Better still, not only does our social monitoring show you at a glance how your business is doing on social media, we also have the tools that partner with monitoring seamlessly to take your understanding of your audience to the next level.

Social Analytics

Understanding your followers and fans is key to helping you create the kind of content they want to consume. Create that kind of content, and the likelihood of your audience sharing your product or service increases, and this then helps you improve your offering as feedback comes in.

With Jugnoo’s social analytics, you can begin to learn more about your Facebook, Twitter and YouTube audience.

While the information primarily looks at peg counts, reach and views in the current version, our imminent update will dive deeper into the make-up of your audience, including purchase intent history and more.

Tweet Visualyzer?

Jugnoo Buzz Visualized (click to expand)

Currently for Twitter only, but with more platforms to be added soon, Jugnoo’s Tweet Visualyzer? takes your monitoring and keyword searches to a visually attractive and easy-to-manage playground.

Not only does the Tweet Visualyzer? show you who’s saying what and when they’re saying it, it groups conversations and participants of these conversations together based on the context of the conversation itself.

What does this mean for your business? Simple – now you can truly see who drives the most buzz around your business, enabling you to initiate contact with them on a possible ambassador program, where they become your voice to their audience.

It’s taking social influence to its natural next stage.

Social Hub

The great thing about the social web is there’s so much choice for the consumer. The bad thing about the social web is there’s so much choice for the consumer – at least, as far as trying to keep their attention on your core products and services.

While some social users may prefer twitter, others love Facebook, while others look to blogs for recommendations, purchases, etc. This is where Jugnoo’s Social Hub comes in.

For brands, you can collate all your main social feeds and rich media – Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, RSS, Pinterest and Instagram, etc – and display them on a hub that’s the equivalent of Pinterest on steroids.

Visitors can then browse, share, save and recommend. Not only that, with Social Hub 2.0 due imminently, you’ll be able to offer e-commerce solutions directly from the hub – if your visitor sees something they like, they can buy it there and then.

For consumers, they can collate their favourite brands into one area and only receive the offers they’re interested in, increasing the likelihood of a sale from the hub.

It’s a win-win all round.

Social Teams

For most businesses, it’s no longer just a one-man job when it comes to your social media strategy and community management.

Instead, it’s more likely to be social teams that run a campaign and account – sales, marketing, customer service, community management, content curators and more.

This is where the Jugnoo social teams solution helps. You can allocate team members to different teams; define user roles (from full admin to content sharer only and everything in-between); choose which social networks are used in the team; and more.

Add in our Workflow solution – released next month – and you have a fully-fledged social workroom with tasks, reports and more across your business.

Video Marketing

People, by nature, are visual creatures, and it’s why images and videos are the most popular items when it comes to sharing across social networks. With that in mind, enter Jugnoo’s Social Video Marketing suite.

With our video marketing software, you can both create and distribute powerful marketing messages to your audience. Or educational videos. Or fun videos – the choices are only limited by your needs.

We provide you with a library of templates, with more added regularly, as well as images and soundtracks to use in your videos.

You can also upload your own, and the editing suite allows you to crop, cut, focus and much more to create a truly engaging and professionally-edited video.

It’s no surprise that this is one of the most popular features of Jugnoo’s userbase.

How Does $20 per Month Sound For All This and More?

As you can see, Jugnoo offers a host of features and solutions that take it beyond being “just a social media dashboard.” As Jure Klepic of The Huffington Post writes:

Jugnoo is far more powerful than Hootsuite.

As kind as Jure’s words are, we’re not resting on our laurels. While the features here are in-depth and cohesive, they’re just part of the bigger picture.

Coming in the next couple of weeks you’ll see more social networks, RSS feeds, customs streams (multiple networks in a single stream) and more. There’s also our lead generation solution that will identify and delegate sales opportunities based on language, keywords and sentiment tracking.

Add to that our mobile app – release date the next eight weeks – and, as you can see, it’s quite the package – and one you can have it all for just $20 per month.

Yes, you read that correctly:

$20 per month for all the above features and the upcoming ones.

This is to both celebrate us coming out of our beta mode in October, and to show that – as a loyal Seesmic user – you don’t have to be limited to either moving to a new owner or using the basic Twitter and Facebook features.

Not only that, but when you transfer from Seesmic to Jugnoo, we’ll lock you in at our special $20 per month offer for life, even when we add new features and solutions.

As a quick comparison, Jugnoo offers 5 team members for $20 per month. To get the same team numbers on Hootsuite, you’d have to pay $50 per month:

Hootsuite pricing plans (click to enlarge)

We know how much you need a social dashboard – but we also know that you need more than that to truly be effective with your time and success.

We’re sorry to see Seesmic disappear, too – as fans of both the product and of Loic and his team. With this offer, we’d like to try and make your next decision a little less hard.

If you’re ready to check us out free for 30 days, click here or on the Pricing Plan details below to get started.

We look forward to giving you a warm welcome aboard the Jugnoo experience.

Note – Social Teams will be available on September 14. Social Monitoring and Social Hub will be available to all users on September 21.