Despite the fact that many people are using Twitter as an integral part of their companies’ marketing and public relations campaigns, many folks may not know why it’s important or how to best navigate the service. Computerworld came out recently with an interesting article titled, “How and why to search Twitter,” which shed some valuable light on the topic.
Twitter now boasts more than 200 million users worldwide, which represents huge potential in terms of marketing reach and diversity of target audiences. A simple search of Twitter can provide insight into how a product launch is going, what announcements have been made, trade shows, or even what a prospective target audience likes to talk about. With more than 140 million tweets per day, it’s possible to discover a plethora of useful information. But how does a person dig through all that data without suffering from information overload?
Computerworld listed several steps for how to search Twitter:
- Use search.twitter.com – Twitter’s proprietary search function lets you easily type in your query and search for the name of a product, person, topic, specific Twitter username, or a hashtag.
- Leverage Google and Bing – Google’s Realtime search lets users peruse content posted on social networks including Twitter, Facebook and FriendFeed. It also lets you organize content geographically when selecting the “nearby” option. Separately, Bing has a similar search experience called Bing Social, which has much of the same functionality of Google.
- Get Specific – Twitter has an advanced search page that makes it easy to use Boolean search, or find locations or specific usernames. There is also a “cheat sheet of search operators” if you need help narrowing down your search.
- Use Search Widgets and Tools – There are many different search widgets and tools, both for smartphones and desktop computers. Computerworld recommends checking out Hootsuite, a customizable interface that allows users to manage more than one username; Klout, a tool that allows companies to track trends and visual influence; and, Trendrr, a powerful dashboard that lets users analyze social activity across a variety of social mediums.
By gaining a more thorough understanding of Twitter and how best to search through the vast amount of data available via the site, marketers can unlock new audiences and join the conversation with potential customers and partners.
What sites or tools do you use to hone in on the social activity that is most relevant to your audience? We’re always learning about new tools and tips, and would love to hear what works for you.