Remember 7 Features to Brand, Market, Manage with MarketMe Tweet? Yup, it’s back again with an updated version MarketMe Tweet V2.0! For those who are hearing it for the first time, it’s a Twitter client equips with branding and marketing features. I’m no marketer but its ‘branding’ ability captivates me since their free app Tweetbrand (was recently pulled to focus on their main product). Imagine if you’re a business promoter, you will do whatever it takes to get your brand out there, reaching out to potential clients as much as you possibly can. MarketMe Tweet is specially designed for the job, see how it’s placing a blog link below my tweet:

I must admit, at first I was a little skeptic about who would actually look at that tiny spot for a web link? Until some of my followers starting to ask how did I place a link to my blog in each tweet, I realized this application has a good chance even for a freelancer like myself!

Of course, it’s not fair to limit MarketMe Tweet capabilities based on my personal preference. Here are other basic features you should know about:

So after using V1 for awhile, I had to find out what are the updated features in the new release. Despite of what has been said in the video, I need to personally try it out to confirm the reliability. Kindly be reminded that this review is based on my personal opinion only and has nothing to do with MarketMe Tweet sponsorship whatsoever. So here goes:

#1  Manageable Interface

I have long hoped for a new interface since I’m a big fan of Tweetdeck and Hootsuite. I can’t be happier with the new columnized interface, a lot easier to view conversations and follow up on Twitter lists. Now we can position, rename, add lists and reload the panes as how we work on any other web/desktop clients!

Remark:

There were times earlier when MarketMe Tweet was unable to retrieve updates – pane returns with ‘No Results’. After referring to their support team I was told that Twitter itself has issues refreshing API limits on certain accounts as explained in this post.

#2  Tweet Branding

Still by far, my personal favorite of the app! This is particularly useful if you are handling multiple Twitter profiles – MarketMe Tweet saves you the trouble to log in and out of the account but manages everything inside the client! You can add multiple brandings for different campaigns or business accounts. The setup is quite simple as indicated in the video (or you can request for a step by step write up and I’ll get it done just for you):

Video tutorial to setup a new brand with MarketMe Tweet:

(Source: by Tammy from MarketMe Tweet)

#3  Tweet Scheduling & Bulk Import

Another improved feature that made my day. It has a sleek sliding panel to schedule tweet (with branding), and drop down boxes make sorting easy (today, week, month, year and beyond). It is convenient to check and modify scheduled tweets, even integrate it with your Google Calender:

A new feature by MarketMe Tweet to import tweets (drafts) and schedule them in bulk. For example, you have saved some interesting links in your notepad, instead of scheduling them one by one you can do it in one-go: place %T% in front, and %D% at the back of your tweet, following date and time (24 hours clock format):

Format: %T% Your Message and Link %D% Date Time

Example: %T% 9 Ways to Enhance Your FB Page http://bit.ly/b9rn2w %D% 01/08/2010 22:10:00

Another method is set the intervals between your bulk tweets (tick ‘Use Override Interval’ to set the minutes):

Suggested Read: 6 Points To Ponder Before Using Automatic Status Updates ; 6 Status Updates Scheduler for Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn

#4  Geo-tagging for Reply Campaigns

Another important feature offered by Marketme Tweet is to setup reply campaigns for targeted individuals. The app makes it easy to find relevant people based on your location, keywords, following by an opportunity to network. Especially when people are expressing interests about your product, your immediate respond via reply templates can earn you firsthand connections when attending to their needs. It’s optional to set the reply templates though, but in case you do, make sure to personalize it well to not spoil your first image.

Marketme Tweet is now using geo-tagging to filter results so you can discover local clients in targeted area.

#5  Contact Management

i)  Auto-Follow Option

If you are eager to connect with followers, MarketMe Tweet provides an easy option to reciprocal by ‘Follow Users Back’.

In additional, you can opt in to receive daily @Mentions Emails for the latest results:

ii)  Follow Users based on keywords

You can bulk or selectively follow users based on reply campaigns keywords.

iii)  Unfollow Users who are not Following You

To bulk unfollow or do it selectively.

#6  Social Accounts Integration

Facebook profile integration is now available in MarketMe Tweet. You can post status updates, comment and like your friends’ updates within the client itself. It supports multiple Facebook accounts so if you are managing facebook profiles for your clients, you can inter-switch between them. I am having difficulty to retrieve my facebook page and just submitted a support ticket for it. Will update the results when it’s fixed.

Some of you may wonder about LinkedIn integration, that is do-able with Ping.fm. All you need is to copy your Ping.fm API Key and insert it here: Settings > Ping.fm

Your Ping.fm configuration controls the number of social accounts that get to update from MarketMe Tweet. Here I only plan to update my LinkedIn status, so click ‘Send All’ to reveal the box, make sure ‘use Ping.fm’ is ticked before ‘Send’:

#7  Auto RSS Feed

It’s thrilling to see MarketMe Tweet is now providing feed management for users. Now you can import your favorite blogs’ RSS feed (or your own) and tweet them either way: automatically or manually via RT to credit the author.

According to MarketMe Tweet Support, if user chose to ‘Automatically Tweet the feed’ their brand won’t be visible. This is due to Twitter rules and kindly refer here for detailed explanations. Currently, the brand works brilliantly but I’m still having slight issues with the RT prefix of original author. Will continue to look into this.

Suggested Read: Twitterfeed, HootSuite RSS Feeds, and Blog Posting Schedules

Overall, I am quite impressed with MarketMe Tweet V2. It’s obvious how much this app has improved and I can see why. I have been communicating with their support team after trying out the app and so far they are fast to respond and most of all, willing to accept customers’ feedback. MarketMe Tweet is still actively updating its service. Although there are still rooms for improvement but let’s not forget it’s a marketing tool fundamentally.

Its upcoming updates including Blog integration (wonder if it’s something similar to Hootsuite?), Plugins, Enhancement for Facebook integration so forth. At the same time waiting for minor fixes to make the app more user friendly and presentable. For further improvement, I would suggest to add:

• Spelling check
• Filter Search within pane
• Ability to post images or files (documents) in future enhancements

Not bad to strive towards social aggregator, don’t you think?

How do I Get MarketMe Tweet V2?

MarketMeTweet is not free. Currently the lowest price is $99/year (free updates, 6 month money back guarantee) with limited time offer. Kindly look for Pricing & Plan here. At the same time, MarketMeTweet offers affiliate program too, check it out if you’re interested.

Have you been using MarketMe Tweet V2? What do you think of the app and if you yet to try it, what do you think of it so far?

Note: MarketMe Tweet has changed its name to MarketMeSuite to fit its ultimate purpose as a social media management/marketing tool and not limiting to just Twitter only, but Facebook, Google Calender, Ping.fm and more.

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I must thank Heather for bringing up this brilliant question. To me, Twitter Favorites is another hidden gem for content discovery. Apart from discovering smart tips, Twitter Favorites works as a bookmarking tool to collect testimonials, acknowledgments about others and our work. Either way, it deserves more attention from us rather than rusting itself away on the sidebar.

Retrieve the location and RSS Feed for Twitter Favorites

Twitter Favorites is public viewable for all user accounts. Consider Favorites as a ‘resourceful link’ for your Twitter, to retrieve its RSS Feed simply go to the link indicated below then look for RSS feed of user’s favorites below the ‘Following’ chart:

Tools to Import RSS Feed to Facebook Page

Now that you got the feed, here comes the best part: importing the feed to your Facebook Page. Tons of ways to achieve that and if you are already familiar with how Facebook applications can enhance your Facebook Page by adding it to your page, it should be easy for you to carry out either one of the following methods:

Facebook Applications: RSS Graffiti and Social RSS

Most of the applications are now supporting multiple feeds importing, therefore you don’t have to worry about messing up the existing blog post updating to your wall posts. RSS Graffiti and Social RSS both fit well for the job, but the former has a slight advantage over its Twitter posting options:

• ability to personalize favorite tweets as status updates
• eliminating unwanted twitter username right at the beginning (the example stripped my username to make the message more straight forward)

Twitter Web Client: Hootsuite

This is another favorite method of mine – using the almighty Hootsuite you can enjoy the efficiency of RSS Feed updating easily from its web page.

1. After logged on to Hootsuite, look for Launch at the bottom left corner of your dashboard.

2. In launch> Settings > RSS Atom to add a new feed

3. While making your way through the configuration, make sure your facebook page selection is active/ticked:

Web Application: TwitterFeed

So you’re not used to Facebook applications or Hootsuite, how about Twitterfeed that provides the same functionality to update your Facebook Page with favorited tweets easily based on configured settings. Post prefix or suffix, even apply keyword filter to further select your tweets based on Facebook Page audiences.

Social Networking & Microblogging Service: Ping.fm

Ping.fm makes sharing all the more easier! Iit covers a wide range of social media sites other than Facebook Pages and updates them in one-go! It’s comparable with FriendFeed and the process is relatively easy as well ever since Ping.fm included Feeds and Google Reader as one of their services. Just logged on to Ping.fm and go to Superfeedr to customize your feed:

Or, if you prefer to do selective tweets for Ping.fm:


1. First, Log on to your Google Reader and add the Twitter Favorites RSS Feed to your subscription.

2. Back to Ping.fm, go to this link and input your Google Reader username and Add Feed.

3. Once you have hit ‘Share’ over at your Google Reader, Ping.fm will update your Facebook Page and other social media sites immediately as how you’ve configured them.

Points to Ponder:

To identify your purpose and the type of messages you are bound to showcase at Facebook Page members is vital. Mari Smith has shared a few good ideas to use Twitter Favorites even outside Facebook. In addition to that, Favorited tweets are good choices for selective tweets (as you can apply in Ping.fm and twitterfeed earlier) instead of importing the entire twitter stream which can be a turn off if you’re super-twitter-social at times. Try using prefix to create non-intrusive updates, sharing what matters and truly important to your audiences.

What about tweets from Protected Twitter accounts, you say? When you mark ‘favorite’ for a tweet shared by your friend who has a protected Twitter account, although you can view it in your Favorites but it won’t be visible to your followers publicly, only those who are sharing the same connections you have with that protected account. It’s good to see that Twitter is still protecting user’s privacy up till now.

Now Is Your Turn…

Do you have any questions about Facebook? Or any social media issues you’re interested in finding out? I would love to have a Q&A session like this as a blog post as it helps us all to discover new approaches that might be a big step in our respective networking goals. Like Heather, you’re definitely gaining a spotlight and link love for your kind participation here in Social @ Blogging Tracker, I’ll say it’s a mutual benefit for all of us, don’t you think so? Email me and let’s make this happen.

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It has been a year since I last modified my Twitter background. While inspecting my own social media sites for improvements recently, I couldn’t help but noticing how cheesy and uninformative my Twitter background was! It was created when I wrote about personalizing Twitter background with Free Twitter Designer. It’s time for a change!

#1: Why Should We Personalize Our Twitter Background?

Understanding why we need to personalize our Twitter background is vital. It is not about decoration but to:

i)   Manage Personal Branding

People will visit your Twitter page from your social media links and search engines. Be ready to impress at first sight.

ii)  Maximize Exposure with Limited Background Space

Blend in your intro with relevant background design. Provide social contacts for others to reach you.

iii) Show your Brand & Personality

An unique background attracts, it should say something about who you are, your passion and niche.

Another good reason is you might get a free promotion from a post about Twitter background, exactly like this one! (Good for @mashable and @marcome)

#2: How to Personalize Your Twitter Background?

After knowing the purpose, now it’s time for the real challenge – to personalize a Twitter background. Here are some options you can choose from:

a) Use a Twitter Background Generator

For those who are not into crafting their own images, tons of template selections can be found from Twitter background generators. Some setbacks are the duplicate designs and their brand name on your wall. Usually a minimal payment is involved to modify, for example, $4.99 to remove Twitbacks brand while Twitrbackgrounds will charge $9.99 for personalized backgrounds. Login is required for both services.

Tweetbacks, on the other hand offers free templates for modification (.psd). Personalized your information and photo before upload it to Twitter page.

Another service I love is Free Twitter Designer – a background generator and image editing application. A Twitter stream box is given so your design will not run off on the actual page. You can tweak the image settings, blend in the effects and colors, view the final results in different resolutions:

b) Personalize Twitter Background with Image Editing Application

My favorite method so far as it gives you:

• Full control over designing and positioning.
• No distracting brand name on the background except your very own.

Photoshop:

I created my second and third Twitter background with Photoshop. The dimension for the canvas size is preferably 1600 px x 1200 px so it will fit in fine for most screen resolutions. Keep the important information close to the left of Twitter stream. As of right, use non-essential designs as mostly they won’t be visible on regular screen resolutions. Apply Twitter Background Checker to monitor your background designs:

Resize the image to less than 250kb to optimize page load time (maximum file size: 800kb).

I created a blank template to fix for resolution 1280 x 1024. You can tweak its opacity level to adjust text/background image freely. If you interested claim it via the contact form and I’ll send you the file in .psd format.

Suggested Read: Twitter Background Design How-To and Best Practices; Build Twitter Background with Adobe Fireworks

Gimp & Pixlr:

You can download Gimp (for MAC & Windows) or try the web application Pixlr to customize your background image:

PowerPoint:

Not my top-pick for complicated designs but Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007 is competent to create a simple and colorful Twitter background. Save your final result as .jpg to be uploaded as your Twitter background. PowerPoint is not a designing program so there will be limitations, such as cumbersome process with measurement and positioning:

Extra Tools:

Some amazing tools to assist your background designing:

• MeasureIt – A FireFox plugin to measure width and height for a web page.
• Peekr -  On and off feature that gives you a clear overview of the entire Twitter background without the stream, control panel etc.
• Twitter Background Checker – Twitter background viewed in high and low resolutions.

If personalizing a Twitter Background is too time consuming for you, you can:

c) Outsource to Professionals and Graphic Designers

Everyone’s definition of ‘quality’ may differ in art. Understand your own needs is important before finding the best designer that fits you. Make sure you are providing enough information so the designer knows about your expectations. Be communicative and respectful for both sides.

#3: How to Upload Your Personalized Background to Twitter?

Let it be a picture or a neatly designed template, it’s time for the final results. To upload it:

1. Log on to your Twitter account.

2. Go to Settings > Design > Change background image

3. Browse to locate the image file you’re ready for.

4. Click Save and see the magic appears before your eyes.

#4: What Makes a Good Twitter Background?

Last week we had a discussion over at the Facebook Fan Page about my second Twitter background. Ricky’s commentary about the font visibility brought my attention of how ignorant I was about my Twitter background.

I did not take the design seriously so instead of just the font, I changed the whole Twitter background. I prefer a non-business-like, harmonious background with nature elements. It may not be my best design yet but I’m happy to keep it for awhile.

For a Twitter background to serve its purpose, we need to refer to why we need one in the first place. Following these designing guidelines will be an added advantage:

• Make sure the background is none distracting for your main info.
• Clear and readable fonts (for example Arial, bold). Avoid spindly text for important messages.
• Use contrast colors for text & background.
• Make full use of the blank areas. Ensure main info are visible regardless low or high screen resolutions.
• Complex does not mean elegant. Keep the K.I.S.S principle in mind unless you have a different purpose for your background design.

There is no right or wrong, but the impression and friendliness you would like to portray to others. Think of it as your name card, but with personality.

Now Is Your Turn…

When was the last time you personalized your Twitter background? What makes a presentable Twitter Background in your opinion? Share it all in the comments below.

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Google Buzz has created a lot of Buzz in the social web since its big launch. We all familiar how the story went when something as sacred as our email contacts to be handled publicly without our consent. When Google apologized and willing to tweak the privacy settings, my frustration subsided a bit. Everyone deserves a second chance, right?

What I Learned from Google’s Big Flaw?

My biggest concern is to lose control over what to be shared publicly for my social accounts. There may be no secrets out in the open web but users should hold the key for privacy authorizations, not the service providers. Nevertheless, Google Buzz had my attention even though we started off on the wrong foot. Now I’m more keen than ever to discover how it can be a ‘helper’ instead of a troublemaker for my social network benefits.

How to Optimize Google Buzz for Social Network Benefits

While Chris Garrett enlightened us with tips to start your Google Buzz, I’m going to share how I utilize Google Buzz as my network booster:

#1 Google Buzz – My Public @ Inner Network Circles

Initially, Google Buzz auto-connected us to people we have corresponded with in Gmail. I wouldn’t want to waste the list so the first thing I do is make sure the contacts are properly grouped- People I Know, Bloggers, ex-Colleagues etc. This helps to keep certain discussions visible and focus to particular group. Also, a good precaution if Google Buzz ever gone public in Google Search. Now is the best time to manage your stream and reputation.

Suggested Read: Manage your Settings in Google Buzz; Filter Google Buzz Updates from your Gmail

Caution:

Be extra careful for the group you’ve picked for your last update. It will remain to be the default receiver unless you manually change it before posting.

#2 Google Buzz – My Discussion Panel & Feedback

Probably what I like best about Google Buzz – no 140/420 word limit as in Twitter or Facebook. Furthermore, it involves your trusted network (correspondence) so definitely can be of some use. I can post a question, include links manually or integrate several social media sites for feedback:

For additional site integrations, follow the below methods:

a)   Your Very Own Blog(s)

1. Sign up for a Webmaster account.

2. Add your blog to Webmaster and verify ownership by inserting the codes given.

3. After the verification is done properly, you can now click at ‘ x connected sites’ to retrieve the newly added blog. Click ‘Add’ to include.

You can add as many sites as you prefer as long you have the access to place the verifying codes.

b)   Other Blogs

Can be imported by Google Reader.  Just subscribe to these sites and include Google Reader in ‘connected sites’. You can manually ‘Share’ any posts with or without comments.

c)   Facebook & Social Bookmarking Updates

Obviously there are no easy options to integrate Facebook in Buzz. However it doesn’t stop us to do so with the big help from FriendFeed. You can even import your updates from Stumbleupon, Delicious, Disqus and many more as long the services are covered by FriendFeed:

This is how Facebook updates been transmitted to Google Buzz:

Extra: To send Google Buzz to your Facebook personal acc, try Google Buzz Sync. (thanks Hartley for this valuable info)

Caution:

• The updates may not be instant, some took minutes while some hours to publish.

• New FriendFeed account holders may experience difficulties to import updates from certain social media sites.

DO NOT simply delete your social media profiles on FriendFeed to prevent glitches. I fail to re-connect my Stumbleupon account as FriendFeed is unable to retrieve my username. Facebook can only allow Links & Notes to be imported to FriendFeed, not status updates. Seems like this issue was brought up since May 2009. However, there is still a possible way to do so although it’s not perfect. I’m still working on improving the method, hopefully good news is on the way.

d)   Selected Twitter Updates

This method only works for those who remained their older Facebook configuration in FriendFeed that’s still able to import Facebook status updates to date. If you can, Do Not Refresh your Facebook configuration. (All imported tweets will be treated as ‘Facebook Updates’, not links.)

If you prefer to keep Twitter moderated so not to flood the Buzz streams, sending selective tweets to Buzz can be done based on the idea of Twitter->Facebook->FriendFeed->Buzz integration. Have a read of how you can fix up the configuration with 3 Easy Ways to Share Selective Tweets on Facebook Pages, even auto-scheduling.

#3 Google Buzz – Discover New Contacts & Content

You can do so by:

• Following your friends, discovering who they are connecting with and participate in the discussions;
• Search for niche discussions using Google Buzz search or Buzzzy advanced feature;
• Have a look at ‘Suggested’ contacts provided by Google Buzz.

I’ve found some people to thank who shared my posts on the Buzz stream,

discover new contacts,

and even had a good laugh.

Google Buzz may not be your #1 place to meet people, but it’s an additional platform for Google devotees to mingle. You can extend the new friendship elsewhere anyhow you’re comfortable with.  Especially when Google Buzz is yet to be a front runner, it’s best to get involved and noticed by your targeted contacts easily with a little bit more effort. Not to mention, it is giving your Google Profile more page impressions.

Google Buzz is not for everyone, but it will work for some

I loved this article – It’s about the people not the tools. There is no right or wrong. No disputes required to prove how effective is Google Buzz. When it comes to which applications you should use, go back to your root: who and where is your audience? How do you plan to utilize social media in reaching out to them? You are the deciding factor.

Now is Your Turn…

How is your experience with Google Buzz? Feel free to express your thoughts and extra opinions on how you plan to optimize Google Buzz for your social network benefits.

Ahh.. one of those dreaded moments for the guys.

We all know the pressure here. Oh yes, we’re tricky. But you know what? A little wisdom can definitely save you off the hook. But first, you need to know your partner better- the ground rule before all tips and tricks.

How does this have anything to do with social media? Every bit of it – urgency and the consequences of a reckless response. Regardless celebrities or politicians, even us normal people are responsible for the words we blurted out in the open. You’ll be surprised a simple joke can either build you or crush you, especially when we’re networking with users from different cultural backgrounds and status.

Art Of Communicating in Social Networks

In order to interact better with people from various social networks, identify:

• Who are they – readers, followers, business partners, potential customers, random chatters ?

• What are their backgrounds ?

• Where is the boundary; When shall the line be drawn ?

• What’s the amount of ‘Trust’ built or given to both sides ?

• What are the possible conflicts that may be or had already existed? If none, will you continue to avoid it ?

• What is your personal branding in the public eye ?

Cautiousness in social networking does not forbid you to express freely, but the courtesy to think twice before responding. Our mind reacts quick to disagreements, fast to defend and attack. Self-protect instinct like this can easily blur our judgments. Ask yourself,

“Is building credibility important to me? Am I encouraging it or another way around?”

Let’s brainstorm based on some possible answer(s) for your partner below:

1. Silence : “… …”

In Social Networking:

Social networking does not tolerate silence. If you’ve spent 5-10 minutes on a post surely there’s something about it that triggers your interest. Share your thoughts in the blog comment and create continuous conversations with other commenters. Hitting that ‘close’ button is easy but not if you wish to make all your blog visits worthwhile. Do SOMETHING.

For the guys:

Silence does not always mean safety. Advisable to have the ‘response’ ready if you are not prepared with the answer. Prevention is better than cure. Appear doubtful and troubled may sell you out at that instant.

2. Diversion: “Ah, It’s late! I’ll tuck the kids in bed. KIDDSS.. !! ”

In Social Networking:

Diverting people’s attention to our network seems logical, but not always welcoming if you hard push it. If you think people shall read your work, state out why and be convincing. Never flood people’s Facebook Wall and inbox with self-promoting post links for it is rude. You can easily jeopardize the friendship and trust people have in you.

Another kind of diversion is to run away from problems. I remember there were times I had trouble with the comment form in Blogger platform. Never occurred to me in trying out other commenting systems before I finally decided to move to WordPress from Blogger. Now I only regret for not doing it sooner, same thing with DoFollow.

For the guys:

Yes, temporarily this may solve your problem but don’t grumble if the question pops up in some most unlikely moments. The earlier to deal with it the better.

.

3. Honesty: “Then mood swing it is !”

In Social Networking:

There’s nothing wrong with honesty but mind that virtue involves. It is one of those ironies that got people wondering why it sounds much better in theory but not in practical. Going through the questions again and weigh in the consequences of each possible actions. We are not talking about your family members or closed friends who have known you for years but acquaintances who just shared a few conversations with you. Take into considerations all factors and risks involved. Shall this be done in private emailing or out in the open? The impact may cost your digital footprints and branding so you need to think twice.

For the guys:

Gals dig that, Right? For some lady friends I know, this can both be a straight forward question or a tricky one. Sometimes it is not just about the honesty alone, but the way you respond to the question. For some who can accept honest feedback, a little tip: no ‘must be’ or ‘it’s KILLING me’. Don’t forget you are being honest to help her, not trashing her self-esteem.

4. Skillful: “I love you just the way you are!”

In Social Networking:

Be thoughtful. You don’t add burden to an already troubled-mind. If you’re commenting on a site which the author talks about bankruptcy out of a poor judgment, don’t say ‘Stupid! I wouldn’t do that if I were you’ but be compassionate. There’s a line between hypocrisy and skilled communication, so make sure you know where to stand.

For the guys:

So far this has been chosen as the best response according to my female friends. Safe, they say, and can be the honest truth. You can’t really change anything, can you?

How To Deal With Tricky Questions?

There’s no definite answers on how to deal with tricky questions. It’s all about the art of communicating, how you willing to give and take in different situations. Perhaps it’s not common for us to face tough questions but someday when you do,

• Understand the question thoroughly. It’s easy to ‘assume’ and misinterpret so always be SURE you know what exactly is in demand here.

• Test the water with a brief remark; or provide scenarios (if needed) to understand the motive.

• Be thoughtful. You can’t please everyone but don’t blind yourself with self-absorption.

• Try to know your readers/followers personality through their writings or on social media connections.

• Listen more.

• Consider the consequences of each action.

Now It’s Your Turn…

Have you ever encountered any tricky questions? How do you deal with it? Kindly share YOUR art of communicating in the comments below.

If you like this post, a little sharing would be nice.

~Check out the Latest Review of MarketMe Tweet V2 or MarketMeSuite here: Tweet Branding, Scheduling and Reply Campaigns with MarketMe Tweet V2.~


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Remember Tweetbrand that wowed us with the tweet-branding feature awhile ago? Since then, I have been captivated by the branding concept that made me all the more interested in the release of their main product named MarketMe Tweet.

Just a few days ago my wish fulfilled by an email announcing the big launch of MarketMe Tweet along with a download link. I knew the best way to satisfy my curiosity is to give it a complete run through. So I did. What you’re about to read next is the review of MarketMe Tweet based on personal experience and has nothing to do with any sponsorship by MarketMe Tweet whatsoever. Feel free to comment on the features as we go through them.

What Is MarketMe Tweet?

MarketMe Tweet is a marketing tool that equips with Twitter management ability. Easily put, the combination of Tweetbrand, basic Twitter client and a marketing control panel presents you the below interface (Adobe Air application):

Who might be interested in MarketMe Tweet:

• Marketers / Promoters / Surveyors for a service or product
• Individuals who are tracking progress and potential audiences based on particular keywords
• Individuals who are looking for Twitter network expansion
• Individuals who are focusing on branding development over multiple accounts

I am no marketer but a couple of its characteristics impressed me. How about a little tour exploring the key features MarketMe Tweet possesses:

7 Features to Brand, Market, Manage with MarketMe Tweet

As of today, MarketMe Tweet is consisting of below key features:

1. Support Multiple Twitter Accounts


MarketMe Tweet allows multiple Twitter accounts be added. Log in the application with your registered details with MarketMe Tweet, authorize your Twitter account(s) integration via OAuth security encryption which is said to be a compulsory for all Twitter applications prior to June 2010. MarketMe Tweet is developed in compatible with the mentioned requirement so it’s a big plus. If you’re interested to know more about this issue, kindly head over to their post about the OAuth security feature.

2. Branding Management


Assign branding to your Twitter account(s) before tweeting. For those who have created the branding applications during Tweetbrand tryout, you only need to copy and paste the Consumer & Secret Key in the fields before clicking ‘Add’. Otherwise, kindly refer to step 3 of branding application setup for details.

To Setup Your Brand: Go to Step 2 ‘Create Your App’ > Sign in to Twitter account > Go to Brand app > Retrieve the consumer and secret key > Step 3 to fill in fields.

MarketMe Tweet has recently reached an agreement with Twitter regarding the branding issue, make sure your brand name does not violate Twitter’s terms & conditions. Here’s what MarketMe Tweet has to say about this:

Extra:

Differ from Tweetbrand, now MarketMe Tweet users can shorten their URL links easily within tweet box (default URL-shortener ~ bit.ly) :

3. Reply Campaigns (Keyword tracking)


I’m sure you are familiar with Tweetbeep or Feed subscription for a particular Twitter search term that alerts you whenever it is mentioned on Twitter. With MarketMe Tweet, not only you can track multiple keywords at the same time (and filter out unwanted terms for accuracy using ‘Negative Keyword’ option), but also include reply templates for targeted users. The replies can be in various forms and randomly picked to be delivered. Here’s the overview:

After you hit ‘Run Campaign’, a display box will show up consisting the people who tweeted the keywords. Hover your mouse over the image thumbnail, the word ‘Reply’ appears; click at it will send out your reply template.

Wait! Didn’t we just go through the discussion last 2 weeks about automated status updates and how much we despise auto messaging? Well, good thing is this option is not compulsory. For those who dislike automation, you can reach out by sending manual, real time tweets while flipping through the list of potential audiences. Bear in mind this is a marketing tool, we all have own theories how things should work around social media but in the end, it’s all about ethical marketing that works in long term.

4. Scheduled Tweets
This scheduler is only available for Twitter updates.

Extra:

While MarketMe Tweet is still working on other network integrations, you can still schedule status updates to Facebook through Selective Twitter Status or Twitter application as shown in the video (Thanks to Tammy):

5. Conversation Thread


The conversation thread keeps track of your recent conversation with selected Twitter user. Just click the ‘Thread Conversation’ button beneath each tweet (in @mentions section) to reveal the thread in ‘Conversation’. For example, if I was to trace my latest conversation with Michelle, I only need to click the thread button and voila! :

6. Follow/ Unfollow Users

Follow – suggesting users to follow based on your keyword campaigns
Unfollow – shows the people who do not follow you back

However, this monitoring feature may requires a long time to load based on your account conditions (number of followers/following etc).

7. Others:

Locations and Languages – to narrow down your results in keyword campaigns and search terms.

Grouping – to tidy up your contacts. In order to group, make sure you are following the user. (Twitter Lists integration is on the way)

Search Flags – to enhance the accuracy to your search terms.

Is MarketMe Tweet the Evolution of Social Management / Marketing Tool ?

Could be. On-going Business competitions and social media time suck challenge marketers to think out of the box. Personally I see great potentials in branding management and keyword campaigns. It’s a relief to see that MarketMe Tweet has resolved a minor conflict with Twitter about branding and maintained the feature as promised.

Overall MarketMe Tweet has started fresh with innovative ideas, but with rooms of improvements. I’m hoping to see more features be added for advanced network engagement: Facebook/LinkedIn and Twitter lists integration, clickable links in tweet (*updated with ver.1.1.4*), spelling check etc. Also, I hope analytical feature be added so users can monitor the effectiveness of chosen brand name, monitor while making adjustments.

Is MarketMe Tweet F.O.C?

MarketMe Tweet is no free application, currently a 1-time fee payment of $39.90 is needed. According to the latest updates, some added features are on the way to existing users (free upgrades). At the same time, MarketMeTweet offers affiliate program to whoever is interested in promoting the application.

Now It’s Up To You…

What do you think about MarketMe Tweet? Could this be a marketing and management tool of your choice? Kindly share your expectations and suggestions in the comments below.

The commenters rocked the house in previous post discussion about automated status updates!  It’s a controversial subject but I’m pleased with the constructive opinions given by all individuals. Whether to love or hate the service, it has much to do with the user’s networking ethics. Regardless which side you’re on, I’m grateful for your participation in making this post quite a hit last week! So here’s to:

This week’s Twitter #MustFollow list: Bloggers who treat comments seriously & provided insightful feedback:

@ConnieFoggles @marketmetweets @Jan_ Geronimo @KiwiGordie @aks2008 @esther96 @Happymaker @TwtrCoach @PetLvr @virtuosoblogger @FreemanLegacy @FamousBloggers @AussieSire @Elmot @SoftwareCritics @Anklebuster @InfozBlog @arafat21 @Anneonline @IntrovertZone @JimiJones @Zeenatsyal @Mitch_M @GrowMap @Janniefunster @jenaisle @HereWeAre_wLuci

(Hullbert, kindly provide me your Twitter acc)

** Starting this week, I’ll be acknowledging commenters for their valuable feedbacks on written posts. More about this soon so do keep the quality comments coming.**

Two weeks ago, a reader brought up this question in his comment for 3 easy ways to share selective tweets on Facebook Page:

I emailed George personally suggesting some tools that may fit his needs. After seeing how ugly mass-scheduling can get, I figured there’s a need to keep a clear conscience with 6 Points to Ponder before using Automatic Status Updates. I was deeply encouraged for most commenters are into building genuine networks, but thanks to Cindy’s Tweetplan to grow a quality Twitter following, it shows us another perspective of how social media strategists can incorporate status scheduling as part of their out-reaching plan. With proper moderation and control, it can still be accepted to some extent as one of the communication methods.

But what suggestions can we provide George here in deciding which tool to use?

6 Status Updates Scheduler for Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn

In order to find out, I had been experimenting status updates (STRICTLY NO auto-DMs) from a few web applications available. All reviews are written based on personal experiences. If the results vary from yours kindly point out in the comments for further discussions. Most of these web applications are designed to integrate with multi-social media sites but here we will be concentrating on 3 that are most widely discussed – Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

1.

Twitter: YES

Facebook: YES

LinkedIn: YES

Hootsuite is a powerful Twitter web client. I was absolutely blown away with the ease to setup and its efficiency to avoid clutter with customizable interface: Multiple columns with naming feature, integrations with multiple social media sites…  More on the features will be covered in future topics but first, we’ll be focusing on its capability to schedule status updates.

Why is Hootsuite Powerful?

Not only it stands alone as a perfect scheduler but as a free Twitter web client, it is capable of delivering updates to various social networking sites. Thanks to its integration with Ping.fm., you can gain access to all the social networks covered by Ping.fm here.

Hootsuite supports multiple Twitter accounts; enables status updates to be sent to Facebook personal account and Facebook page respectively. It even shows you all the pending status and ability to edit them however, whenever required.

i) Click ‘Add Social Network’ to include your desired social media profile,

ii) After authorizing access to these networks, you can schedule status updates at will (synchronize or separately):

Pending Status Updates for Facebook Page:

New Status Published on Facebook Page as Scheduled:

Suggested Read: HootSuite Integrates Lists, Facebook and LinkedIn

2.

Twitter: YES

Facebook: YES

LinkedIn: YES

Sendible is a management tool. It’s not a Twitter client, neither will it flood your streams with live feeds nor real-time tweets. It’s all in your hands to plan and manage your contacts via all sorts of planner, scheduling and task reminder features available. Since no live streaming involved, you can minus distractions and PC memory consumptions during social media profile setups.

However, Sendible has one tiny downside for free account holders: all your tweets will end with ‘via Sendible’ or ‘#Sendible’ for all status updates. In order to eliminate that, you need to pay to upgrade your Sendible account.

Extra: Interesting find: when my tweet exceeded 140 characters it splitted into multiple tweets. What amazed me was the tag for ‘#sendible’ did not show at all!

Since I’m all about keeping tweets succinct within 140 characters and avoiding ‘#Sendible’ at all costs, I’ll keep this application at the back seat for the moment.

Suggested Read: Sendible Relaunches; Now a Powerful Social Media Marketing Tool

3.

Twitter: YES

Facebook: YES (only available after paid to upgrade)

LinkedIn: YES (only if collaborated with Ping.fm which is only available after paid to upgrade)

For SocialOomph (used to be known as Tweetlater), it’s all about boosting productivity online. Unfortunately, in order to integrate Facebook and Ping.fm (for Linkedin) you will need to pay for the upgrading. As for free account holders, you can have all the access you need to schedule tweets/feeds, monitor @mentions, RTs and manage follower list – it’s all Twitter-friendly here in SocialOomph. Even so, you are given the option to choose free trial of 168 hours with Professional account.

Suggested Read: Opt Out of Auto-DMs Using Social Oomph (good news for SocialOomph users: if you hated Auto-DMs)

4.

Twitter: YES

Facebook: YES

LinkedIn: NO

A simple, web application that’s still in Beta version, offering status-updating solely for Twitter and Facebook. Status updates consisted with links will be published alongside with bit.ly as the default URL-shortener service. After several trials, I found the scheduling worked out fine but might be slightly delayed from the actual timer. For those who have tried this service your feedback is very much welcomed for a more accurate comparisons.

5.

Twitter: YES

Facebook: YES  (only if integrated with Ping.fm)

LinkedIn: YES (only if integrated with Ping.fm)

A web interface for Twitter. More towards business support-customer interaction purposes, one general CoTweet account for multiple Twitter users. One impressive feature that beats out existing desktop/web clients is the ability to schedule tweets. View your pending updates and edit them if needed. If you’re a Tweet-scheduling maniac, here’s a bunch of Twitter applications to choose from.

6.

Manual Configurations for Status Updates

Why manual? Because even auto cars can put you in trouble if the battery is dead.

Automatic scheduler may have its limitations, try not to be overdependent on a particular application. For precautions sake, better equip ourselves with manual configuration back up plan (just in case). I’m going to keep this brief but I’m sure you’ll get the idea:

i) Combination of Hootsuite with Ping.fm (Preset the following features in Ping.fm before setup the Hootsuite scheduler)

ii) Combination of Hootsuite / SocialOomph with Selective Twitter Status

Now It’s Your Turn…

Which status updates scheduler do you like best and how does it fulfill your needs in social networking?

If you’re not into scheduling, kindly share how do you make up for the time lost in social networking during absence or offline hours?

How important is networking to your blogging career?