One of the odd things people seem to have a problem with is tracking their buzz on Twitter. So, I figured I will take all the guess work out of it and give you an easy way to do it. When it comes to marketing a brand on Twitter, this is something you must be able to do and its actually very easy. Just keep in mind that regardless of what results you end up with, you need to keep tweeting and building your account before real results are possible.

Lets take a look at this technique. All you need for this is Twitter’s own search engine at search.twitter.com. By using the Boolean search features mixed with a few of Twitter’s search operators we can construct a query to see all the tweets that mention your name, but keep out tweets that where made by you.

The Query: smmguru OR “tyler colwell” -from:smmguru

This will show me all of the tweets containing my username or real name on Twitter. Once you have the query set up to our liking you could even take your monitoring a step further and build some type of widget to aggregate the RSS feed from the Twitter search into… something like your Wordpress dashboard. Over all this will just give you a much better idea of all the mentions you are missing in your regular usage.

Another great use for this technique is finding new people to build into your community. A lot of the people you find in your search could be those who are not yet followers. By replying to them and following those that you like they will most likely return the favor as they have already come into contact with your content (at least on Twitter.)

I have already showed you how to own Fark and now it’s time to own Facebook, using Twitter. If you tweet a lot or you have some type of auto-tweeting going on (hello API!) then this will already be an easy task for you. By taking advantage of the Twitter App for Facebook you can easily start to drive traffic that’s generated from your Facebook page.

The way the application works, every time you make a tweet on Twitter your Facebook status is updated. Why is this good? Whenever one of your friends on Facebook logs in they see the people who have most recently updated their status. So if you are constantly tweeting or have a Twitter Bot to do it for you, you will always be at the top of your friends’ Facebook page.

Traffic benefits aside, there are also other aspects to this technique. As more and more people see that you are tweeting away, they may become curious about Twitter and join. Using your account as the catalyst means they are very likely to follow you if they create an account increasing your network and power. And because the new accounts already know you or have some type of relationship with you on Facebook, you have built a stronger social network around yourself.

Go try it and by the end of next week I guarantee you will have an increased followship on Twitter.

When it comes to social media, building a relationship with your users is the first step. Naturally CRM or Customer Relationship Management should be a part of your campaign if not a major part of it. A perfect example of the power a well managed social media campaign along with CRM is Obama becoming America’s 44th President.

The Obama camp took advantage of many social media outlets to increase their influence amongst the younger generations and obviously it worked. They developed relationships on networks including Twitter, LinkedIn, MySpace, Facebook, and others. The Barack Obama website also played a large role in connecting people with Obama. While it is obvious that Barack himself does not manage, reply, and update these accounts on his own you can still see what a major role social media marketing can play. I think that without leveraging social media the way that the Obama camp has, their early victory may have been delayed or possibly never happened at all.

By focusing on creating a more one on one relationships with citizens, the Obama camp developed a highly scalable social media campaign that proves SMM is not just for bloggers and affiliate marketers. Their campaign was designed to:

• Get the message out, more importantly to the young people.
• Keep the message fresh.
• Stick to their story and let the truth be known.
• Track and stay in touch with interested visitors.
• Develop a worthwhile, engaging relationship with voters.

Non the less it was interesting to see what a major difference the online presence made. While social media played a large role in Barack’s win, I still think John Mccain would have won if he campaigned the way he did his concession speech. I think they went the wrong direction trying to make Mccain appeal to an audience he should not have and it cost him the election.

For some reason people think Digg is the only website that can send them traffic in their social media campaign. I am here to tell you a secret so devious, so true in nature that it may be shocking: Digg is not the only source of social media traffic. Whether you have been unpleasantly banned from Digg, or you are looking for a new network to establish yourself in, it’s time to start looking.

I am not an SEO and have no formal SEO training (who needs it?) but I do know that relying on Digg alone is pretty much like relying just on organic search rankings. You can’t put all your eggs in one basket, certainly not when it comes to social media marketing.

Digg as a time waster.
Obviously reaching the front page of Digg can bring a lot of goodies but let’s look at something else for once. The time and effort you spend trying to get there. For most Digg users trying to make the front page may seem like luck while for some it seems like every post becomes popular. While there is a small bit of luck involved it’s more Digg itself that has become the problem. The community is full of highly volatile users who love to bury content at even the slightest hint of linkbait.

Which is better in the end?
You can spend countless hours trying to get the immature Digg audience to promote your content, or you can move on. Move on to a variety of new networks that not only drive traffic and backlinks but help build a more targeted audience. For most, if you put the amount of time into other networks that you do at Digg, you will reap much larger rewards.

Design Float [Design]
A network focusing on design across many mediums, Design Float does not send much traffic but gives you access to many bloggers in the niche.

Bazooka Buzz [General News]
This is a Swedish network that sends a few thousands hits per popular story. The great part, stories can be written and submitted in English.

eBaumsWorld eLinks [Offbeat]
eBaums world has been around for a long time and has the power to drive a lot of traffic and links. Funny images and videos are the norm so if that’s your niche you are good to go. On another note the kid who started the site (Eric Bauman) went to my high school and turned the website into a multi-million dollar giant over the course of 2 years. The website started with videos of teachers getting pissed off in class at him for pulling pranks.

Cracked Pipeline [Offbeat]
This is more of a humor based network that you can exploit like Fark. If you are taking an offbeat approach to your linkbait, this is a network you defiantly want to try.

Meneame [General News]
A popular Spanish social media site that can easily send you a few thousand hits per submission, and even more links to go with it.

Lipstick [Celebrity]
Think of Lipstick as the Reddit of celebrity news. It won’t be crashing your server but a decent post can bring targeted traffic and great backlinks.

SugarLoving [General News]
By submitting your content here, you run the chance of having it pushed to other blogs in the Sugar Inc. network.

Keep in mind that I left out a few that you should already know like Mixx, Sphinn, Shoutwire, and Fark as I have covered them in various posts. Also don’t forget about all of these social networks as well.

Now that you know how to make a Twitter bot you may be looking to add some more functionality to it. One problem you may run into after some time is that you keep recycling or re-sending the same messages to Twitter. For example, you have 100 facts about your self and you don’t want any of them to appear twice but you want everything to be automated. How do you do this? Easy, just add a status field to your `tweets` table.

Step 1 - Add the field.
To add the field you can use the simple graphical interface in phpMyAdmin or use the SQL tab (or alternative) to run this code:

ALTER TABLE `tweets` ADD `status` VARCHAR(10) NOT NULL;

What this will do is create a new field in your tweets table with 10 characters of space for that messages status. We will be setting them all to “ready”, and later changing our PHP code to update them as we go along.

Step 2 - Set all tweets to ready.
After you have the new field added to your database you will need to set all of the tweets you want to use to ‘ready’ status. In this example, only tweets with the status set to ‘ready’ can be randomly selected.

While inside of phpMyAdmin (SQL tab) or what ever tool you use, go to the page that allows you to run MySQL commands on your tables and enter this code:

UPDATE `tweets` SET `status` = ‘ready’

Alternatively you can pick which ones you want to use if you already have some tweets that you wish not to recycle. This SQL command will update every tweet/message you have in your database so use it wisely.

Step 3 - Modify PHP to update tweet status in database.
Our third an final step is to modify the php script so it will change the status of every used tweet. To do this, we will make a few simple changes to our original code.

First off, we have to change the MySQL query so it will only pull random messages with “ready” status:

For our second change, we will need to get the ID number of the tweet from the database and pass it to the sendTweet() function we will modify in a moment:

Then we modify our sendTweet() function to handle the tweet’s ID, and then change its status if the message is successfully sent to Twitter:

Now it’s all ready to role. Now every time a message is pulled from the database and sent to Twitter (successfully) it will have it’s status changed to “used” taking it out of the possible messages to send. Just upload your new php file, re-activate your CRON job and have some fun.

There are quite a few uses I could think of for an automated Twitter bot that posts new tweets for you throughout the day. While this sounds like it would be a hard task it’s actually quite easy and a great project for anyone who wants to learn how to use the Twitter API within PHP. Lets get started.

Step 1 - Create your database.
When creating your database there are a number of things you may want to think of ahead of time. For the sake of making things easy I chose to tone down the code I use and show you how it works. We will create a simple table to store all of the random tweets in.

Run that SQL and you should have a new “tweets” table in your chosen database. Notice how we limited the `tweet` field to 140 characters as well so we don’t have tweets that are too long to appear on Twitter.

Step 2 - Create the PHP to send the tweet.
The next step is to create a php script that will randomly select one of your tweets, and then send it to your Twitter account via Twitter’s API. While this sounds complicated, its very easy to do.

Not to bad right? Our custom sendTweet() function pretty much takes care of all the dirty work in sending the message to Twitter. Just make sure you edit the code with your password and username for Twitter, and the MySQL login. Once you have your database populated you are all good to go and test the script to see if it works. Just upload it, run it, and you should see either “fail” or “success” on your screen.

Step 3 - Automate with CRON.
After going to Twitter and checking your account to confirm everything is copacetic, it’s time to let your monster loose. Depending on what host you use, CRON access may or may not be available to you. Luckily for me I am hosted with MediaTemple so this is not a problem.

• Script Location - When using CRON you normally want to upload the file being run into a folder that nobody has access to from the web (root). After you have it in this location, just plug it into CRON with ‘php’ in front of it. Example: php /home/user/root/TwitterBot.php
• Set The Time - I don’t think I have ever used a control panel that required you to manually enter the time format… I’m pretty sure most people use cPanel which also has drop downs to select when you would like the script to run. I like to run my Twitter bot every 25 minuets or so to keep my Twitter account fresh.

That’s it! Not to hard right… If you have any in-depth questions on the code or need help, feel free to leave a comment. Also leave one if you have usage ideas, new features that could make the script better. As you can now see, this is a valuable tool to have in your chest.

A lot of making something popular in social media is who you know. Exercising a few of these techniques and learning from your mistakes will allow you to create better content, and network with people who can make it more visible. If you want your content to go popular on social networks, it has to be good. People won’t just promote it because it’s there. They may promote it just because of the headline, but not just because its there.

The headline is not up to par.
Without a kick-ass headline your dead before your pretty much DOA. Headlines are a tip that I seem to stress over and over because even still people do not listen. I have seen great content that fails on social media sites because the writer decided to use a dumb ass title that had little or no bite to it. Take a few minuets to write up a list of other possible titles, and see if you find one that you like.

Who da’ fu©k is you?
One thing I have found that a lot of big bloggers hate, is when their content is submitted by a nobody on a given social network. Why does it bother them? Someone who spams and does not take the time to build an account often does not have the number of friends or likely visitors to promote content and make it popular. If you are not yet in a position to submit your own content, make sure whoever does is up to the task. Don’t waste your good content on nobodies.

Find your target.
Finding your target audience has also been covered about a billion times. Pretty much every type of marketing requires you have some idea of what your target audience is and social media is no different. Even if you are just trying to drive some traffic to a blog you will need to place your content in front of the right eyes. There are many ways to do this and its imperative you take advantage if you want you content to become more popular.

Why do you submit at dinner time?
Timing can be very important, especially on some social networks like Digg, Mixx, and Sphinn. Submitting your content in the evening and late at night seems to do no good so learn from other’s trials. If content performs better earlier in the day then why do you continue to submit your content at 5 PM? The topic can also come into play with the time. For instance business related news probably won’t perform well on the weekends considering most business takes place during the week. Think about what you are doing when you go to submit your content.

How does it look?
Make your content easy to read, easy to navigate, quick, and to the point. Remember you are online and people move fast. Dragging out every bit of information will not get you anywhere, and most likely create more people who don’t like your site than those that do. Make sure some part of the content is above the fold and the font is easy to read. Another fun tactic is to insert an eye catching image or graphic to go along with your content. Also take into account your ad spaces and whether or not there may be to many, if I go to a site and the first thing I notice are three giant AdSense blocks that tab will be closed in seconds.

Content with no audience.
Lets face it, people like what they like and chances are that more popular topics will be easier to create a website around. If you are creating content for crap flavored soda you might have a hard time getting people to read about it. In order to have something become popular, you will need a large amount of people interested in that topic or niche. Even if your niche is not that popular, learn to go outside of it and draw traffic with the use of other niches.

Tag and categorize correctly.
This is very important on sites like Mixx, and more importantly StumbleUpon where your tags and categories will play a heavy role in the content’s visibility on that network. Use big broad keywords that describe your content and appeal to large groups of people. For instance instead of tagging your post about Dog food with the keyword “dog food,” you can use terms such as “pets”, “animals”, “food”, and others. Broad categories receive more traffic which means more possible eyes for your content.

Be prepared for failure as it is inevitbale. Not every piece of content will become viral and bring you all kinds of traffic, comments, and backlinks. That’s why its important to know where you can go wrong, and capitalize on those making the same mistakes. Practice using these tips and I can assure you that your content will get better and better. I find that most of the people who fail are those thinking strictly about monetary gains. There is nothing wrong with this but most of the time people have a tendency to overlook some of the easiest ways to make the content more valuable.

When it comes to social media there is more to it then building backlinks, and getting some pages indexed in Google. Its about building authority, visibility, and a brand for your company. To use social media effectively (especially as a business) you need to make more valuable connections with your audience and then you can really reap the benefits of a social media campaign.

1. Pitch to your audience not everyone. You think this would be an obvious factor, certainly when it comes to marketing but a lot of the time people do not focus on their audience. In order for your content to go hot it needs to be submitted to the right network, and be written for the right audience. You will see certain patterns of content that performs better on various sites than it would on others. Take note of these things and use them in the future.

2. Research your market. If you go in shooting blind, you may get a hit or you might get hit. Submitting your content to a social media site without doing any research will most likely not work, and possibly do more damage than it does good. Find some social networks that fit your niche and then start building an account there (power user status) before you start to submit your own content to the masses.

3. Make the selling transparent. Another beginner mistake is acting as the snake oil salesman. Constantly trying to push your services or affiliate products will not get you anywhere if you have not developed a brand yet. You need to first build an audience that has some level of respect and activity within the social network itself. Stop submitting car insurance links and promoting products, and instead contribute content that others can use and share and you will see the reward is much greater.

4. Be a member of the community. Ignoring a social media community will do nothing but work against you. Face it, your the new kid on the block and you need to show people what you are about to build your credibility. In order to do this you need to become active in your social network’s community. Start to build a following, and go outside of the network as well. Leave comments on submissions, and on relevant blogs from your network. The more friends you make, the better you chances of obtaining success become.

5. Remain relevant in your niche. If you have not figured out yet, relevance is possibly the big secret most people don’t think of. If your site revolves around Halloween candy and you post a page about shaving razors people will not only be sketched out by the combination of the two, but chances are the content will not perform or do anything for your site. Break news in your industry or niche and give your unique insight, also make sure you are submitting your content to the right places.

6. Design-age. Regardless of how well put together your content is, people need to read it. Visuals are almost as important as the content itself as a web user will take less than a second to decide whether or not they like your website based on the layout alone. Finding free Wordpress templates or creating your own really is not that hard, and adds a lot to your website.

7. Give back to others. By promoting content that’s not yours you will be seen in a brighter light on many social networks. If you are blogging, this includes linking to relevant blog posts and actively commenting on other blogs. When it comes to social media marketing, if you are new then you are only going to get back what you put in. If you want to be an asshole, promote your own content, and never link to anyone you have to wait until you have some success and experience under your belt.

8. Posting in trilogy. Very often you will find that a piece of content can become wildly popular even though you never thought it would. Learn from these types of situations and learn how you can spin new content from them. Try to write a popular post that follows after the original content and ride the wave as long as you can.

9. Headline creation does matter. Without a great title you have nothing. Even when you think that you have something amazing on the first try, take that headline and find five new ways to write it. I bet you will find one that is way better than what you had originally. You do not need to be a genius to write titles, just stop being lazy and you will see what you have been missing out on.

10. Stop boring people. Most people have a tendency to scan the page when they are reading online. If you can create easy to follow content that can be scanned through just as quick you will be in good standings. Do this by using bold headings for important points, and numbers/bullets for lists. the more people can take in over a short period of time, the better your chances are they will like the content and share it.

Now that you know the secrets you know the truth. There is no magic or smoke and mirrors involved with social media marketing. It takes practice, time, and work to find out what works. Once you learn what works you find ways to push this knowledge to the limit and find new ways to benefit off of it.

You should know by now that Twitter has become a pretty powerful player in the social media space and it should defiantly be a tool you have under your belt. For the number of people it allows you to connect and quickly chat with it has obvious benefits of use. So how can you use it to find hot trends across the web?

• TweetMeem - Allows you to track and search memes in a useful threaded style. It will also show you exactly how many Twitterers are passing around the meme as well.



• TwitScoop - In the form of a tag cloud, TwitScoop shows “what’s hot right now” and the latest hot trends can be found on the “Hot Trends” list. You can also browse the list of discussions by hovering over an item.



• Twitter(url)y - This is another TwitterMeme type tool that tracks Tiwtter memes in a Digg style manor where Tweets are to the memes, what Diggs are to Digg stories.



• SiteVolume - This is another handy tool that also pulls data from other social sites as well. Using the Goolge “site:” search operator, SiteVolume pulls data for Digg, MySpace, YouTube, Flickr, and Twitter to compare up to five terms.

There are plenty of lists of Twitter tools but I wanted to point out a few specifically that could be used to track trends and discussions across the web. Although the tools are Twitter based, there are a lot of Twitter users talking about a lot of different things making it a good place to look for trends. Using the the tools you can find trends that are hot, or that may become hot in the future.

A new survey of data from the Opinion Research Coproration (1,092 consumers) found that 85% of social media users thought companies should interact with them through social media. For those trying their hand in social media marketing to gain traction this is a good thing to hear. The trend is becoming apparent and web users are becoming more fickle. They are tired of being bombarded with ads, and instead are looking for interactive and well managed social media marketing campaigns.

Out of all the people in the study, only 5% of them felt companies should not be in social media at all. On the other hand 8% of the subjects felt it would be ok for companies to have a presence in social media but not interact while 51% felt that social media marketing was ok if the interaction was somewhat limited. The remaining 34% of the study group felt companies should go full throttle with their social media strategies.

As always looking through the charts will show that online retailers are early to the game. With an ever competitively growing market, looking for new ways to connect with consumers has been priority number one for most companies lately and that’s exactly what social media marketing allows them to engage in. While there are tons of social media sites to network on, companies seem to be sticking to the big boys like Facebook, MySpace, and YouTube.

While the line between interaction and advertising becomes more grey it should be interesting to see how spam plays a role. Many users often feel like online ads are intrusive but when you think about it social media marketing is even more intrusive but the key is making it transparent and credible. These people have accepted brands and business into their online social network and now those companies have their foot in the door.