There are lots of tools emerging that appear to give us wonderful statistics and data about Twitter and it’s hard to know which data we actually want and how we want to receive it.
As Twitter's API has been undergoing a few changes recently, we wanted to give an overview of the information that you can still get from the platform itself and then provide some guidance on the best way to measure the data.
There are four main areas of Twitter data:
1. User data - relates to the user who posted the message.
2. Friend and follower data - relates to the relationship a user has to other users.
3. Tweet data - all the details and content relating to a particular tweet.
4. Places and Geographic data - the geographic and location based aspects relating to a person or twee.
To measure the data there are also four main measurements that we use to understand the impact of activities on Twitter:
1. Impressions - aggregated users exposed to messages.
2. Reach - number of unique users exposed to a message.
3. Frequency - number of times each unique user reached is exposed to a message.
4. Relevancy - reach to specific demographics.
When it comes to the ROI of these messages it's important to think about how they compare to your other channels in terms of reach and impressions.
Take a look at the presentation below - we hope it helps to reveal some of the Twitter data you can access and ways in which you might go about measuring it.
3. Data on Twitter
User data: Users are at the centre of everything on Twitter: they follow,
favourite, tweet and re-tweet.
Friend & Follower data: Users follow each other through both
one-way and mutual following relationships on Twitter.
Tweet data: Tweets are the atomic building blocks of Twitter; 140 -
character status updates with additional associated metadata. People
tweet for a variety of reasons about a multitude of topics.
Places & GeoUser data: Attach a place or location to tweets, or
discover the location of tweets from all around the world.
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4. User data
Use the Twitter API to find out:
| User ID | Screename | Username | Favourites | Account restrictions | Biography | Picture | URL | Location
Return user data
information for up to 100
123213213
users, specified by either
user ID, screen name, or a
123213213
combination of the two. 123213213
123213213
Access the profile Run a search for users, similar
image in various sizes. to the ‘Find People’ button on
Twitter.com.
If you return extended user data information for a given user through the API,
(specified by ID) the author's most recent status (tweet) will be returned inline.
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5. Friend and follower data
Use the Twitter API to find out:
Followers | Following | IF following | IF not following | Relationship to | Multiple relationships to
IDs for every user IDs for every user the
following the specified user. Allows you to specified user is following.
test for the
existence of
friendship and
details about
the relationship
between two
users.
If you send 100 screen names or
user IDs in a csv file to the Twitter
API it will tell you the relationship to
the authenticated user (ie, follower,
following, no relationship).
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6. Tweet data
User the Twitter API to find out:
Tweet ID | Tweet content | Tweet creation date | ID of original tweet | Screen name & ID of original author
Show user ids for up to 100 users
who retweeted a status.
123213213 123213213 123213213 123213213
Search up to 100 of the
first retweets for a A single status, specified by the id
given tweet. parameter, will return the author’s most
recent status (tweet) inline.
123213213
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7. Places and GEOuser data
Use the Twitter API to find out:
Selected Language | Tweet coordinates | Type of place | Place name | Country |
Return information about a known
place or location.
Search for trends via
place names.
Search for
tweets near a
place.
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8. Limitations of the API
• Twitter only stores 6-9 days worth of tweets so historical search is
limited.
• A very small percentage of tweets are accurately geo-coded,
(estimation is about 1%).
• 150 unauthenticated (when not signed in) data request calls are
permitted per hour to the API. 350 authenticated calls (when signed
in) are permitted per hour.
• A search can only return 1500 results at a time.
NB: Most free tools that can be used to measure Twitter can access all
or parts of this data but usually fall victim to the API limitations
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10. Measuring Twitter - Impressions
• The aggregated number of followers that
have been exposed to a brand/message.
A B C D E
• This is a top line measurement which does
not take into account individuals seeing
multiple messages.
• The danger of this metric is that it does not
X highlight if a message has spread across a
narrow or wide audience.
Impressions = 5
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11. Measuring Twitter - Reach
C
• The total number of unique users exposed
to a message/brand.
D
A
• If an individual sees a company message
E
twice from different sources, the reach
F
figure is still only one.
B
G
Impressions = 8
H Reach = 6
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12. Measuring Twitter - Frequency
D
• The number of times each unique user
E
reached is exposed to a message.
A
F
• Frequency is important as it increases the
G likelihood of message retention by a user.
B
H
Impressions = 12
I
C
Reach = 8
J Frequency = 1.5
K
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13. Measuring Twitter - Relevance
• Whilst it is great to reach a high
number of people, if the message is of
no interest to them, it will not resonate.
• It is therefore essential to reach the
Target specific
demographics right people with the appropriate
message – be relevant.
• Measure reach to specific
demographics and then, if necessary,
re-target your campaign.
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14. Some initial tools to consider
Tweet Reach - http://tweetreach.com/
Useful tool with a simple user interface. Provides reach and impression data.
Twitter Analyser - http://www.twitteranalyzer.com/
For reviewing Twitter accounts. Can show reach, follower growth, follower
activity and more.
Tweet Grader - http://tweet.grader.com/
Find out specifics about people you intend to target and how the site ‘grades’
them.
Twitalyzer - http://twitalyzer.com
Useful for comparing tweets. Could be used for industry benchmarking.
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15. ROI
While you may have a high number of ‘followers’ on Twitter, it is important to
clearly demonstrate your Return On Investment (ROI) in measures that are
comparable to other marketing disciplines.
www.jenders.com/blog/2011/04/25/calculate-social-media-roi-through-
impressions/
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18. About us
FreshNetworks is a pure-play John Fell – Account
social media agency. Manager
We help global brands, like john.fell@freshnetworks.com
Telefónica, Allianz and Jimmy
Choo, engage customers,
develop advocacy and drive
sales.
Our strategies blend creative
Richard Dalke – Account
concepts with technical
Manager
deployment, and the metrics,
framework and key performance richard.dalke@freshnetworks.com
indicators we set help businesses
get measurable value from social
media.