Tag Archive for 'Twitter'

Building Twitter Followers With Google Follow Finder

Published
by
Ian Smith
on May 7, 2010
in Author-Ian Smith, Internet tools and Web 2.0
. 0 Comments

Here’s a tip for individuals looking to increase the number of followers to their Twitter feed.

Last month, Google introduced, Google Follow Finder via their post, “Google Follow Finder: Find some sweet tweeps“.  The application allows users to enter a Twitter handle or account name with the objective of finding related feeds to expand an user’s network.  Figure 1 is a screen shot of the results for a query using the Greater Halifax Partnership Twitter account, Greater_Halifax.


Figure 1: Google Follow Finder Query For Greater_Halifax

As seen in the image, the application will suggest a “Tweep” or individuals that may interest you and  individuals with similar followers.  In the case of Greater_Halifax, the proposed individual is Carman Pirie of Kula Partners and the common feed between Carman Pirie and Greater_Halifax is halifaxchamber, the Twitter presence of the Halifax Chamber of Commerce

To add a follower, users can simply click on the “follow on Twitter button” that is located on the bottom of each result

Google Follow Finder is available here.

Tweeting or Blogging For Economic Development

Published
by
Ian Smith
on May 5, 2010
in Economic Development, Investment Attraction and Uncategorized
. 0 Comments

Tools that are used as a part of a social media strategy for economic development are free however; it does require hours of work by individuals who manage the content.  When faced with the option of using a blog or a Twitter account, tweeting makes complete sense when time is short.  Twitter allows you to get your message out in 140 characters or less in seconds.

As seen in the post, “Invest In Korea Social Media Tools“, the Korean agency provides relevant and timely information regarding foreign direct investment via InvestinKorea.  This is done within a matter of seconds however; some of the tweets lacks the details needed to inform and convince investors to place money in the country.

And that’s where the art of blogging comes into the social media marketing equation.

Blogging for economic development affords you with the luxury of providing not only facts from other sources but with the analysis of key issues.  Figure 1 is an image of a page from Metro Denver Economic Development Corporation’s blog “Clark’s Cone of Silence” by Tom Clark.

Figure 1: The Cone of Silence Blog

What is important to note in The Cone Of Silence is the appearance of Tom Clark’s photo and biography.  Both elements aids in the promotion of the blog by being an authoritative source for news and analysis for economic development in Metro Denver.  In his post, “Metro Denver makes big impression on national site selectors“, Clark provides a detailed account of a visit with site selectors and Metro Denver’s key locational factors.

Since it would be rather difficult to put all that content into one tweet, it is important to know what sort of information should be available on a Twitter feed and blog in order for each application to be efficient and effective,

Case scenario:

You have just received a mandate to put your city on the radar in terms of investment attraction.  Given a Twitter account and a blog that is already indexed by the top search engines and news aggregators, what kind of content should be posted on each application?

Possible Solution::

Twitter:

  • Link to local news articles on success stories of companies that have invested in the city
  • Link to latest report on city’s innovation climate
  • A tweet from the provincial / state government regarding news about recent changes to incentive programs

Blog:

  • Profiles of new companies investing in the city. (Please note: This should not be a copy of a press release)
  • Assessments of successful incentive programs
  • Photos /videos of events linked to investment attraction initiatives

The purpose of the post is not to discourage economic development agencies from either tool.  The two applications compliment each other and should be used strategically to reach desired objectives.

Do you agree with the possible solution presented for the case scenario mentioned above?  What would you do if you were given the same mandate.  Tell us!!!

Searching For Past Tweets With Google Replay

Published
by
Ian Smith
on April 23, 2010
in Author-Ian Smith, Internet tools and Web 2.0 Search
. 0 Comments

As announced in “Replay it: Google search across the Twitter archive“, Google is giving users the ability to find relevant tweets from February 2010 to the present thanks to Google Replay.  In the upcoming months, Google has plans to access and index all content from the social networking tool since its introduction on March 21st, 2006.

Figure 1 is a screen shot of the result page when the keywords, “investment attraction” is entered into Google Replay.

Google Replay Results For Investment Attraction

Figure 1: Google Replay’s Results For “Investment Attraction”
Please Click On Image To Enlarge

As seen in Figure 1, a timeline is available above the results to access relevant tweets by date.  Selecting March 20th, 2010, Google Replay will list the tweet(s) sent on that day illustrated in Figure 2.

Figure 2: Google Replay’s Results For “Investment Attraction” On March 20th, 2010
Please Click On Image To Enlarge

Users may visit the advanced search section to filter some of the unwanted results.

Google Replay is available at the following link.

Note: It is recommended that Google Replay should be used with the experimental version of Google search to have access to timeline above the results.  Select the “Keyboard shortcuts” option.

Follow Competitive Intelligence Pros On Twitter

Published
by
Ian Smith
on April 19, 2010
in Author-Ian Smith and Competitive & Internet Intelligence
. 4 Comments

Earlier this month, we posted, “Competitive Intelligence Groups On LinkedIn” which provided a listing of groups that practitioners may join to discuss or network with others regardless of their location around the globe. The microblogging application, Twitter, is another tool that can be used to discuss, network and learn from competitive intelligence professionals.  Below is a list of individuals / organizations which I follow @citweetz:

Did I miss a Twitter page solely dedicated to competitive intelligence?  Let met know by leaving a comment below along with  the Twitter handle.

Don’t forget to follow me @citweetz.

SODIL Lanaudière On Twitter

Published
by
Ian Smith
on February 10, 2010
in Author-Ian Smith, Economic Development and Social Media Marketing
. 3 Comments

The topic of this blog is based upon a posting on the Linkedin group, Economic Development Professionals, specifically in the “discussions” section of the group.

A group member brought to our attention a Twitter feed that offers trilingual tweets.

Figure 1 is a screen shot of SODIL Lanaudière Twitter page.

Figure 1: SODIL Lanaudière Twitter page

SODIL Lanaudière is the agency that encourages the development of the Lanaudière (Quebec, Canada) business communities by assisting the region’s SMEs with their projects directly.

The SODIL tweets are made available in French, English and Spanish.  The images in Figure 2, 3 and 4 illustrates the trilingual tweets.

Figure 2: French Tweet

Figure 3: English Tweet

Figure 4: Spanish Tweet

Having the ability to post in more that one language is a benefit and most importantly, it can be a competitive advantage.  Communicating with existing or potential stakeholders of a region in a language that they feel the most comfortable in is a critical aspect in marketing.

Web 2.0 For E-Government?

Published
by
Ian Smith
on November 27, 2009
in Author-Ian Smith and Web 2.0 Strategy
. 1 Comment

Many of the posts on Tools For Thought discuss the use of Web 2.0 applications for economic development initiatives.   Thanks to my colleague, Edouardine Gombe, I would like to provide you with an example of how a social media tool can be utilized in an e-government context.

Villes 2.0 : ces villes qui tweetent! presents the city of San Francisco’s initiative of using Twitter to compliment their customer service requests or complaints call centre.  Introduced in June 2009, SF311 had over 4,600 followers as November 20th, 2009.  Figure 1 illustrates the SF311 page.

Figure 1: SF311 Twitter Page

The city of San Francisco is not alone in terms of offering 311 services via Twitter.  In November 2008, Mayor  Michael R. Bloomberg of New York City unveiled the 311NYC Twitter page as seen in Figure 2.

Figure 2: 311NYC Twitter Page

Have you seen other practical uses of social networking tools for e-government?  If so, tell us!

Web 2.0 and Investment Attraction: UK Trade & Investment

Published
by
Ian Smith
on November 11, 2009
in Author-Ian Smith, Investment Attraction, Social Media Marketing and Web 2.0 Strategy
. 2 Comments

E&B DATA’s recent benchmark study, “Web 2.0 And Business Attraction - Canadian Cities Online Marketing Index” examined how well economic development agencies in large Canadian cities are utilizing social media marketing tools for investment attraction.

Just to show that cities are not the only entities that are using web 2.0 applications, countries have hopped on the bandwagon.  A perfect example is: UK & Trade Investment.

UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) is the government department that helps businesses locate in the UK and grow internationally.   The department’s website ranks amongst the best in class according to Organization for Economic Co-operation Development as stated in The World Bank’s Global Investment Promotion Benchmarking 2009 Summary Report (Please see page 62)

Upon visiting the website, you will be able to spot their collection of social media marketing  tools.  The site provides links to the following applications:

  • Blog - The provides insights on various aspects of trade and investment attraction activities.  UKTI uses a multi-blogger approach by having different staff members post on a regular basis.
  • Twitter - This  page acts as a vehicle to push information regarding  UKTI activities and relevant news items.
  • YouTube - This channel is an outlet to:
    • Learn about London’s success stories
    • Provide information on High Growth Markets
    • Provide country information
    • Access past speeches from Lord Davies - Minister for Trade & Investment
    • Access case studies
  • Flickr - The Flickr photostream allows individuals to view pictures from past business events involving UKTI representatives and ministers.
  • Facebook - The Facebook Fan Page is mainly composed of UKTI staff members and is used to provide updates on new posts on the other social networking platforms.
  • LinkedIn - The LinkedIn group is avenue in which UKTI can bring together trade and investment experts and businesses.  It is interesting to see that the department has created subgroup for business people interested in trade and investment between Canada and the UK.

Figure 1 illustrates the UK Trade & Investment’s Twitter page.

Figure 1: UK Trade & Investment’s Twitter Page
Please click on image to enlarge

UKTI shared their thoughts on their web 2.0 strategy in terms of their objectives and tangible benefits:

Objectives:

  • Reach new audiences: new and existing customers; consultants; the media; other government departments; colleagues
  • Spread the word about UKTI through news and insights
  • Raise awareness of events/initiatives/news
  • Support marketing pushes
  • Be more accessible/responsive/open/two-way
  • Keep track of what is being said about UKTI and have the opportunity to respond direct

Benefits

  • Opportunity to feed back, re-inform and offer further information
  • Increase attendance at events, and in turn increase take-up of UKTI services
  • Reach new audiences and be where conversations are already taking place
  • Positive (unsolicited) tweets about UKTI/services have reached a large and diverse audience (of previously untapped potential customers)
  • A major website traffic driver. Both Linkedin and Twitter are in the top 5 traffic referrers to the investment services website.
  • Drive (trade website) registration by raising awareness of how we can help. Eg, by tweeting business opportunities we are broadening reach beyond the current customer-base

Are you thinking about creating an economic development 2.0 strategy for economic development initiatives such as investment attraction for your city, province or state and/or country?    What are the main challenges that you will have to deal with?   Tell us.

Real-Time Search With Collecta

Published
by
Ian Smith
on October 5, 2009
in Author-Ian Smith, Competitive & Internet Intelligence, Internet tools, Web 2.0 and Web 2.0 Search
. 0 Comments

Real-time search engines are amazing.  Within a matter of keystrokes and a mouse clicks, you can have access of what is being said on social networks minute by minute.  With Collecta, you may track what is posted on an individual’s Twitter page and blog. Figure 1 is the index page of Collecta.

Collecta's Index Collecta

Figure 1: Collecta’s Index Page
Please click on the image to enlarge

Testing this web 2.0 search tool with the keywords, “iPhone” provides the results as of 10:36 am presented in Figure 2.

Figure 2: Collecta’s Results for “iPhone”
Please click on the image to enlarge

Two minutes later, the page with the results is modified with new content.  In this case, a blog enter is found by Collecta as seen in Figure 3.

Figure 3: Collecta’s Results for “iPhone” Two Minutes Later
Please click on the image to enlarge

Collecta is a  tool that should be apart of your toolkit of search applications for the internet searching or competitive intelligence research.

Collecta is available at www.collecta.com

Entreprise Chaleur Adopts Social Media Marketing Strategy With RegionChaleur

Published
by
Ian Smith
on September 10, 2009
in Author-Ian Smith, Economic Development, Social Media Marketing and Web 2.0 Strategy
. 0 Comments

Entreprise Chaleur, an economic development agency located in northeastern New Brunswick is rapidly building its network of stakeholders via its Fan page on Facebook, RegionChaleur.  The goal of the page is to promote the remote region as the best location to invest and live.

Here are a few screen shots of what the page has to offer to its fans and interested individuals.  Please click on the images to enlarge the screen shots.

The Wall with current local news headlines and associated links on the web

Photos illustrating the beauty of the region

This Facebook initiative is just a part of the Entreprise Chaleur integrated social media marketing strategy for economic development.   To complement the fan page, Entreprise Chaleur has a Twitter page and a Flickr account.

In the past few weeks, the initiative has received some attention from the media specifically by Radio-Canada and L’Acadie Nouvelle.

To become a fan of RegionChaleur, please log onto Facebook and click here.  Be sure to click on the “Become A Fan” button.

Real Time Searching With Addictomatic

Published
by
Ian Smith
on September 9, 2009
in Author-Ian Smith, Competitive & Internet Intelligence, Economic Intelligence, Internet tools, Web 2.0 and Web 2.0 Search
. 0 Comments

This tool is not new however; it is very handy for individuals who need to conduct real time searches when it comes to the web 2.0.

Addictomatic permits users to perform internet searches taking into account the content available on a wide array of web 2.0 or online social media platforms such as Digg, YouTube, Twitter, Flickr just to list a few.

Screenshot of Index page of Addictomatic

Here is screenshot of the result page for a search query using the keywords, “foreign direct investment”.

Please click on the image to enlarge

It is recommended that you test out this tool to see the long list of resources that are consulted to supply you with relevant results.

Addictomatic is available at http://addictomatic.com/