After my last Twitter post  - 10 ways to use Twitter more effectively for social recruiting - I have had a number of people ask me what tools/products and platforms I use for Twitter, and which ones I would recommend. The truth is that there are many 3rd party applications for Twitter that are superb, it is just a question of using the ones that you feel comfortable using and meet your needs. So I thought the best way of recommendation is to share with you what my Twitter Toolbox looks like.

These are the tools I currently use with Twitter:

1. Twitter.com - web and mobile
   The obvious place to start and for many users the only place they go. It does everything but (in my opinion) it doesn't make it as easy to use as Hootsuite for making it visual. I use it most to check all my new followers, as Twitter sends me a daily email with them all on with the link back to Twitter to let you first view the profile for each new follower. And I check every new follower, before I make the decision whether to follow them back or not.
   Also, on iPhone and Ipad, the Twitter apps do seem to load quicker every time, whereas Hootsuite mobile is a little slower, so I probably use Twitter.com more on my mobile devices than the website. 
2. Hootsuite - web and mobile
   This for me is home base for Twitter. It can also manage all your social networks from this one platform (that's a post for another day), but it really brings your Twitter experience to life. [You can use Tweetdeck which is similar, but having tried both, Hootsuite gets my vote big time!] 
   The only limit to you using Hootsuite for Twitter is your imagination, as there are many ways you can set up your columns to make it work for you.
   • Reputation management - your twittername, keywords, brand names etc
   • Managing the Twitterstream - there is no way I could keep track of the 3000+ people I follow without segmenting them into lists. This way I can make sure I am able to follow their tweets and conversations.
   • Tracking people, companies, competitors
   • Following events via hashtags and identifying the attendees as good people to engage with as potential future candidates/clients/influencers
   • Searching (then saving searches to track and monitor)
   • Building Twitter lists of people to follow
   • Finding who are checking into target companies via Foursquare (create a search column with: (Foursquare OR 4sq) AND name AND location)
   • Track candidates that are engaging with the job feeds of your competitors 
   • Managing multiple Twitter accounts from one platform
   • Sharing managing your Twitter account with colleagues
   • Tracking analytics and measurements with custom reports
3. Buffer - web and mobile
   While Hootsuite, does scheduling of posts (and well), I still love using Buffer to schedule posts via Twitter. Why? Because it is so damn easy to do so!
   I have the Chrome browser extension, the app on my iPad and iPhone and that is the trick. All you have to do when reading a great piece of content you want to share, is click the Chrome link or the Bookmark link on the iPhone/iPad, and Buffer does the rest. It creates a tweet, adds the shortened link and then schedules the tweet against your pre-arranged time schedules. You can of course edit each tweet, and using Tweriod (in Buffer) you can even find out the best times to schedule your content for.
   And of course there are the analytics for each tweet sent through Buffer.
4. SocialBro - web
   SocialBro is really an awesome analytical tool. It pretty much tells you everything you need to know about everything in your Twitter account - your followers, who you are following, who you should be following. I simply cannot do it justice here!
   
   • Real-time analytics - who is on Twitter right now!
   • Influencer information
   • Best time to tweet to reach the best audience
   • Find new people to follow from #hashtags, events etc
   • Analyse competitor Twitter accounts
   • Create Twitter lists
   • Analyse (in detail) your followers and who you are following
   • Follow and unfollow people very quickly
   • Monitor #hashtags
   • …….. and so much more!
5. Crowdbooster  - web
    While you can do more with Crowdbooster than I sue it for there is two things I love about this tool. The first is my regular weekly email from them simply telling me my Twitter stats for the week - @mentions, how many new followers, how many new retweets and my most successful tweet of the week. 
   The second thing I love is the graph on line showing the reach and success of all your tweets. Brilliant! And of course you can then drill down to the tweet and look at the retweeters, influencers, reach etc.
6. Followerwonk - web
   I love this tool. Stupid name but brilliant tool! Again it does a whole load of things, but I use it for the Twitter Bio searching. I have yet to find a better way of searching Twitter Bios. The presentation of the results is really clear and gives you a complete deck of all the information you need to know about a particular Twitter account. If you have never used it - go there now, seriously!
7. Listorious.org - web
   The last in my toolbox today and it is (really) just a search tool - but a very powerful one. It search Twitter profiles, but MORE IMPORTANTLY it searches Twitter Lists. And it tells you the content of the list, how many members etc So if you are searching for people to follow in specific sectors, industries, skillsets …… in fact anything you want, then you will likely find a list of those people on Listorious.  

These are the tools I use most, every week. I am always trying new ones out and even revisiting some old favourites like Tweetbeep and Socialoomph, but as of today these are the ones that I would recommend.

What other Twitter tools should I be trying? Which ones do you use most often than work for you - I would love to know in the comments below, so I can give them a try.

Image source here.

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