With Hootsuite’s recent launch of their updated statistics module, marketers now have a one-stop-shop for tracking high level statistics for Facebook, Twitter and even their website.

Source: HootSuite

The easy-to-navigate interface lets you pick from a variety of snapshot statistics like:

• Twitter Profile Summary
• Twitter Mentions by Influencers
• Ow.ly Clicks by Region
• Facebook Insights: Daily Likes
• Facebook Insights: Gender Summary
• Google Analytics: Twitter to Web Conversion

Plus, you have the option to add in areas for headers and text to provide summaries or additional information.

While reporting is not available with the free version of HootSuite, at the Pro level and even Enterprise level, companies can provide management or event clients with a quick look at how their social media networks are performing without the hassle of creating a report from scratch.

With so many programs, including the launch of HootSuite’s analytics, what are people benefiting from the most? Is it the value-added metrics provided by sites like HootSuite, or are you tracking statistics by monitoring each site individually?

So you now have your Facebook page set up and have built a nice community of close-knit friends, some family, surprising blasts from the past and maybe a few retail stores and restaurants.  And you are feeling good and established, only to learn that…

NOW EVERYONE IS TALKING ABOUT TWITTER!
Both in under and over 140 characters, Twitter is popping up everywhere. Do you ever feel that by the time you are caught up, everyone is on to the next best thing?

[For the uninitiated:  Twitter is a social microblogging utility (turned marketing vehicle) that aims to keep people connected in real-time.   Twitter consists of microbloggers meaning they can message, or “tweet” as many times as they like, but they must stay within 140 characters.  In Twitter, be brief, or cut off.]

Here is some advice to help you get started, grow and ultimately succeed on Twitter:

STEP ONE: Create your Account
1.    Include a bio.  Twitter behavior has shown that people are 6x more likely to follow you if you disclose a few interesting things about yourself.
2.    Include a company logo or profile image.  Show the Twitter world who you are!  Don’t be caught as the sad brown shape with the two blue circles in it.  Yawn.  Be sure to personalize your account, whether you are creating a branded business account or a personal one.
3.    Include a link.  Like a bio, here too people are 6x more likely to follow you.  Give them a call to action, a path and let them seek out more about you.  Otherwise, you are saying you are happy to be a dead end.
4.    Identify yourself.  Are you the CEO of a major company?  The “Official President of the Terrance and Philip Fan Club?”  Share it.

STEP TWO: Build your World
1.    Become a follower. (who ever thought that would be good advice?)  In order to entice more people to follow you, you too must be willing to follow.  Most likely, unless you are a celebrity, you won’t naturally have tons of people following you.  Interestingly, even in the world of celebrity, those that choose to follow have much greater success than those that don’t.  Following demonstrates that you are open for conversation- and isn’t that what Twitter is all about?
2.    Follow top users.  Perhaps some people are just overwhelmingly interesting.  Or maybe they are people of influence who are inaccessible otherwise.  Either way, whether it be Barack Obama or Lance Armstrong, you may enjoy following top users, and you may learn the secrets for what it takes to be followed in the process.  In addition, following the followed opens you up to their large network of followers.  And it is possible they may even choose to follow you.
3.    Import contacts from existing email accounts.  Twitter was thoughtful.  They know the pain and suffering that results from having to rebuild a new community every time you “move” within the social media world.  To assist with this, Twitter allows you to search your existing Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo, AOL and MSN accounts to find contacts that already have a Twitter account. Now tell Twitter thank you.
4.    Share your new Twitter account.  Promote your new Twitter world on your web site and business cards, and in your email marketing and elevator pitch.  Tell your Facebook, Digg, Myspace networks that you are now tweeting.  You didn’t build a presence on those powerful online communities for nothing.

STEP THREE: Go!
1.    Go ahead, get out there.  And remember Rome wasn’t built in a day. Start talking.  Tweet.
2.    Interact.  Remember that Twitter is not a broadcast and that you are not on a megaphone on the top of the tallest mountain.  Twitter is  a discussion, a conversation.  Discuss.  Converse.
3.    Avoid TMI.  There is a fine line between getting personal and getting creepy.   No offense, but unless you are a celebrity, no one wants to know your dirt.  Be professional. Some occasional cunning randomness doesn’t hurt, but even with that, moderation is key.
4.    Be interesting. Be engaging.  Be relevant.  Be clever.  Be real.  Talk about news, events and awesomely random facts. Talk about something cool you discovered at work–or at play.  Respond to others.  Talk about something you purchased and love.  Talk about something you purchased and hate (you never know who just may find you). Share links–use a tiny URL to keep you under 140 characters.  Be a resource.
5.    Be active and consistent.  A strong constant presence is just that– strong, constant and present.  Be a reliable part of the online conversation.  Studies show that the Tweet best practice is somewhere between 15-25 tweets a day.   This is doable, while still allowing for survival essentials like sleeping, eating and bathing.  Keep in mind there is also a power in limiting how much you tweet, as people often listen when the silent guy finally speaks.
6.    Don’t over-self promote.  This is your warning: it will be obvious, you will annoy people and they will stop following you.
7.    Mobilize.  Because most people are not strapped to a computer all day, many tweet on their mobile device.  Shaq is doing it– on the bench during games.    You never know when you will have something to say.

Using Twitter Specifically for Business?
There are some special pointers just for you:

1.    Create a branded business account.  This account differs from the personal John Smith, CEO of Company X account.  This account is traditionally more formal, but it still allows you to connect with people as a brand.
2.    Search your brand name and your keywords.  See what people are saying about you and your industry.  Learn if they are saying anything at all.  Save the good (can you say testimonials?) and repair the bad (have customer service respond and assist, or better yet respond and assist yourself.)
3.    Offer value. Announce sales and deals.  New Products and trends.  Talk about contests and free giveaways.  Promote events.  Share breaking news and “How to’s.”
4.    Don’t fear the Twitter.  With the influx of all the social media, many companies are nervous.  Thoughts like “How do I know what my employees are saying?” and “What if my brand is poorly communicated?” are swirling about.  Twitter works in real-time, meaning no time for content approval.  If you plan to add Twitter to your marketing mix, it is time for your employees to prove that they can practice good judgment, extend your brand, and promote your company through Twitter.  Otherwise, concern yourself instead with the stack of faxes that is probably waiting on your desk.

And finally, while you are at it, follow us!

New media-heads have been busy.  Long hours have been spent polishing our crystal balls, and developing our (un)tried and true predictions for the implications of Social Media for 2009.  That being said, feast your eyes on our 2009 Social Media forecast:

1.  Consumer satisfaction / customer service are absolute musts!
Be good to your clients & customers, or they will dislike you, and defame on Youtube, Facebook, & Twitter, to name a few accessible soapboxes.

2.  Companies hire “Community Managers.”
The power of social media has actually produced a new occupational trade.  Unemployed?  Want to turn consumer frowns upside down?  Companies that struggle with Rule #1 are finding a growing need to temper moods of unsatisfied customers, with either the goal to keep them loyal – or simply keep them quiet.  Community managers also serve to facilitate active communications with the companies’ biggest fans, fostering residual applause and flattery, without the PR agency price tag.

3. Yes, we are on the air…
We are going to see everything as it happens, in real-time through a variety of media sources/ networks.  Oh yes, we will see the good, the bad and everything else – with little to buffer us from our connected, streaming worlds.  Have kids?  “Earmuffs!”

4. Do you MOSOSO?
Mobile Social Software will rush in full-force, and like everything else,  join the list of things “we don’t know how we ever lived without.”

5.  All aboard the Social Media train!
Tightened budgets will not thwart marketing activity in 2009.  Instead, 2009 will be full of smarter marketing.  Investing in “community” is free, and proving more effective than even the costliest of media.  A Social Media presence takes time and these communities are not built overnight.  Good thing you hired your community manager yesterday.  Even the B2B’s will come out to play, producing private online networks.  There, they can personally connect with and serve their clients, with both parties taking a collaborative dip in the community pool.

6.  Social Capital is the new SEO (Search Engine Optimization).
With over 600,000 Facebook users joining daily, and over 3 million “tweets” on Twitter a day…much of the Internet has been occupied by social media conversation.   Social Capital is the power of one’s social network in referring business. To gain social capital, you must link to, and develop relationships with others that are also well connected.  In the same way blogs changed our search results in the last couple years, social media is doing the same.

7.  Some fear becoming white noise.
With everyone networking and talking online, (including dogs – http://apps.facebook.com/dogbook/) … at what point will it be too much?  With the exponential growth of this online world, overpopulation and limited resources are both looming threats.  You may be wondering, “If I speak, will anyone hear me?”  This is why managing your presence closely and creatively is of growing importance.

So get ready for Social Media in 2009 – everybody and their brother!

A year full of online blabbing, some love, some slander, corporate damage control, better customer service, real reality TV, increased driving distractions, cost-effectiveness, smarter marketing, a new way to tackle SEO, weird dog owners talking through their pets, and the challenge to perpetually evolve and reinvent ourselves within the ever-changing new media landscape.