One key to running a successful online community is knowing what the community wants, when they will want it, and then delivering that to them before they even realize they wanted it in the first place.
Tricky? Yes.
Impossible? No.
Crowdbooster is still in beta, but so far it has shown signs to assist community managers at optimal levels. I was (very briefly) introduced to Crowdbooster at SXSW this past March by Ricky Yean, one of the founders.
It wasn’t until I got back to California and signed up that I realized what a powerful tool this potentially could be. After using the tool for several months, here are 9 ways Community Managers and Strategists can benefit by using Crowdbooster:
- Visualize. Crowdbooster allows you to visualize Tweets by week, month and all time. They are categorized by circle color and size and let you know which Tweets were optimal. (Hint: look for the red circles and figure out what those Tweets were about. Write more like them.)
- Timing Recommendations. Crowdbooster gives you timing recommendations for Twitter and Facebook based on the success of past posts. Community Managers can use these optimal times to post your most important information.
- Scheduler. Crowdbooster allows you to pre-schedule Facebook posts. Sounds like nothing new, right? An added bonus is that you can swap out the image on your post with any image from the Internet, and make the default text even more engaging by adding your own caption, link name and description.
- Who’s Got Klout? If your brand/company is interested in following and interacting with those who have Klout, Crowdbooster has your back. The dashboard has a place where you can check to see if any Klout influencer has decided to follow you. It even prompts you to interact with them.
- Bit.ly Integration. If you use bit.ly, Crowdbooster allows you to link to your bit.ly account. In doing so, Crowdbooster will give you “content recommendations” each morning to find the best links to curate, based on past performance.
- Retweet recognition. Community Managers know its best practice to thank and acknowledge people who are highly engaged and interact with your brand/company. Crowdbooster provides a list of top retweeters so you can call them out!
- Fan recognition. See #6 – Crowdbooster allows you to do this with Facebook as well! Give that highly interactive fan a special shout out or thank you gift. This can go a long way, with little information pulled!
- Take action. See #1. It’s not just a “pretty picture,” there are also action-oriented moves you can make. Click on a big, red circle (or any circle for that matter) and see the stats associated with it. How about looking at the list of the Tweets retweeters and thank them for sharing your content?
- The vain basics. And of course, Crowdbooster has all of your follower and fan growth data. Be vain; pat yourself on the back!
As more and more brands enter the “social” scene, having intelligent tools on your side as a Community Manager will not only help you, but be absolutely critical moving forward. Our clients and companies expect appropriate information delivered and shared. Crowdbooster definitely delivers these insights!