Analyse the numbers behind your tweets with Twitter Analytics

Twitter will undoubtedly be part of your social media arsenal but if it’s not, why not? After all, Twitter has evolved into a highly effective audience engagement tool and any brand that’s serious about its image should have a lively Twitter following.

Since its foundation in 2006, Twitter has undergone an evolution which has seen more and more features added to the social network over the years. And now it’s time for Twitter Analytics to enter the public spotlight and be rolled out to everyone.

Actually, it’s been quite a month for social media analytics what with Pinterest’s new analytical platform now available to users who have a business account and now Twitter Analytics getting the green light for widespread usage.

But what is Twitter Analytics and will it benefit you as a Twitter user?

Twitter Analytics is a tool that advertisers and some verified users have been using for a few months now. Anyone who uses Google Analytics will embrace Twitter’s platform with open arms. The two function very similarly, with Twitter Analytics offering everything you could want in a tool for analysing your tweets.

First, there’s the ability to see how many impressions your tweets have received; in other words, how many times users have seen your tweet on Twitter. You can also discover how many people have marked your post as one of the favourites; the amount of times people have clicked on your profile; the number of replies and retweets and so on.

Additionally, there is the functionality to actually see how many people directly engaged with one of your tweets and you can also gain an insight into what their engagement was – great for content marketers wanting to see what’s hitting the spot with their audiences.

Twitter let everyone know that their analytics platform was now available to all in the most apt way – via a tweet!

Twitter engineer Ian Chan tweeted: “Absolutely thrilled to open up access to analytics.twitter.com to EVERYONE. Check it out, and let us know what you think!

As with most things though, there are certain criteria that your account needs to meet before you can start using Twitter Analytics. First and foremost, your account must have been open for at least 14 days and not be protected, restricted or suspended. Furthermore, your posts need to primarily be written in English, Spanish, French or Japanese.

Twitter’s decision to open up their analytics platform to everyone is actually rather symbolic. Historically, the only way for non-advertisers to gain insights into the numbers behind their tweets was by using third-party applications. Twitter Analytics means that more people than ever can now monitor their tweets and keep track of what’s engaging their audiences.

Both brands and individuals alike can start understanding the metrics behind their Twitter accounts and realising true value. The ‘average’ Twitter user may be wondering what all the fuss is about and ultimately not take advantage of the platform, but this revelation is definitely something that I’m excited about.

Twitter have created a new Help Center page which explains more about Twitter Analytics and includes some FAQs among other things.

Once you’re ready to give it a shot for yourself you should head over to analytics.twitter.com and start checking out your own dashboard.