How Small Businesses Have Evolved Over the Years

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Business evolution“How has small businesses evolved over the years?” I hear many people ask.  Not long ago some people would have been unaware that a company or business was operating in certain parts of the country or a small secluded village or town.  Keeping track of the best and most expanding business firms in your own Country or globally was difficult.  With the expansion of the internet and the world being more connected, even small businesses remain in the limelight.

The internet now plays a huge role for most businesses on a global scale with the increase of online marketing tools and consumer participation.  Email marketing has been an important tool over the past years for small businesses, but today this usage has increased alongside the use of social media marketing which has exploded if compared with five years ago.

There is also an increase of businesses using, or using more automated business solutions ie inventory, payroll etc

Even most households and individuals are now directly connected to the internet in one shape or form; you really don’t need to own a PC anymore in order to get connected!

A survey was completed a few years ago and showed that it was harder to run a business then than 5 years ago…

  • 55% said the economy has hit their business hard
  • 49% said it’s harder to keep pace with technology
  • 40% said there’s more direct competition

Only 12% of the respondents said that it was easier to run a business than it was five years ago, and of that group of small businesses, 89% citied online marketing tools that make it easier and less expensive to market their business.

The survey also showed an uptick in the importance of supporting local businesses with customers.

When asked whether they think being locally owned and operated is a major reason customers support their business today 51% of respondents said yes, up from the 42% who thought so five years ago.  Even a little private bakery that one wishes to open can sooner succeed with the right investment in marketing, service and product.

Businesses are now more connected and continue to expand their social circles both through online and offline networking which has increased and become more popular today with some small businesses sending representatives to networking functions weekly, fortnightly or more frequently.

Now, with just a few clicks your company or organization can go viral and with the click of a few photographs your work can be viewed and recognised.  With a simple press of the “Send” button, you can instantly get your message out there to a global audience and the opportunity to increase sales and expand your business.

 

 

 

 

Survey Source: Small Businesses: Then and Now Survey, Constant Contact, 2013

Picture courtesy of FlowCentric

Top 5 Reasons you should consider business outsourcing

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Business Outsourcing image

 

As someone who owns their own business it can be tempting to try and do everything yourself. However, whilst this can seem like the best way forward it isn’t always the most sensible or productive. Sometimes you need to think outside of the box and determine new ways to bring in new talent to your business. Looking into business outsourcing is a great way of doing this and can benefit your business in so many different ways in the long run.

Save Yourself Time

Getting someone else on board can be a great time saver.  If you have someone on board that knows what they are doing and doesn’t require any hand holding from you then it will save you value time, rather than trying to do all the tasks yourself.  This then enables you to pick and choose the tasks you want to do and to delegate the ones you don’t. You’ll then have more free time to focus on other priorities.

Flexible Workers

Having permanent people on board can seem like a good idea, but it can also feel like an expensive one at times. By outsourcing certain parts of your business you can pick and choose when they work for you and what they do. Many outsource companies offer flexible working patterns which, allows you to pay purely for the time spent working on your tasks, rather than you having to fork out for a full-time wage or employee.  Many flexible workers and Virtual Assistants are responsible for their own taxation and home office setup including equipment, yet another benefit to consider.

Bring New Skills into Your Organisation

When you outsource work you also have a good chance of bringing new skills into your business. You may know your business inside and out, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you know everything! Having a fresh set of eyes, skills and new experiences on board can really benefit your business and definitely a positive reason to consider outsourcing at least some of your work.

Trying Something New

If you are looking to try something new when it comes to your business then it can be handy and beneficial to get someone new on board. The benefit of this will be that they are able to bring new skills to the table whilst contributing new ideas and possible ways in which your business could work better.  They may even share past experiences with other companies and use this experience to ensure your transition goes smoothly.

Minimal Effort

Hiring someone to outsource your work to should be a straight forward process. In fact many companies have set procedures in place to help make it as smooth as possible for you. If you choose a company with experience then the chances are they have been through this with other clients beforehand so will know exactly how to minimise disruption to your business.

The good news is that many outsourcing companies will have details of their services and customer reviews on their website. This means that finding someone that is the perfect match to your needs and your business shouldn’t be too long winded or any hassle. You just need to spend a little time researching your options to find the perfect fit.  If you would like to know more about outsourcing and how it can benefit you & your business, then feel free to contact us for more details here.

 

 

 

 

Photo courtesy of Active Rain

10 Apps to make your business trip easier

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Business Travel image

If you work in a job that requires you to do a lot of travelling then it stands to reason you are going to want to make life as easy as possible. Whilst not many people relish the thought of being away from home for a business trip, if you can make life a little easier then all the better.

One of the best ways that you can make life easy when it comes to travelling for business trips is to download apps onto your smart phone, laptop and or/tablet. These give you instant access to all sorts of utilities and information, which can make travelling that much easier.

Booking.com                                                                         

Whether your business trip is unexpected or booked in advance the booking.com app can help. For starters you are able to search out local accommodation choices, check prices and even book a room if you need to. Your booking details are then stored on the app for you to look up when it is time to check in.

Sky Scanner

If you need to travel internationally or even up and down the country then Sky Scanner can help with sourcing affordable flights. You are able to check flight details, times and prices given by a variety of different travel agents. This helps to ensure you get the best possible price with minimal searching when you’re ready to book a flight.

Asana

This app is a great task management tool for keeping your team and colleagues organized and connected.  With Asana there is no need for back & forth emails, you can create work tasks you plan to do or need a teammate to do whilst organising your tasks into shared projects for your initiatives, meetings or lists.

Expensify

Expensify streamlines the way you report your expenses, the way expenses are approved and the way they can then be exported to an accounting package (back office).  When it comes to business trips it can be hard to keep track of all your expenses. This app helps with that as you can store all of your information in one place, thus making life much easier.

Google Maps

It is easy to assume that the Google maps app can only help with driving directions but it does so much more.   It can provide interactive maps, street view, walking distance from point A to point B and well as provide you with a variety of possible routes that can be taken with duration no matter where in the world you happen to be.

Yelp

This app can help when it comes to looking up details of local businesses and services across the UK.  This can range from general things to do, place to eat, checking ratings, or reviews from past customers.   It’s great for when you’re away over night and want something to do with your spare time.

Google Apps

This allows you to download Google apps all in one place. You can then use these to create, save and share documents alongside checking your emails and using chat app GTalk.

Drop Box

Use this to store your files in one central location. You can then access these from your laptop, desktop, mobile phone and tablet etc. You can even share the files with colleagues and keep documents updated in real-time to help make your working life even simpler.

XE Currency

This helps when you are travelling abroad as you can instantly work out currency conversions and therefore see how much something is costing you before you part with your hard-earned cash.

Google Translate

Great when travelling abroad! It can assist you with working out what things to say and therefore making communication with others much easier when you’re in a different Country from your own and using a different language that you’re not familiar with.

 

 

 

 

 

Image courtesy of Intelligent Travel Australia

5 Benefits of using a Virtual Assistant for your business

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Virtual Support image

Whether you run a start-up company, a small business or you simply work for yourself, you may not always have the need for or the resources for a full-time assistant. Taking care of the day to day running of your business – arranging meetings, paying invoices, updating social media, or making travel arrangements etc can take up a large portion of your day when, you could be focussed on the more core elements of running your business.  These are some of the reasons why you could ultimately benefit from the services of a Virtual Assistant, helping to free up your time and getting things done, without the need of having a full-time member of staff.  So, let’s explore some of the many benefits of using Virtual Assistant below;

  1. They are quick and easy to source

More and more people are working from home or for themselves, with Virtual Assistants amongst those which are easy to find online.  With little recruitment time you could start using the services of a Virtual Assistant the very same day, meaning no lengthy or costly recruitment processes.  A quick Google search, recommendation from a fellow business associate or using a freelance hire portal is all you need to find your saviour.

  1. They are cost effective

You can hire a Virtual Assistant by the hour, project or on a regular retainer basis for as many hours as you need that day, week or month.  If you only need someone for a few hours each week or ad hoc to help out during busy periods, then you can hire a Virtual Assistant that meets your budget and needs, without worrying about other HR concerns such as pensions, National Insurance or taxation etc.  Virtual Assistants look after their own finances and taxation, so all you need to do is ensure you pay them for their time and they’ll take care of the rest.

  1. They are reliable

Virtual Assistants are skilled in a variety of disciplines and have a wide range of experience, working with a number of businesses across different industries worldwide and thus very adaptable.  You will be able to check out their testimonials and reviews of their services from past clients, and you can be sure that their main aim is to get the job done to the best of their ability.

  1. They can help you become more organised

The difference of having a Virtual Assistant working alongside you in your business can prove priceless.  You may find that your business is far more organised, less stressful and the little things you may forget to do or do not have enough time for, will get done without any fuss – making your business more streamlined and professional.

  1. They are easy to contact

Whilst there are some benefits to having someone physically present in your office.  These days, there isn’t much that can’t be done remotely thanks to Skype, instant messaging, email and much more.  Therefore, there should be no issues with your Virtual Assistant being contactable via these methods or even by sharing your desktop remotely in order to work collaboratively on certain projects together.

Hiring a Virtual Assistant can be a permanent or a temporary move and whichever you choose, you are sure to find instant benefits from their skills and ability to assist you in managing the running of your business.  If you are fortunate enough to find a Virtual Assistant that you are comfortable working with, and who provides value add to your business, you will have taken a very positive step to growing your support team and ultimately your business in the long run.  See here for more information on how a Virtual Assistant can help you in your business.

 

 

 

 

Picture courtesy of virtual support UK

Stating your case for flexible working

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Work-Life-Balance

If you’ve ever been jealous of your colleagues who have enjoyed flexible working because they have children or had care obligations, then you will have been pleased by the Government’s announcement last year giving you the right to request flexible working, whatever your circumstance.  As of the 30th of June 2014, you can now state your case for flexible working with your employer.  Whilst it’s as daunting as asking for a pay rise or promotion, we want to help you through it with some excellent tips on how to make a claim for flexible working below.

What Is Flexible Working?

Whilst flexible working sounds like a great term, you may not be wholly familiar with what it is.  Flexible working includes:

  • Job Sharing – in which two people share the hours associated with one job
  • Working from home – where an individual can either work from home all the time or do part of their work either at home or somewhere outside of the office or workplace
  • Part time working – working for less hours than full time, either through reduced hours during a day or reduced days during the week
  • Flexitime – where employees must work during certain core hours but are able to choose when they start and finish

You could therefore adapt your working patterns in order to find those which suit your preferences as well as your life outside work.

Making Your Case

If you’ve decided that flexible working sounds like something you want to do, then you need to prepare properly. Whilst you are allowed by law to request flexible working, your employer is allowed to reject it.  Plus, you can only make one request every 12 months, therefore if you want to make a case, you need to make it count.  Try the following steps when making your claim.

  1. Do your research

Think carefully about how you could benefit from flexible working, how it will improve your job role or not change it for the worse, how it will affect the rest of your colleagues and whether it will have any impact on your organisation.  If you can find positive reasons why flexible working could work for you, you’ll be in with a much better chance of success.

  1. Make the request in writing

By putting in your request in writing, you will have a written record which can be used for your records, your employer’s records as well as having hard evidence of your request.  A verbal request could easily be ignored and dismissed.  It is also important that you add specific details of what you’re asking.

  1. Arrange a meeting to discuss with your employer

When submitting your request, make an arrangement at the same time to meet with your employer to discuss.  Give them some time to consider your proposal thoroughly before meeting face to face.

  1. If you are successful, start making the arrangements

If you need additional equipment or technology to enable you to work at home, start the process to get everything in order. Notify those in your team of your change in working conditions to allow them to adjust accordingly.

  1. If unsuccessful, find out why

You have the right to know why your request was rejected.  We recommend that you arrange to discuss with your employer and to think about whether or not your application was fairly considered.  If you believe that it wasn’t you have up to three months to make an appeal.

 

By providing you with flexible working, your employer will demonstrate that they care about your wellbeing and working conditions, which will in turn lead to more motivated staff that are happy in their roles.  Whilst it may not be for everyone, flexible working can help make your working life more suited to your needs and thus, help you get more out of work, and your life outside of it too.

 

 

 

 

image courtesy of AlleyWatch

Facebook Looking to Reduce ‘Overly Promotional Posts’

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Facebook looking to reduce promotional postsAs a business owner you’re undoubtedly using Facebook as one of your main digital marketing mediums, but if you’re not, why not!? After all, it’s a fantastic place to engage with your customers and prospects and get a really personal feel for everything that people expect from you as a brand.

However, an announcement that appeared on the social network’s newsroom blog last Friday may have an impact on the amount of exposure your business page gets going forward.

Now Facebook algorithm updates are nothing new and are something we’ve come to expect. But this recent one looks set to have a greater effect on companies who have previously been using their brand pages for promotional purposes.

As part of their ongoing user experience improvement programme, Facebook are striving to make people’s newsfeeds full of more stuff they want to see and less stuff they don’t want to see. Some of the feedback they’ve apparently received from the Facebook community is that people don’t like posts from pages they’ve liked which come across as ‘overly promotional’.

The devil’s advocate in me though is slightly bemused by this revelation. Surely when a person likes a page, be it a business, celebrity or whatever, they are signing up to receive all future updates from that page, including ones that are promotional in nature.

Reading between the lines, rightly or wrongly, leads me to believe that Facebook may have an ulterior motive behind this change of scope. It figures that if ‘overly promotional’ posts will lose exposure, businesses will need to conduct paid advertising campaigns to continue their reach.

The social network, however, says that as a result of the change there will not be an increase in the amount of ads that people see. This begs the question as to what will fill the gaps that are left by the reduced number of liked page posts.

So what constitutes an ‘overly promotional’ post? Well according to Facebook its posts that coerce people into buying a product or installing an app; posts that push people to enter a competition with no real context; and posts that mimic paid ads on the site.

Posts like this:

Tiger therapy

Even though the change isn’t due to take effect until January 2015, it’s definitely food for thought for businesses that utilize Facebook to engage with their followers.

So what should you do going forward?

Well one area that still proves to perform well on Facebook is native video. In fact, native videos get some 1 billion views a day! When we say ‘native video’ we’re referring to videos that have been created solely for and published directly to Facebook, and not simply links to stuff on YouTube.

Therefore, if you’re concerned about the impending promotional page decline, but not sure if you want to embark on a paid advertising campaign, why not experiment with native video? Of course, there’s no guarantee that it won’t also be subject to an algorithm change in the future, but at least for now it’s a pretty safe bet.

Pinterest & Snapchat Offer two Fresh Advertising Platforms for your Brand

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We all know that having an active social media presence serves to promote your business and allows you to engage with your customers and prospects. But while Facebook and Twitter are often the two social networks that get the most attention from brands, Pinterest and Snapchat have introduced paid advertising offerings that provide different angles for your business to leverage.

Pinterest & Snapchat Offer two Fresh Advertising Platforms for your Brand

Introducing Pinterest promoted pins

Pinterest is rather unique in that it’s a highly visual social network which allows users to create stunning visual collections (boards). However, Pinterest is often overlooked by brands but why? After all, at the last count Pinterest boasts more than 70 million users. Furthermore, the majority of its user base are women – some 80% in fact.

Therefore, if your business/brand uses a lot of visual content and your target audience are predominantly women, Pinterest could represent a great opportunity for you. Plus, with the announcement of promoted pins, there has never been a better time to get interested in Pinterest or Pinterested! (sorry, I couldn’t resist).

Promoted pins are Pinterest’s paid advertising offering and operate on a cost-per-click (CPC) basis. They allow you to promote specific pins based on set criteria that you stipulate. For example, you can choose to target certain demographics, specific locations and even different types of devices.

The best part is that you only pay when somebody actually clicks through to your website from your promoted pin. There’s also no need to worry about spiraling advertising costs as you are able to set daily budgets and duration for every campaign.

There are, of course, a number of rules that advertisers must follow, but these are run-of-the-mill and to be expected.

Promoted pins are still in beta and currently only available to select US-based businesses. However, it’s inevitable that they’ll be rolled out across the board in the future and will present another advertising platform for your business utilize.

Snapchat Advertising is upon us

Ephemeral messaging application Snapchat may not seem like a lucrative platform to focus your marketing efforts on, but don’t dismiss it just yet. Especially as, the start-up – which has been valued at $10 billion has now opened up its gates to advertisers.

With some 100 million active monthly users – 71% of who are under 25 – Snapchat presents quite an opportunity for brands who want to get their marketing in front of millenials (that’s generation Y for those of you who aren’t familiar with the term).

The announcement that Snapchat would start rolling out paid ads was made on its blog last week. The company said that US-based users would see an advertisement over the weekend and judging by the online buzz that definitely was the case.

Snapchat wanted to emphasis that its ad offering would not detract from the user experience that people have come to love using its app. Ads will only appear in the Recent Updates section and never in personal communications (chats).

Snapchat’s decision to roll out paid ads shouldn’t come as a surprise. After all, they need to justify their huge price tag and the company’s own blog post states that their reason is simply to make money.

However, they further added: “We want to see if we can deliver an experience that’s fun and informative, the way ads used to be, before they got creepy and targeted”. A statement that’s quite ironic considering that the first ad to be displayed was for Ouija – a horror movie by Universal Pictures.

Pinterest’s promoted pins and Snapchat’s paid advertising may not yet be available to UK businesses but they almost certainly will be. Will you be utilizing them?

Fake “Likes” are now on Facebook’s radar

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Fake Likes are now on FB radar

Facebook recently announced on their business blog that they are now taking a much firmer stance against fake activity; especially fake likes. Therefore, if your business has ever bought likes or is thinking of buying some, my advice is – absolutely don’t.

To understand the issue with fake likes, we need to first look at the purpose of genuine likes and the value they bring. When someone likes your business page it creates a connection between them and your brand. Any future updates you post are likely to appear in that user’s news feed, giving you a channel through which to communicate.

Over time, you can build relationships with your followers by providing them with useful and informative posts. If these posts strike the right chord, there is a strong chance your followers will in turn re-share them, thus boosting your brand’s reach even further.

With established relationships in place and engaged followers, your brand is in the best possible position to pitch potential sales via social media channels. You cannot do this if all the likes your page has are fake.

But if fake likes serve no purpose, why do people buy them?

The simple answer is to make their business appear more popular than it actually is and the businesses who tend to do this are just starting out on their social media journeys.

Fake likes can also prevent genuine followers from seeing your updates, which is disastrous for your online marketing efforts.

The reality is that the only people who benefit from fake likes are the ones who sell them. It’s no wonder then that Facebook are now taking a much tougher stance on this practice – which is essentially spam.

Using their sophisticated rules and machine learning, the social networking giant are constantly looking to identify suspicious behaviour. When they do, they undertake all means necessary to eliminate it. This may involve blocking associated accounts and removing all fake likes instantly.

Therefore, if you’ve paid for fake likes, they are very likely to be removed in the future without warning. Imagine how it will look when your business page’s followers take an overnight nosedive.

It’s not just technical measures, however, that Facebook use to combat spam on their platform. According to their blog post, the social network “have obtained nearly $2 billion in legal judgments against spammers” – something that might make people who sell likes think twice about in the future.

Furthermore, Facebook now also limit the amount of likes that accounts can give and sometimes ask for additional verification, limiting the spammers’ overall effectiveness.

When you first start building your online presence it can be tempting to try and boost your perceived popularity. However, this will not benefit you in the long-run and may even come back to bite you.

Remember that the purpose of your social media marketing campaigns is to build relationships with your customers and nurture them through to fruition. Fake likes may make you seem like a successful business but you’re only kidding yourselves.

Create content that is fresh and resonates with your audience. Genuine likes and shares will soon follow and your business will benefit from a much more responsive follower base.

Announcing three new Facebook improvements

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Announcing 3 new Facebook improvementsIt seems that Facebook have been doing some listening recently. That in itself is nothing new, as social networks are always striving to improve the user experience. However, Facebook haven’t just listened. They’ve actually acted too.

In fact, over the past few weeks the Facebook News Room have announced three important changes that are designed to improve the social networking experience for their users going forward.

Each change could have warranted a write up of its own, but I actually thought it better to bundle them into one post that serves as a single point of reference.

The changes are also outlined in the order that they appeared on the Facebook News Room and I’ve included a link to each original story for further reference purposes.

Click-bait articles now being suppressed

You may or may not be familiar with the term ‘click-bait’ but once I explain what it is you will undoubtedly recall seeing it on your internet travels.

Click-bait articles are those stories you see with a really eye-catching headline that is designed to stir your suspicious nature and make you click. But while these headlines are alluring, they tend to not give much away in terms of the article’s actual content.

This is click-bait and Facebook don’t like it one bit:

Click bait

Going forward, Facebook are going to weed out this type of low-quality, spam-style story so that more pertinent updates from friends and liked pages appear in people’s news feeds.

Facebook will reduce the number of click-bait articles that appear on their site in two ways.

First, they will track the amount of time a user spends reading an article before bouncing back to Facebook. Their thinking is that low-quality articles will have a faster bounce rate than higher quality pieces.

Second, Facebook will analyse the ratio of people clicking VS the number of shares or likes an article gets. If something attracts a lot of clicks but few shares/likes, then it’s likely to be click-bait.

Original story: http://newsroom.fb.com/news/2014/08/news-feed-fyi-click-baiting/

A better ad experience

Advertising on Facebook is huge business and when someone is presented with an ad that appeals to them, it makes for a better experience all-round. Likewise, marketers who manage to get their ads in front of people who they appeal to, will see their efforts reap greater rewards.

Previously, hiding an irrelevant ad on Facebook was a simple one-click affair:

Irrelevant ad on Facebook example

Going forward, however, Facebook are going to start asking people why they chose to hide a particular ad.

For example, if someone hides an ad and states their reason for doing so as being ‘offensive’ then there’s a strong chance that that ad will be found offensive by other people too and so shouldn’t be shown.

As well as collecting the reason, Facebook are going to also start paying more attention to those people who rarely hide ads. This is because Facebook deem the signal sent from these infrequent hiders to be much stronger and therefore carry more weight across the ad network.

Original story: http://newsroom.fb.com/news/2014/09/news-feed-fyi-listening-to-peoples-feedback-to-show-better-ads/

More timely stories to surface

Facebook have come to realise that sometimes posts from friends and liked pages are more significant at certain times and less so at others. For example, during a live sports game or latest episode of a TV series, relevant updates need to appear in a timely manner. Once the event is over, however, those posts inevitably lose a lot of their significance.

FB Trending topics

It appears that trending topics are going to play a larger role in the future and Facebook will look to promote posts that relate to trending stories, so that they appear higher in people’s news feeds. This will ensure that any updates about a current hot topic are more likely to find their way to the top of news feeds.

Also, Facebook will look at the comments and likes that a post gets, paying specific attention to when these occur. They believe that a post which is fervently liked and shared soon after it has been displayed but then drops off a bit later, is more likely to be relevant when it was posted.

Posts like this will appear high up in news feeds to start with before gradually falling away as their relevance decreases.

Original story: http://newsroom.fb.com/news/2014/09/news-feed-fyi-showing-more-timely-stories-from-friends-and-pages/

 

Analyse the numbers behind your tweets with Twitter Analytics

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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.