Twitter is growing in popularity by leaps and bounds lately. It seems like everyone is talking about Twitter. The neat thing is that everyone seems to use Twitter in their own unique way. Hundreds of Twitter applications can be found on numerous sites that offer cool tools to help you manage the way you use Twitter. If you use Twitter for marketing your small business, I sorted thru tons of apps to bring you the most helpful. Feel free to suggest other Twitter apps, for business owners, below in the comments.
Twitter Toolbar – Downloading this free toolbar gives you instant access to Twitter. You can use the toolbar to access online Twitter tools, check your Twitter stats, post your updates and more. Versions are available for both Firefox and Internet Explorer.
Twitoria – This simple application lets you quickly find out which of your followers has not been actively tweeting. Easily sort through your network of followers and purge the inactive users.
Monitter – Get a live streaming view at what Twitter users in your location are saying about you or your small business. Simply insert keywords you would like to search for and the surrounding area you would liked monitored.
Bubble Tweet – This unique application lets you post a short video message that pops up on your Twitter profile in a bubble shaped player. You can personally introduce yourself and/or your business to anyone who visits your profile.
Twitter Gallery – A collection of free backround themes for your Twitter account. You can use the one click installation or manually install them yourself. Lots of nice designs and colors to choose from.
Tweepler – Simplify the way you manage your Twitter followers. Tweepler enables you to easily sort through new followers and accept them or ignore them on one simple screen. They have made accepting followers easier by giving the Tweepler user the followers stats and last 3 tweets in one screen view. This will save you time by eliminating the need to visit each individual follower’s profiles.
Twit This – Allow visitors to your blog or website to easily post Twitter messages about you or your business. Post the TwitThis button to your website or blog pages with the instructions and coding provided on their site.
StockTwits – Follow and join into conversations with traders and investors. An active community of investors are sharing their views on current market conditions and recent news happenings. You can quickly see what others are saying about investments in your portfolio.
HelloTxt – Update your status to several social networking sites in one simple step. You can choose from over 35 social sites to post to including Twitter.
TwitterFox – This Firefox extension is one of my personal favorites. You can post Twitter updates without visiting the Twitter site each time. A small icon is added to the bottom of your Firefox status bar. The icon opens to reveal your friend’s most current updates. You can add your updates from that dialog box, even for multiple Twitter accounts.
Future Tweets – Do you have something to promote on Twitter tomorrow but are afraid of forgetting to do it? With FutureTweets, you can schedule your tweet ahead of time for a specific date and time. Even schedule reoccuring tweets to post daily, monthly, even yearly.
TwitPic – Share your favorite pictures on Twitter. This would be a good way to introduce your new product to your network of followers.
twtQpon – Create exclusive coupons for your business services or products and share them with your Twitter followers.
Tweetburner – This site is designed to help you track your tweets. With Tweetburner you can shorten URLs and track the clicks your tweets accumulate.
Tweetbeep – Just like Google Alerts, Tweetbeep tracks Twitter conversations that mention you, your business or your products and services. Alerts are sent to you via email.
Twitter Counter – Proudly display the number of Twitter followers on your business blog or website. Add the badge to your site and invite customers to follow you on Twitter.
Group Tweet – This app enables all employees within your company to post updates which can be privately viewed only by your group of approved members.
Twitter Safe – This free service protects your years of hard work building your community of followers. This one click backup will restore your network of followers in the event that your list is compromised.
Twitxr – Post product pictures and updates from your mobile phone directly to Twitter.
Track This – This app enables tracking of any UPS, USPS, FedEx or DHL shipment. Updates are sent to your Twitter account direct messages whenever your package changes location.
CoTweet – CoTweet lets your company manage one Twitter account while allowing several employees to contribute. Each person maintains their own identity and their activity can be monitored.
Tweet Later – This one application contains several Twitter productivity tools. You can track keywords, track replies, schedule tweets, send welcome direct messages, and much more.
Splitweet – Managing and updating multiple Twitter accounts is easily done from one screen. Choose to send updates to one or all accounts in one step. You can also follow your brand with notification when your company is mentioned on Twitter.
Twimailer – Sign up to receive more extensive email notifications when your account obtains new followers. Instead of the generic Twitter email notification; the email contains the followers location, followers stats and their most recent tweets. At the bottom of the email, you can choose to follow the individual without even visiting Twitter.
Digsby – Keep track of everything your followers are doing at all times. The Digsby box display gives you a real time view into your Twitter account right from your browser.
HootSuite – Easily manage multiple Twitter profiles, pre-schedule tweets and measure your progress. You can even add multiple editors to your business profile.
TwitterHawk – This marketing app helps you connect with consumers in your area and related to the keywords you choose. TwitterHawk will send Twitter users your custom response when they tweet your keyword in locations that you specify. Say you sell shoes and you want your response to reach anyone within a 20 mile radius of your business. When someone 7 miles away tweets about shoes, your response will automatically be sent to that person.
Interesting tools you’ve got here Amanda!
Nice job, Amanda.
Some tools I’ve never seen before, like Bubble Tweet.
Anita
Amanda,
Nice List!
There was even one that I never heard of…
The Franchise King
Joel Libava
Thank. Many of them I use but learned about some new ones. @virtualbiz4u
great list many thanks!
challenge is though, seems like there is a bubble effect, so many new ‘apps’ for twitter, is it worthwhile or even feasible to try them all.. and after finding a great app, how likely they will be forgotten and superseded by a better one..?
@GarethWong
Nice list, Thanks for your job!
what a great collection. Thank you for this list
Great list!
Twitter is a great platform for everyone to find interesting topics. one to one chat on IM is already dead.
Smart Local Shoppers from @localshoppers on Twitter
So these are really great and I couldn’t find your “Twit This” button. You should definately take your own advice and put that application on your blog!
Thanks for a great list! Sid
@Minicom_IT
Hi Amanda!
I found you through Mashable twit, and I really like this post. It’s very helpful information for me. Thanks!
Great list. Some of these will be very helpful for my brand updates
Excellent tools! Thank You!
Hey, Thanks for this wonderful post. Very helpful.
You might want to explore InRev TwitIn too http://buzzom.com. This is Twitter Account Management Tool.
Best,
Bhupendra
Great list for me. Thanks a lot
You can see more twitter apps in my blog: http://tr.im/huZC
Nice compilation, Amanda!
I miss, however, some of the Twitter client software such as Tweetdeck, Twhirl or Nambu.
@susuh
This is a great list . . I never heard of the coupon one – interesting. Trying to figure out a way to use that now 🙂 Thanks!
Be sure to sign up for Bloggy.se too for micro-blogging.
Great list – thanks! Scaling what works for large corporations to create cost effective solutions for small to medium-sized businesses was a lot simpler when all we needed to focus on was PR and advertising in local media outlets, direct mail, websites, e-mail marketing.
Now we’re trying to scale the expanding universe of social media, SEO, and CRM. On extremely tight budgets.
Small to medium sized businesses need all the help they can get!
Please add me to the list of small business resources. http://www.wvpmc.com
@wvpmc
Simply awesome stuff thanks so much. always looking for time savers and traffic boosting tips.
What about Splitweet? it’s fantastic for biz since you can manage all your accounts in one single place.
This is super-helpful. There are a lot of us in the franchising community trying to get our heads around the usefulness of Twitter in a small biz context. But these applications seem like they’ll make a life a lot easier…
Good list. I hadn’t noticed several of these apps.
I think Twellow.com is the best way to find niche people to follow. Twellow is the Yellow Pages of Twitter with 2.4 million people already listed.
http://Twellow.com
Wow, great list. I haven’t heard of a few of these. Am always looking for better ways to manage business twitter accounts. Thanks for this.
Super list. Love BubbleTweet Here’s a few I made if you want to see what it looks like.. http://bit.ly/uFX4V
Also Tweetlater works great for posting tweets when you are asleep or away.
I guess everyone knows about Tweetdeck by now.
I’ll have to check out Twellow.com Thank you!
Take care! Debby, CHOM
Great list that I added to my blog and of course giving you credit for such hard work. Thanks!
This is a new site for me, I have heard so much about it but how does it help to promote your business?
That’s really nice job. Some tools i have used. Thanks
Wow! Thanks for all the info, can’t wait to check it all out.
gareth, I’m with your sentiments.
Also, I don’t think we have to try all of them unless you have that much free time to spend and try them.
If you use Internet Explorer you may want to try TweetIE, the twitter add-on for IE that helps you post quotes from the websites you visit to your twitter account FireFox plug-in is also available.
Nice list. FOund some new ideas. Thanks for putting it together.
Erik
@Route53
If your audience is looking for an application to help measure the impact they are having in Twitter you may want to add Twitalyzer to your list (http://www.twitalyzer.com) Guy Kawasaki, Robert Scoble, and Pete Cashmore (@mashable) have all been using the service, along with 30K other folks, and appear to like it.
Thanks!
Amanda,
Great compilation! I need to use a tool to keep track of all the individuals I follow. Who will be my follower #1000 and get a free gift from my online store? Click on my name if you are interested to learn more about the freebie.
Thanks for this great list. Might I also suggest http://twitterjobsearch.com – the first search engine to search for job tweets.
Fantastically helpful, even to a complete novice
Thank you everyone for the kind words. I’m really happy that you are finding my list helpful. 🙂
Gareth, You’re right, it’s impossible to use all of the Twitter apps that exist. It’s better to stick with just one or two that will streamline your Twitter experience.
Nice list. I’m liking the bubble tweet one. I’m a Twitter fiend extraordinaire and I had not heard of this yet. Thanks for posting this.
@web20empire
Thanks for the list! I would love to see the ratings on some of these – which work best in which situations. Great overview, though. 🙂
Great list of tools.. Use alot of these already thanks Amanda.
Cool list of tools, Amanda! Thanks for pointing this out to us!
Rich,
Thank you for mentioning Twellow. I’m gonna check it out now. 🙂
Eric and Henry,
Those two apps look interesting too. I will have to jot those down for a second list for later this year. Thanks!
Some of the Apps I hav used. Quite a few new ones totry out! Thanks.
I just published a twitter app that searches tweeter prophecies. http://tweetthefuture.com
Some great information offered here. Thanks.
Danette
Have you checked out Topify? Very nice way to manage your followers…
That said, this is a great list of Twitter-based applications. Well done!
Inever knew that Twitter had so
many advantages till date.
Yes a lot of cool tools. And Anita did some explanation to a few of these tools. Check out her recent post at Smallbiztrends.com.
Hi – I’m one of those normal people, not on twitter to talk about marketing and SEO and my business. I’m cool with some of you money-minded people following me and I will follow you back. But PLEASE on behalf of all normal people, stop auto-direct messaging us! It’s a misuse of the DM system, I don’t care if three twitter apps up there will do it.
Thanks so much for the list.
Cool down spacefem. 🙂
Anyway, I feel the same way with your sentiments with that auto DM issues. It has long been the issue of many Twitter users out there. For now, all I can do is ignore it. 😉
Thanks for the list. Great work!
So pretty much anything you might want to do in Twitter has a tool listed here. Thanks for the review.
Great post – loads of useful twittering info. Thanks. Steve 🙂
Thanks from dusty Greece – covered in Sahara sand – this will really help me get going.
thank you,
Great list, found a few new apps. Thanks. http://www.imjunction.com
Ive found this resource to be quite usefull. Thanks…
Stephen,
I hadn’t seen Topify, thank you. Looks like another good one for the next list. Thanks!
awesome info. thanks so much
No mention of Tweetdeck?
Certainly among the tweets I follow it use is very widespread – and its a great desktop tool for all your twittering
– URL shortening and lookup of your friends while typing.
– you can pick up multiple searches and twitterscape (so see what the hot topics are)
– as well as follows, replies and direct messages.
I never go to the twitter website.
And twitterific is the best for the free apps for the iphone & ipod IMHO
http://twitter.com/nicevans20
great list!! now testing which ones work better on wordpress vs. blogspot (my clients use both for different reasons) more than one here I haven’t heard of yet, look forward to exploring-thanks!
Great list! Gonna work threw it soon!
Great list! Thanks. Do you think terms like “find and connect with consumers” is becoming obsolete since the real strength of twitter lies in connecting with real people? I think the view of our peers as consumers or our audience is on the way out.
Great list of tools….Thanks!
Wow — this is great food for thought!
Great article with a host of stuff I haven’t heard about. however like someone already mentioned, by the time I work my way through the list I’ll probably have fund and discarded a few favourite applications as one slightly outdoes another :p
If you are a networker or an internet based marketer using Twitter you should check out the tweeter forum http://bit.ly/12X5l
Thank you. Very nice list.
I am interested in finding an application that allows me to segregate my followers into groups of market niches or other categories so that I DM them directly on things of immediate interest to them.
Does that exist?
Great List! I think Tweepler is an essential application. Lots of others I haven’t heard of yet.
Thanks for this extensive list. I have started using a few and will get back now and than to use more.
Other than the entries already listed, I would like to suggest you to add TweetBrain into your list.
It’s probably the first purposely built crowdsourcing service for the Twitter community. It went live on April 7, 2009, and has generated quite a stir. Even a Twitter Support likes it.
http://twitter.com/cmagnuson/statuses/1507817434
He enthusastically used it before he took his vacation:
http://search.twitter.com/search?q=tweetbrain+@cmagnuson
Some are already using it for business purposes, even with rewards:
https://tweetbrain.com/questions/byreward
One SEO expert even made a video about it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_WlcwhMMus
The following should give you some ideas how Twitter users think about TweetBrain:
http://search.twitter.com/search?q=tweetbrain+awesome
http://search.twitter.com/search?q=tweetbrain+cool
We have just finished making this free twitter app, it is a totally new approach to Twitter! If you are interested check it out http://www.printyourtwitter.com .
Great list! I just wanted to mention IsFollow. A web based Twitter app that lets you find out who is following who, without having to login. It helped me figure out one of my biz Twitter pages wasn’t following the other.
this is one of the best lists i have ever seen
Looks like a descent list of twitter apps.
http://www.twitter.com/puffaddering
This are great tools will take a while to sort out but they are good references.
thanks for sharing Amanda
al
Thanks for posting these all into a big list.
Very useful.
Lets not forget about http://www.twittercontd.com allows you update ur status with more than 140 characters
Great list. Also small businesses can add tag and promote events via calendar tweet.
Great lists, you should add a few to it. New twitter applications are coming out all the time.
You’re right Calendar Tweet, new apps are showing up every day. I’m currently putting together another list that should post next month. I hope you’ll be pleased to see that your app will make the new list. 🙂
Get on tweetdeck and get your searches going. Thats one twitter is really useful. Monitor everything around the conversations you want to monitor.
You need to add Nutshellmail.com to this list. This service consolidates all of your email and social media accounts, including Twitter. It makes it so much easier to view your Twitter follower updates rather than having to log into your account all the time.
So many apps I’m getting a headache choosing which ones to use.
Thanks anyway for taking time to research these apps out. Makes us lazy ones even lazier. 🙂
Translate your tweet into your choice of over 40 languages and post automatically and immediately.
You can also view previous translated tweets to help you learn new words and keep track of your conversations.
Great post! There a so many cool tools and apps out there. While it isn’t exactly a tool for small businesses, I personally love Ref.ly. It’s a great tool for people who want to share Bible verses on Twitter.
http://squawkthis.com is a great one too, with a wordpress plugin and bookmarklet. They use oauth so your password cant be stolen.
Wow. Great info. Thank you so much for the foot work. I am just starting my research on Twitter and applicable apps for my small business. I just wish someone would cram all these into one usable app.
Thanks again!
Sean
Great list…thanks! Splitweet is especially going to be a big help since I’m managing so many other people’s Twitter accounts. THANKS again.
Autopilot Tweet http://www.autopilottweet.com – Full Twitter automation software for Twitter marketing includes a Twitter Friend Adder / Follower Adder, auto follow, follow by keywords, follow your followers, auto unfollow, schedule your tweets and automate most of the mundance daily chores of managing your Twitter account. You can automate Twitter for an extremely affordable price.
Check out http://www.tweetmesavings.com. The site lists popular discounts on twitter and allows business to promote for free.
This list is superb, it’s an all-in-one twitter directory, lol. I also found a website that is twitter useful http://friendorfollow.com/ — but I believe that you already have a link here similar to that.
Thanks for sharing.
All the best,
Dee Serrano
You should also check out http://www.iNeedTwitterFollowers.com
THE ULTIMATE TWITTER MARKETING TOOL TOTAL AUTOPILOT FOR TWITTER MARKETING
There is a free 1 Week trial to test the system!
Nice List!
for automatic incease in twitter followers i am using http://www.buzzom.com
Hi Amanda,
Great List. Came across another application that would be great for small business. smtrac. Check them out at: http://smtrac.com/rjDXS
Anton
Now there is a great blog reviewing all the latest and greatest twitter apps:
http://www.alltwitterapps.com
Definitely a lot of tools I haven’t seen/used before. Going to try them out and hopefully they’ll be useful for us as we get more into social media. Thanks.
Very good article thank you found it really useful in my research into Twitter apps. The only one I currently use is Twaitter to pre schedule tweets and manage multiple accounts as it is free and relatively simple to use.
Twitter is definitely a useful factor for driving people to websites and blogs as well as keeping up to date with things.
Great list! Twitter is a great Social Networking site that really can help your business.
I haven’t used many of these tools before, so I should give them a try!
Thanks for sharing!
All these twitter applications are wonderful.
You should also check out Time2Tweet. It is a very simple tweet scheduling application where you upload a file and the tweets, schedule them with a simple interface and tweet automatically. Very simple but powerful. Check it out at http://time2tweet.appspot.com.
Hi Amanda,
Came across your post and see this post is over 12 months old. Are there any newer Twitter Apps that you would recommend. Thanks
Hi Amanda,
I have developed a Twitter Application to help business promote themselves online via Twitter. Think of it as a 60 seconds online.
The concept is really promoting your business in 140 char’s, but instead of the message being seen by all your followers and being sent from your account, it is sent to all the followers of @tweetmypitch and by @tweetmypitch.
To use the free service you need to logon to http://www.tweetmypitch.com with your twitter account and then tweet your pitch.
There are two restrictions, firstly you must follow @tweetmypitch (which is done automatically when you login) and you can only pitch/tweet once per day.
I would be interested in your feedback Chris, please feel free to DM me via @tweetmypitch
good list, but some items are getting old and are no longer in business. Might need a refresh as things change often in twitter land
Cannot deny the volume of Twitter tools. Now, how effective they are in harnessing mindshare is another question.
What an awesome list. Thanks Amanda.
Great article. Lots of new apps to try. A great app that I found recently is called TapSocial. It streams a twitter feed like the newsticker on CNN. I like it because I can keep an eye on twitter while I do other things.
Very nice list. I never knew there were so many nice freeby apps for twitter. I’ve been getting into twitter lately, seeing how valuable of a tool it can really be for any business, big or small. Thanks for sharing!
Indeed, there are many Twitter apps on the market today – and the number continues to grow.
Thanks for dropping by, Jeff!
Awesome list. Thanks
Hi Amanda!
Till date I had only use Facebook for enhancing my online marketing business..But As Twitter is also growing at very high speed so I am looking to use this social networking platform also..
Thank you for sharing information about some Twitter Plugins..
I want to ask could these applications affect the website server speed?