How To: Use Real Time Searches For Your Business

Real time search is available on Twitter and just recently, Facebook, for users to search for the latest buzz.

If utilized well, this feature is not only useful for individuals but  businesses as well. The good news is, you don’t need a book for  dummies to get started. You just need this post!

We’ll be focusing on Twitter’s real time search but fret not, if the techniques below apply to Twitter, they apply to Facebook as well.

Here we go!

1. Measure your brand’s @mention frequency

To check brand mentions frequency, simply key in your company’s name on Twitter (and Facebook’s) real time search bar – like what I did for MailChimp below.

As you can see, MailChimp has quite a number of mentions on Twitter (approximately 5 per hour). This will give you a rough gauge on the presence it has on Twitter. Results on Facebook is looking positive too (check here). Scanning through the results will tell you whether people are generally happy with MailChimp’s services, which leads us to our next point.

2. Detecting buzz

Buzz can be either positive or negative. Whatever it may be, you will want to be the first to know! A positive buzz not only tells you that you’re doing a good job, it also opens up an opportunity to use these good opinions to capture your audiences’ heart.

For example, if there is a small buzz about your new Twitter background (check out Facebook’s!), why not write a blog post about it and teach followers how to make a similar one. Another idea would be to design a couple of templates, branded with your company name, to be made available for download. This will give you free publicity as well!

3. Check for competitors

Real time searches can help you spot competitors on social media. To begin, key in your product or industry keywords. For MailChimp, I typed in “email marketing service”. Other alternative key phrases would be “email marketing platform or system”. You might find more information by trying different phrases.