Elon Musk claims Twitter login requirement just 'temporary'

It's just a "temporary emergency measure."

That's what Twitter owner Elon Musk said on Friday after the platform's users noticed that tweets and profiles were inaccessible via web browsers on both desktop and mobile devices unless they were logged in to an account. The change basically blocked all Twitter content from unregistered visitors and was not well-received by even its registered users.

"Temporary emergency measure," tweeted Musk in a reply to a user posting about the login requirement. "We were getting data pillaged so much that it was degrading service for normal users!"

Tweet may have been deleted (opens in a new tab)

It's unclear exactly what Musk is referring to, but he's likely talking about web scrapers that pull data from websites without requiring any official API to do so. (After all, Twitter's API is now severely limited and costs a minimum of $42,000 per month for most use cases.)

Aqueel Miqdad, a software engineer that works at Twitter, also added an update on the situation moments before Musk.

"This is a temporary restriction," tweeted Miqdad. "We will re-enable logged out twitter access in the near future."

Tweet may have been deleted (opens in a new tab)

As Mashable reported earlier today, many Twitter users noticed on Friday that the platform was blocking access to Twitter's content unless a user was logged in. As Zoe Schiffer of Platformer pointed out, the change from Twitter was unexpected.

"Musk's first project after taking over was redirecting the Twitter homepage to Explore rather than the sign up screen," Schiffer said, explaining how this move to lock content behind a login was counterproductive to Musk's previous decision to drive visitors to a page full of trending content.

At the time, it appeared to be a measure to block AI companies from scraping data in order to train its language models. It also seemed like a maneuver to push visitors into registering an account in order to grow Twitter's monthly active user base. As Mashable previously noted, in 2015, Twitter shared that "500 million people" visited the platform on a monthly basis without logging into an account.

Whether the decision to force visitors to login to a Twitter account is actually temporary remains to be seen. Neither Musk or Miqdad shared any timeline for once again enabling Twitter access for visitors without the login requirement.

from Mashable https://ift.tt/HtI286o
via IFTTT

Twitter now blocks visitors from viewing tweets and profiles unless they're logged in

Go to Twitter without logging in to your account. Just go anywhere on the site. Try opening your favorite tweet or viewing your favorite creator's profile in a web browser on either your desktop or mobile device.

This is what you'll now see:

Twitter is now forcing visitors to login to an account in order to view content. Credit: Mashable screenshot

Twitter has now begun locking visitors out of the platform unless they're logged into their account. Visiting any Twitter page other than the homepage without being signed in will automatically forward users to a page where they can login or set up an account on the platform. Visitors cannot view any user content without logging in.

The unexpected move from Twitter started rolling out on Friday. There has yet to be any official announcement from the company. Users started to discover the change themselves when attempting to view tweets or profiles while not logged into their account.

Tweet may have been deleted (opens in a new tab)

It's unclear exactly why Twitter has made this change although there are a few potential reasons. 

Twitter owner Elon Musk has previously shared his disapproval of AI companies like OpenAI using Twitter's data to train their language models. In fact, in December, shortly after acquiring Twitter, Musk cut off OpenAI's access to the platform's data as he felt that the AI company wasn't paying enough for it. Since then, however, OpenAI has launched a plugin for its popular ChatGPT AI chatbot that allow users to scrape information off any website — including Twitter.

Tweet may have been deleted (opens in a new tab)

Musk has tweeted his dissatisfaction about this twice just this past month, seemingly unaware that Twitter's data could be scraped from its website.

"This is very concerning," he tweeted in the replies to one Twitter user walking his followers through how to use the web-scraping plugin with ChatGPT.

Tweet may have been deleted (opens in a new tab)

However, there are other explanations as well.

Back in 2015, Twitter unveiled in a blog post that "500 million people" visit Twitter each month without logging in. That's a lot of potential users who aren't providing their data to Twitter for the company to monetize. In fact, that number is higher than what Twitter has for monthly active users. Twitter has continually suffered from stagnant user growth, loss of power users, and dwindling advertising revenue since Musk took over the platform. Forcing hundreds of millions of visitors to sign up gives the company the opportunity to inflate those numbers and pitch its bigger use base to potential advertisers.

However, there are some big drawbacks to Twitter's decision to block access to the platform unless a user is signed into an account. A major issue Twitter will face is the fact that search engines, like Google, will have difficulty crawling the platform and ranking its content. This means when a user searches on Google, user profiles and tweets may not appear. This will probably end up losing a lot of traffic for Twitter. 

SEE ALSO: Twitter API changes crush @PossumEveryHour and other good bots

There's also no guarantee that a visitor will sign up for Twitter and become a user upon being presented with that prompt. Once these visitors realize they cannot access the content, they may just avoid Twitter content and links altogether.

In addition, there are good reasons for visitors to scrape Twitter as well. Researchers have shared how this new Twitter limitation will hinder their work in areas around open-source intelligence (OSINT), hate speech, and disinformation studies. The whole forced login move is very antithetical to how Twitter is meant to function and the idea that it can be a "public square" for information.

Yet, this isn't the first time Twitter has made its platform less accessible since being acquired by Musk. Earlier this year, Twitter blocked third-party clients from the platform, shutting those applications down indefinitely. In April, Twitter started requiring that visitors login to an account if they wanted to use the search function on the platform. On Thursday, Mashable reported on the denigration of the Twitter API, after speaking to many developers who could no longer access certain functions of the platform and were forced to shut down their apps after years of service.

from Mashable https://ift.tt/0rZ5coY
via IFTTT

What is social commerce? Stats trends and tips marketers should know for 2023

Online shopping has gone social. Imagine scrolling through Instagram, finding something you love. You complete your purchase all within the app and avoid navigating to a product landing page. That’s the exact type of experience social commerce offers. It simplifies the purchase journey by eliminating extra steps and makes consumers more likely to complete their purchases.

As such, social commerce could be the key to success when using social media for retail. In this post, we take a deep dive into what social commerce is and how your brand can make the most of it.

Table of Contents

• What is social commerce?
• Best social commerce platforms to use in 2023
• 5 benefits of social commerce for your business
• 6 social commerce statistics marketers should know
• 3 social commerce trends for 2023
• 4 successful social commerce examples
• 5 ways to increase sales on social media using Sprout Social
• Starting out with a social commerce strategy

What is social commerce?

Social commerce is the buying and selling of goods or services directly within a social media platform. It involves taking social media beyond its traditional role in the discovery process. Instead, users will get to complete the entire purchase journey within the same platform. That means they can quickly go from discovery to purchase without leaving their preferred apps.

Leading social media platforms now offer dedicated social commerce tools to retailers. This includes platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and TikTok. Using these tools, you can create digital storefronts right within the respective platforms. That way, people can use these storefronts to discover and buy products without having to visit another website.

Social commerce vs. ecommerce

Ecommerce broadly encompasses the process of buying and selling goods online. It includes selling through different digital channels including online marketplaces, websites and dedicated retailer apps.

Meanwhile, social commerce involves selling directly through a social media platform. Since social media is an online channel, social commerce is a subset of ecommerce but it’s not the same as ecommerce.

Best social commerce platforms to use in 2023

Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest were the first to introduce native social commerce capabilities. Now platforms like YouTube and TikTok have joined in and started rolling out their own social commerce features.

If you’re interested in getting ahead of this potential revenue channel, here are the platforms you’ll want to test out:

Facebook

Facebook’s social commerce tool, Facebook Shops, has a very low barrier to entry. Shops are free to set up and are accessible within your Facebook business profile.

If you’re using a partner platform, you can automatically sync your entire inventory list in seconds. If not, you can use a spreadsheet to upload product information.

The Facebook Shop tab on the platform’s mobile app features products based on user preferences. This helps to encourage organic brand discovery. Once consumers find your products, they can complete a purchase within the app or on your website. Sellers communicate with customers within Messenger to ask questions, offer support and more.

Instagram

Instagram Shopping is directly linked to your Facebook Shop. To set up a shop, users must link their Instagram business account to their Facebook business profile. Once that’s completed, users can upload an existing product catalog or create a new one.

Then you can use Instagram Product Tags to make your content shoppable and your products easier to discover. Product Tags allow you to highlight items from your product catalog directly in your videos and posts. Users can tap on a tag and immediately learn more about the product.

The “View shop” button lets them browse your other listings and enjoy a seamless shopping experience. Like Facebook, purchases take place within the app or on your business website.

Pinterest

Pinterest Shopping has made it easier for retailers to sell on Pinterest. It lets you upload your product catalog to your Pinterest business page. You can then tag products in your Pins so people can click on those tags to learn more about them.

Keep in mind that these Product Pins are not direct social commerce tools. Buyers will still get redirected to a product-specific landing page to complete their purchase. However, it simplifies the buying journey as people can get the product info right within Pinterest.

TikTok

It’s easier than ever for retailers to make money on TikTok since the platform introduced social commerce capabilities. Businesses can now set up a TikTok Shop to showcase their products and drive purchases directly within the app. With this feature, you’ll be able to create shoppable videos and even enable viewers to shop directly on your TikTok LIVE broadcasts.

Source: TikTok

5 benefits of social commerce for your business

1. Reach a wider audience of potential customers

Social media usage is constantly on the rise, with more than 4 billion people using it worldwide. Couple that with the fact that consumers are discovering new brands and products through social media.

According to Sprout Social’s Social Shopping in 2022 study, 40% of consumers were finding the perfect product through a brand’s organic post. Researching products on social media and seeing a friend’s post are other common ways consumer’s discover products.

When you leverage social commerce, your products get in front of a massive audience. You’ll reach more people who could turn into customers.

2. Convert customers where they are and remove friction

Social commerce makes it easy to convert customers where they are since they can directly make purchases on the platform. It eliminates the need to switch to a different app or website to find the product they want to buy. As such, it removes friction and barriers to purchase by shortening the buying journey.

3. Increase reviews and recommendations through social proof

If your business is new to selling online, social media is the perfect place to begin establishing much-needed social proof. When shopping online, your buyers can’t necessarily test or try on your product. Reviews can be the key to making an educated purchase decision.

Managing your end-to-end customer journey on social media creates a positive feedback loop. This will eventually have an impact on your bottom line.

Your social content attracts new followers into your funnel. And offering social commerce gives them a chance to purchase and leave reviews in one centralized location. As your engagement grows with new reviews coming in, it sends a positive signal to social media algorithms. These algorithms will deem your content relevant to even more potential customers.

4. Gather useful data on your customers’ social habits

Social commerce features give you direct access to your customers’ social profiles. This gives you valuable customer data that you can use to inform your existing strategy.

Combine these insights with social media listening to get an even better understanding of your audience. That way, you get an even more comprehensive look into the habits and interests of your customers.

You can create more inspired conversion experiments based on these insights. Findings can inform messaging A/B tests, CTA optimizations and more. So you can make a bigger impact with your target audience.

5. Drive additional revenue than traditional ecommerce

Social commerce is driving an increasing portion of marketing-driven revenue for ecommerce businesses. According to McKinsey, retail social commerce sales in the US amounted to $45.7 billion in revenue in 2022. Experts predict that the number will hit close to $80 billion by 2025.

Although this is just about 5% of the total retail ecommerce sales, it still translates to increased revenue. As social commerce opens up new avenues for your business to drive sales, it gives you the opportunity to grow your revenue.

6 social commerce statistics marketers should know

1. Facebook is the most popular platform for social commerce. An estimated 5 million users in the US made a purchase on the platform in 2022.
2. Instagram comes next with an estimated 41 million buyers making a purchase.
3. TikTok is another popular option with 23.7 million users buying on the platform.
4. Pinterest draws in about 15.9 million social shoppers on the platform.
5. Targeted ads are the number one way for social shoppers to find the perfect product. Forty-nine percent of people surveyed in the Sprout shopping study were discovering products through these ads.
6. Recommendations from friends are the most compelling reasons consumers make a purchase on social.

3 social commerce trends for 2023

Many of the current ecommerce trends we see today influence the trends shaping social commerce today.

1. Livestream shopping will drive a significant portion of social media purchases. Sixty-one percent of shoppers in the Sprout study already use this social commerce feature. Moreover, 53% were planning to use more of it.
2. VR and AR experiences will enhance the social shopping experience. Platforms like Pinterest have even introduced a “Try On” feature powered by augmented reality. This allows shoppers to try on makeup products and see how home décor products look in their space.

Source: Pinterest

3. Inclusive marketing will be a key purchase factor in social commerce. Sixty percent of shoppers in Sprout’s social shopping study said that inclusive marketing would make them more likely to buy from a brand.

4 successful social commerce examples

Check out these four social commerce examples to find inspiration on how to build your own strategy.

1. The Tiny Tassel

The Tiny Tassel is a retailer specializing in handmade jewelry. It uses Facebook Shop features to create informative, Facebook-native product pages. Each listing features detailed product descriptions, customization options and shipping information.

Brands should follow Tiny Tassel’s lead and post listings that communicate value. This builds trust with potential buyers who are new to your brand, motivating them to make that first purchase.

2. Patagonia

Pinterest boards can serve as product navigation tools for your audience. Take Patagonia’s Pinterest structure: the Product Pin boards mimic its website navigation. This creates a familiar experience for returning audiences. Similarly, new potential customers will enjoy a consistent experience when they click through to the brand’s main site.

Most social commerce platforms offer just enough flexibility to recreate your brand experience. Use these tools to create consistency for your audience.

3. Target

Catalog setup can take a long time If your ecommerce platform doesn’t partner with Facebook. Rather than list all of its products, Target focuses on items that align with its Instagram content strategy. This creates a better browsing experience for its established Instagram audience.

If you’re working with a larger inventory, you can use Sprout’s Instagram Performance Reports. This helps you make smarter listing choices based on content engagement and popular hashtags.

4. Made by Mitchell

Makeup brand, Made by Mitchell introduced a product that was exclusively available on TikTok Shop. The brand took advantage of TikTok’s LIVE shopping feature for its initial launch.

The brand had collaborated with TikTok creator, Melissa Jade for this collection. So the two parties had a duel livestream on both their accounts. This attracted 50,000 LIVE views combined and a total of 2.4 million product views. The livestream session even had a 100% sell-out rate.

Brands should follow suit and take full advantage of TikTok’s LIVE shopping feature to engage shoppers in real-time. You can even maximize your reach with influential content creators.

The brand further encouraged sales through mystery beauty bundles. People were buying these mystery bundles on the brand’s TikTok Shop and creating unboxing videos. This helped to build a buzz around the collection and persuaded others to buy their own mystery boxes.

Source: TikTok

5 ways to increase sales on social media using Sprout Social

1. Know your audience

Align your social commerce strategy with your target social audience for maximum engagement. Choose products and messaging based on this specific customer subset instead of simply repeating what’s on your website.

A social media analytics tool can help you keep up with information as your audience grows. Sprout Profile Reports offer follower demographic data to create platform-wise customer personas. Use these in combination with post performance data to make your initial decisions about which products to list and how to position them.

2. Schedule your content

Once you share a listing, schedule some promotional posts to build interest and drive traffic to your new social storefront. This is a great way to share additional product information, like walkthroughs and close-up shots.

Use Sprout’s built-in social commerce catalogs to add shoppable tags and links to your products while scheduling your content. By adding products to your posts, you can meet customers where they want to shop and streamline their purchase process.

3. Personalize your replies

Asking questions about a product or service is one of the top reasons consumers reach out to brands on social. They may have requests for specific product details, ask about a specific order or want to know which options are available. Not only can you answer those questions by recommending a product, but you can even share a direct link to buy it. It’s a win-win—you’re delivering helpful service and making it easier for consumers to buy what they’re looking for.

Sprout helps you add direct product links to replies using built-in product catalogs from Facebook Shops and Shopify. You can also answer questions about order status, shipping details and more without switching to another tool.

4. Learn what works (and do more of it)

As you dip your toe into the world of social commerce, the best thing you can do is measure, measure, measure. Knowing what’s working can help you repeat your success as you scale your strategy. It can even help to illuminate new opportunities you might have otherwise missed.

Monitor your social analytics to manage performance. Remember to categorize your posts in Sprout by tagging them, giving you an in-depth look at what’s working and what’s not. Combine this with UTM parameters and you can dig in, see which posts drove sales and adjust your strategy to optimize your posts. With Sprout, you can schedule report deliveries on a weekly or monthly basis to stay on top of this process.

5. Automate conversations and increase response times

Failing to provide timely responses is one of the biggest social commerce mistakes. Before people finalize their purchases on your social media storefront, they may need some additional info. It’s your job to ensure that those potential customers get the response they need when they need it.

Sprout lets you build chatbots with customized responses so you can automate those conversations. That way, you can provide quick responses even when your support team is unavailable. And customers will get the answers they need to make informed purchase decisions.

Starting out with a social commerce strategy

Social media has revolutionized the way businesses and consumers interact, and social commerce is its newest frontier. You now know all the basics about social commerce–from what benefits you can enjoy to which platforms you should use. So if you’re ready to get started, download our free interview guide on how to craft a social commerce strategy.

The post What is social commerce? Stats, trends and tips marketers should know for 2023 appeared first on Sprout Social.

from Sprout Social https://ift.tt/4ZPUV5X
via IFTTT

Twitter's API keeps breaking even for developers paying $42000

Twitter's new API may now cost tens of thousands of dollars per month, but the service being provided to its customers appears to be worse than ever.

That's the general sentiment among developers who are still part of the once-robust third-party Twitter app ecosystem. According to developers paying Twitter, since the switch over to Elon Musk's paid API subscription plans, Twitter's API has experienced frequent issues that make it extremely difficult to run their apps. 

Twitter's API issues have frustrated developers in each of Twitter's new API access tiers. Those with Basic or Pro plans — paying $100 and $5000 a month for API access, respectively — have experienced unannounced changes to their plans, numerous bugs, and often receive zero customer support. And developers shelling out for Twitter's Enterprise API Plan, which starts at $42,000 per month, are experiencing sudden outages and disappointing service considering the money they're paying.

"Everything used to work fine before we started paying half a million per year," shared one developer in a private Twitter developer group chat shared with Mashable.

Before Elon Musk, Twitter was known for having a robust third-party developer ecosystem. Apps providing users with everything from entertainment to useful business utility flourished on the platform. Now, though, those third-party developers are leaving Twitter behind in droves. And the ones who are forced to stick around because they've already built a company on top of it are wondering when Twitter will eventually make the changes that will break their app and destroy their business.

The collapse of Twitter's once burgeoning third-party ecosystem

Who Unfollowed Me is a popular Twitter app that tracks a user's unfollows. It's likely one of the oldest, active third-party Twitter apps. It has been around for nearly a decade and a half. At present, Who Unfollowed Me boasts 150,000 monthly active users with 1.4 million total users over the last 12 months.

"The API has been stable for the better part of 13 years," its creator, Collin Robinson, told Mashable.

But then on June 13, Who Unfollowed Me suddenly broke.

A note on Who Unfollowed Me's homepage explaining the Twitter API issues that the app was having. Credit: Mashable Screenshot

According to Robinson, Twitter had not communicated to developers clearly that it was going to completely remove the old Twitter API when it switched over to Musk's version of the API with the new paid plans. In Twitter's communications about the switch, the company said the old API would be "deprecated," which led some developers to believe that the old API would remain accessible to its existing users, but that Twitter would just not provide support or updates for it anymore. Many were left scrambling to fix their apps after Twitter completely cut the old API off.

Robinson had to rewrite "every call" he had going to the API after the switch, a process that took about two weeks to complete.

On June 26, Who Unfollowed Me was finally ready to relaunch after all the rewrites. But then Twitter suddenly removed the followers and following endpoints from the API. These endpoints provide Who Unfollowed Me and other third-party apps with the follower and following list on a user's Twitter account. Without access to these endpoints, a Twitter follower-tracking app like Who Unfollowed Me will not function.

Tweet may have been deleted (opens in a new tab)

Robinson learned about the change from another developer. "Someone noticed the GET calls for user/:id/followers and user/:id/following were no longer part of the accessible APIs for basic or pro users," Robinson told me on Wednesday, referring to the API functionality that allowed third-party apps to access a users' follower and following lists. "It wasn’t until Wednesday that they were removed from the official API reference index. All the while there is no word from @twitterdev, even though they posted a few times in the forums. There is nothing in the changelog either."

Robinson was hopeful that Twitter would provide some sort of update on the situation and he'd still be able to make Who Unfollowed Me work. Then on Thursday, without any notification and four days after the endpoints disappeared from the API, Twitter finally updated its changelog.

Twitter updated it's changelog on June 29 to reflect the removal of the follower endpoints on June 26. Credit: Mashable Screenshot

"Today, we are removing the Follows and List Follows endpoints from the Basic and Pro tiers of the Twitter API v2," it reads. This means that unless a developer is paying a minimum of $42,000 per month, the Twitter API will not provide an app with the follower and following information.

It signals the end of Who Unfollowed Me and any other third-party app like it.

"It’s been a good 14 year run," Robinson told Mashable after the changelog update on Thursday. "Sad to see it end this way."

"Today, I’ll go ride my bike with my triathlon team and get curious about what’s next for me," he continued." "Tomorrow, I’ll get up and start something new."

Developers are jumping ship from Twitter

Many developers have shared both publicly online and in private emails and group chats viewed by Mashable that the Twitter API will mistakenly suspend their apps or remove apps from projects within the API platform. Some have experienced this on a near-weekly basis since April, when the paid API subscription tiers first launched. Developers have also experienced issues such as their plans' rate limits suddenly being changed as well as endpoints breaking, which cuts off communication from their third-party app to the Twitter platform. 

Even worse, major issues with Twitter's API appear to be changes that are intentionally made with zero regard for the developers paying them specifically for those API features. Developers have complained that Twitter doesn't even notify them of these changes and they often don't find out until their app breaks.

Mashable has heard these frustrations directly from paying Twitter API users who have reached out, in messages from developers sent in private developer groups, and in publicly available tweets. Twitter's public developer community forum is also filled with developers requesting help when Twitter's API breaks. Those requests often go unanswered.

SEE ALSO: Twitter's new API pricing is killing many Twitter apps that can't pay $42,000 per month

Before Twitter made its follower endpoint changes official, developers on the Twitter developer community forum were expressing their frustration:

"@TwitterDev, please make this clear whether it is a bug or change of service?" wrote one user. "If the latter, we will stop paying for the API as this is our major use case and paid API becomes waste of our money and become completely useless!"

"Is this some kind of joke? I paid $100 specifically for this endpoint, and now it’s deprecated?" posted another. "This is a fiasco. It feels as though they’re managing a small-scale business with a mere ten employees, not a technology company."

Now that these developers know the follower endpoint is no longer included in their API package, some are considering issuing a chargeback to Twitter via their credit card for services unrendered.

"This is ridiculous," posted one developer. "I want my money back!"

The problems started with Elon Musk

One of the first major changes Musk made after acquiring Twitter last year was to shut down the company's generous free API offering for third-party developers and researchers. Twitter soon moved to a paid model, which many were still willing to subscribe to.

That is, until they found out how much it cost: $42,000 per month. This pricing model resulted in the shuttering of many Twitter-based apps that simply could not afford the new exorbitant model. Musk initially promised that there would be an exception for Twitter's "good" bots, which do not generate revenue and just provide services to Twitter's users. But that exception never materialized for some, and many of these bots have also since shut down after dealing with Twitter API issues. (Twitter does have an extremely limited $100 plan, which many developers say is unusable for most applications because many features are not included and the limits are too low for the ones that are. The company has also since rolled out a new $5,000 a month API tier, which is still out of reach for many indie developers.)

SEE ALSO: Twitter launches API 'Pro' plan for 'startups.' Developers think it's a slap in the face.

"​​This has been a tough journey building on top of the Twitter API since Elon Musk took over," Paul-Louis Hery of Unfollow Monkey told Mashable.

Like many developers, Hery's problems started in April when Twitter officially rolled out its new paid API platform.

"The app got suspended as a way to force us to get a paid plan," he said. "So I paid the plan, $100 per month, no customer service, nothing clear."

But the service provided by Twitter for even paying users like Hery was chaotic at best. Hery said his app would just stop working during the middle of the night after it would be randomly removed from a Twitter API "app project," which basically tells the API which app to give access to. The company would lower limits for features in paid plans without notification.

"It used to be 15,000 DMs per app per day, now it's 500," Hery told me. "At the beginning I thought it was a bug, there was no announcement, and took a few days to realize it was not a bug. Because the paid subscribers relied on DMs to receive their notifications, I decided to stop the subscriptions and refund everyone."

One developer who reached out to Mashable via email shared how Twitter removed API endpoints earlier this month for block lists. There use to be complete apps based around helping users manage their block lists. Many have since shut down as they can no longer function after Twitter decided to remove the API endpoint that allows third-parties to access users' blocks.

Tweet may have been deleted (opens in a new tab)

Now the same thing is happening to apps that depended on the follower endpoints too.

Like Robinson of Who Unfollowed Me, Hery of Unfollower Monkey had just rebuilt his platform. Hery removed the DM feature due to the new reduced rate limits, still holding out hope he could work within the confines of Twitter's new paid API plans. Then the follower and following endpoint issue hit.

"So my side project seems dead," Hery said. 

"People [in the Twitter developer community forum] whose companies leverage that feature don't know what to tell customers, whether to give refunds, what to tell employees and their families," Hery continued. "I don't know how Elon wants to make an 'everything company' without the developers, brands, and people on his side."

Developer Thomas Shulz shared that Twitter's most recent API issues involving its follower and following endpoint have created problems for the app he is working on called DirectorySF.

Tweet may have been deleted (opens in a new tab)

"I’m building an app that helps people in tech find housing," Shultz said in a message to Mashable. "Part of what makes this app useful is showing people the following overlaps. That’s how you can tell whether or not to trust someone and/or find like-minded housemates. Without this feature, we have to figure out another method to show social proof which is harder to do."

Luckily for Schulz his app hasn't yet gone live.

"We haven’t launched yet, so I don't have it as bad as other people that are paying thousands of dollars a month and losing paying customers," he explained.

Others, like Robinson and Hery, haven't been as lucky. 

SEE ALSO: Twitter and Reddit's high-priced APIs are bad news for the internet's future

All of these issues are further compounded by the fact that Twitter API customer support is not only unresponsive to specific problems but oftentimes seem completely nonexistent, according to developers who have shared these issues. Simple matters may take days to get resolved, major problems take weeks to get fixed – if the issue is even resolved at all. 

And in the case of these endpoint removals, Twitter has made the choice to not even communicate deliberate changes to its paying customers at all. The company offers no notification to users so that they can attempt to reach out for clarifications or to report bugs. Developers often find out about Twitter API-related issues from their own users seeking help when something breaks.

"I am paying the $42,000 / month sub… and still, our API access got randomly cut off," tweeted TweetHunter cofounder Tibo Louis-Lucas in the early morning this past Saturday, sharing that the same issue occurred just weeks earlier.

Tweet may have been deleted (opens in a new tab)

Social media management app Publer, which also pays for Twitter's Enterprise API plan, shared with Mashable that it had experienced similar API issues in the past. 

However, TweetHunter and Publer appear to be outliers as they appear to be among the few companies that have managed to actually get help from Twitter support. Both say Twitter's API integrations are currently working for their respective apps at the time of publication. Both also pay for the $42,000 per month plan but it's unclear if that played a role.

"The wild thing about all this is that this all seems to be screwing over developers who are paying up to $5,000 per month for API access and none of them even have support contacts to ask why this is happening," one developer told Mashable. "If this isn't high enough priority for Twitter to dedicate its developers [to]…what are they working on?"

"[Twitter] assured us their #1 priority was to re-establish the stability we were used to…before we started paying $42,000 per month," one startup founder told Mashable, adding a cry-laughing emoji.

from Mashable https://ift.tt/XGNoisn
via IFTTT

More than half of Americans have experienced online harassment says ADL report

The last year has seen a record-breaking increase of online hate and harassment for many Americans, according to a new report by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). More than half of American adults and teens have experienced online harassment.

The ADL's annual "Online Hate and Harassment: The American Experience" report adds a national perspective to claims of a worsening digital environment, the product of a year of waning online protections, discriminatory legislation, and an overall digital environment lacking safeguards for all users.

The findings are based on a national survey of more than 2,000 adult and 500 teenage respondents, all of whom were polled on their online experiences over the last 12 months, in addition to their general experience of digital abuse over their lifetimes. The ADL defines harassment as "unwanted or hostile contact on digital platforms — including social media, chat, and email — such as verbal abuse, hate speech, trolling, spamming, impersonation, and defamation," with more severe forms in ongoing harassment campaigns, sexual harassment, stalking, doxing, and swatting. Online hate is defined as "abuse and harassment targeting someone for their identity, specifically as part of a marginalized group."

SEE ALSO: DoorDash expands grocery access through SNAP and EBT payment options

Online hate and harassment isn't improving

The survey polled respondents on a variety of abusive online behaviors, including being called offensive names, intentional embarrassment, and forms of severe harassment such as physical threats, prolonged harassment, stalking, sexual harassment, doxing, and swatting.

Overall, almost every single demographic polled reported higher levels of online hate and harassment than in years previous, and the numbers increased for both adults and teens. Both men and women reported sharp increases in severe harassment, as well.

In total, more than half of American adults reported being harassed online in their lifetime — the highest number reported in four years — increasing from 40 percent to 52 percent. A third of adults reported being harassed within the past 12 months, a 10 percent jump from 2022's numbers.

And 51 percent of teens reported being harassed online in the last year — a steep 15 percent rise over just 12 months — with 47 percent also reporting that online abuse led to in-person harassment.

Credit: YouGov Survey / ADL

According to the ADL, Facebook remains the highest reported platform where hate and harassment occur, but increases were also noted on Twitter, Reddit, TikTok, and WhatsApp.

Credit: YouGov Survey / ADL

The trans community continues to face high levels of abuse

For the first time, ADL surveyed an additional pool of transgender respondents in order to obtain a more representative sample of the online experience for highly-targeted users. The survey concluded that transgender respondents face the highest levels of online harassment, with 76 percent of respondents reporting that they have been harassed online in their lifetimes, and 51 percent of respondents reporting being harassed in the last year.

The broader LGBTQ community ranks next highest, with 47 percent of those polled reporting instances of harassment in the past 12 months.

"Together, transgender and LGBQ+ people were the most harassed demographic group every year we have conducted this survey," the organizations writes.

SEE ALSO: Twitter is the most dangerous social platform for LGBTQ users, according to 2023 GLAAD report

Identity-based hate is still a widespread fear

Marginalized groups reported identity-specific harassment at increased rates compared to the previous year, and nearly every racial and ethnic group polled faced an increase in digital abuse — 38 percent of Black and African American respondents faced online harassment.

Among Jewish respondents, 80 percent reported a fear of being harassed online. According to the report, a rise in antisemitic incidents and highly visible online antisemitic tirades from influential figures and political candidates in 2022 "may account for the increase in Jewish respondents' worries about online hate and harassment." The ADL also documented a rise in antisemitism on Twitter, specifically, following Elon Musk's takeover and the reinstating of accounts that incite harassment.

Credit: YouGov Survey / ADL

Digital and legislative protections are needed

The ADL also issued several recommendations for social media companies and legislators, which suggest:

• Enforcing hate and harassment policies transparently, equitably, and at scale on social media platforms, including limiting high-profile user exceptions and other loopholes that make policies less effective.

• Adopting ADL's recommended tools and anti-hate by design principles to support targets of harassment.

• Mandating transparency reporting and outlaw doxing at a federal level, and increasing consumer protection efforts to disincentivize harmful business practices.

"Through initiatives like Backspace Hate, ADL advocates for stronger legislation, enhanced enforcement mechanisms, and increased public awareness to safeguard individuals facing online harassment," the report states. "ADL actively collaborates with legislators to update cyberharassment laws, particularly concerning doxing and swatting, with the goal of providing greater protection to victims and targets of digital abuse."

For more Social Good stories in your inbox, sign up for Mashable's Top Stories newsletter today.

from Mashable https://ift.tt/8gvjs9A
via IFTTT

How to take smart risks with lo-fi social content

In late 2009, Domino’s released a brutally honest commercial, publicizing customers’ overwhelmingly negative feelings about their pizza—and asking folks to give them a second chance. It was a massive risk, but one that paid off. The quarter following the campaign’s release, same-store sales were up 14%.

No matter how you slice it, risk-taking has always been a hallmark of strong brand marketing. In the world of social today—where generating organic reach feels like a moving target and production budgets are limited—pursuing smart risks can be the deciding factor in your content’s success.

Enter: lo-fi content. Publishing visuals and video that hasn’t been scrutinized in creative briefs and edited ad nauseum carries a degree of risk. But as we explain in this article, it’s what audiences crave.

Keep reading to learn how to build the business case for creating more lo-fi content, and ways to integrate it into your social strategy.

What is lo-fi social media content?

Lo-fi social media content is personality-driven social media content that has low production value. Social media consultant and Link in Bio newsletter creator Rachel Karten summed it up in a Sprout masterclass webinar, “You have to do something weird or wacky or fun or personality driven. People now expect brands to show up in that way across all platforms.”

Lo-fi content looks and feels more authentic and less glossy than traditional branded social content because it usually is. It’s often shot on an iPhone and involves little if any editing at all, making it more budget-friendly (with a better ROI than highly polished content).

Lo-fi social media content is still selling to your audience, but it doesn’t feel like it. Examples of lo-fi content include, but are not limited to:

• Facebook photo dumps
• Screengrabs of TikToks
• Instagram Stories that are clearly shot on someone’s phone

The risks and rewards of lo-fi content

For emerging and established brands alike, lo-fi content can be a step outside of the marketing comfort zone. Unpolished posts run the risk of showing your product or service in a non-aspirational light (even if it’s highlighting a very real customer use case), or showcasing a sense of humor that your audience might not get.

@lamer

Replying to @Lindsey 👁️👄👁️ #LaMer #LaMerSkincare #CremeDeLaMer #Succession #RomanRoy

♬ original sound – Dustin Rauser

Done well, however, the upside of smart lo-fi content is undeniable, from higher ROI to scaling your brand awareness efforts. By striking the right balance of casual and relevant, these posts can humanize your brand and encourage shareability.

What’s driving the shift toward lo-fi content?

The pendulum swing from pristine, big budget advertising campaigns to lo-fi social content has been building up for years. There are a few factors that have contributed to this shift:

1. The pandemic

During our webinar, Karten noted how the challenges brands faced at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the shift towards more lo-fi content. Specifically, more conservative budgets and the inability for marketers to travel and film on-site.

As major brands began to incorporate more low-budget content into their feeds out of necessity, they noticed something—audiences ate it up. It was an early sign that aspirational content wasn’t the only option anymore.

2. The algorithms

While the pandemic initiated the shift toward lo-fi social content, it was hardly the only driver. Algorithms, particularly on Instagram and TikTok, increasingly emphasize the power of discovery.

The more a particular post gets shared, the more likely it is to land on the Instagram Explore or TikTok For You pages. Today, it’s off the cuff, lo-fi content that users are more likely to share with their followers.

In other words, the combination of consumers wanting more authentic posts combined with algorithms rewarding that content led forward-thinking brands to ask themselves a simple question when creating social content: “Would you share it?”

How to take smart risks with lo-fi social content

Lo-fi doesn’t translate to low effort, nor is it a pass to be less thoughtful or strategic about your content. Here are four ways to create intentional lo-fi content that entertains and engages your audience:

Listen to your audience

Do your research—lo-fi content may not take as much time or budget to produce, but that doesn’t absolve teams from strong planning. Social listening helps you get a firmer grasp on what your customers are talking about, both in general and as it relates to your brand. This Sweetgreen TikTok, for example, hooks viewers by immediately acknowledging pervasive feedback about their prices.

@sweetgreen

this is the $10 #sweetgreen salad you haven’t thought of aka the Derian special. #salad

♬ In the Bosom – Sweet After Tears

Know what differentiates your brand from direct and indirect competitors

This will help you pinpoint the right opportunities to bet on lo-fi social content and how to bring these moments to life. Getting this right depends on understanding the behaviors, norms and fandoms that are unique to your audience. Regional fast-food chain Culver’s does this often, playing into their Wisconsin roots without formal voiceover or on-camera talent.

Be real and show up as such

Many consumers place greater value on brands that aren’t buttoned up or picture-perfect all the time, especially on social. Karten recommends doing something as similar as posting an image dump with lo-fi imagery to show your brand’s true colors or heritage.

For example, in the wake of its 2020 bankruptcy and subsequent brand turnaround, Brooks Brothers has leaned into a more casual approach on social–with simple static posts reviving old catalogs and quick get-ready-with-me TikToks—aimed at appealing to a younger generation of shoppers.

Couple goals via Spring ‘81 catalog #tbt

Posted by Brooks Brothers on Thursday, April 27, 2023

Partner with influencers driving trends

Sharing your brand’s platform with someone else always carries a certain amount of risk. But influencers and creators are masters of lo-fi content. Engaging and partnering with the originators of so many different social trends can have long-term benefits for brands.

Karten spoke to an example from Cava, which partnered with The Devon Maid, a TikTok creator who was going viral for a video on how pasta shapes walk. The subsequent post, featuring The Devon Maid’s take on how various Cava toppings would walk, over-performed in terms of both likes and shares. It allowed the brand to participate in the trend without stealing the idea from its original source.

Make major announcements more relatable

Large corporate announcements may seem like the one arena where a lo-fi approach isn’t worth the risk. But if the Tennessee Titans’ 2023 schedule release video is any indication, even this tide is turning.

For the announcement, the Titans produced two videos: One with high production value featuring celebrities including comedian Nate Bargatze, Jelly Roll and Keith Urban, the other, a lo-fi video asking random people in downtown Nashville to identify their 2023 opponents by their logo. The lo-fi version outperformed the more polished version significantly—82,000+ likes and 2,100+ comments compared to 15,000+ likes and 249 comments on Instagram alone, drawing engagement from major brands such as Cheetos and even teams on their schedule.

Why did it work? The Titans version was raw, it was real and, most importantly, it was hilarious.

To mitigate lo-fi content risks, never stop testing

For brands accustomed to full-fledged TV commercials, expensive out of home billboards and glossy print spreads, lo-fi social content may seem like a major marketing risk. But as the previous examples demonstrate, when done right the payoff is undeniable.

Marketers looking to take bigger swings with lo-fi content should still take a test-and-learn approach to find the tone, format and timely references that resonate best with your audience. Download our creative testing worksheet to find the formula that makes sense for your brand.

The post How to take smart risks with lo-fi social content appeared first on Sprout Social.

from Sprout Social https://ift.tt/4AryjTo
via IFTTT

Instagram insights demystified: How to access and analyze your metrics

Optimizing your Instagram presence doesn’t have to be a guessing game. You can find most of the answers you need within the app itself.

Anyone with an Instagram Business account can use the network’s in-app reporting feature, Instagram Insights. While it may not provide the same level of detail as an advanced Instagram analytics tool, it’s still a valuable resource for conducting on-the-fly analysis.

This guide will show you how to access and use Instagram Insights to analyze your data. We’ll also share how to use the tool in combination with an advanced social analytics solution to drive results faster.

• What is Instagram Insights?
• How to get access to insights on Instagram
• How to see post insights on Instagram
  • Instagram Posts insights
  • Instagram Reels insights
  • Instagram Stories insights
  • Instagram Live insights
• What kind of performance data is available in Instagram Insights?
• Using Instagram Insights for performance analysis

What is Instagram Insights?

Instagram Insights is a free Instagram Business Account feature that offers performance data on your profile and posts, providing enhanced visibility into your audience’s preferences and engagement patterns.

With Insights, you can measure the success of your content, including grid posts, Stories, Reels and Live videos. It’s a valuable tool for evaluating the impact and effectiveness of your Instagram marketing strategy.

How to get access to insights on Instagram

Before we get into how to use the Insights tool, let’s go over how to access them. Heads up: This is a mobile-exclusive feature, so you’ll need the app ready to go before you get started.

1. Go to your profile settings

Go to your profile, then tap the hamburger menu in the top right corner of the app. Tap Settings and then tap Account to get started.

2. Create a professional account

To set up your Instagram for Business account, tap Account type and tools under the For professionals section of the Instagram Settings page.

Tap Switch to professional account and you’re ready to go.

3. Choose your category

Instagram business categories allow brands to clearly showcase the purpose of their business above their profile description. Choose the category that best describes your business.

Pro tip: The options listed under the suggested categories are just a fraction of the full catalog you can pick from. Use the search function to find the option that best suits your business, and don’t be afraid to get specific.

4. Navigate to Insights

Now that your professional account is all set up, you can access Insights from the same hamburger menu you used for your account settings.

You can only access performance metrics on content you’ve posted since converting to a business or creator account. If you recently switched to a professional account, you’ll have to wait until it has enough historical data to use the Insights tool.

How to see post insights on Instagram

Instagram offers a variety of ways to connect with your audience—grid posts, ephemeral content, short-form video, live streams, you name it.

To find out if your Instagram post ideas are resonating, check out the explainers below.

Instagram Posts insights

Go to your Instagram profile and tap a post you’d like to get metrics for. From there, tap the View Insights button below the image.

Instagram Reels insights

To view insights on an Instagram Reel, go to the Reels tab of the Instagram app.

From there, select the Reel you’d like to view metrics for. On the lower right-hand side of the Reel, tap the … icon. Then, tap the Insights button.

Instagram Stories insights

There are two different ways to view insights on Instagram Stories.

If the Story is live on your account, tap your profile picture. Tap through to the Story you’d like to report on. Once you’re there, swipe up on the image or video for Insights metrics.

If you’re looking for performance data on an older Story, tap the Insights action button on your profile and find the Story under Content You Shared.

Instagram Live insights

To view Instagram Live insights, go to your profile.

Tap Insights, then scroll down to the live video section in the content you’ve shared for a detailed breakdown on your Instagram Live performance.

What kind of performance data is available in Instagram Insights?

Once you navigate over to the tool, you’ll see some high-level Instagram audience insights and a gallery of recently shared content.

Click into either section for a more detailed look into the following metrics:

Accounts reached

For all Instagram content aside from Reels, accounts reached is the number of unique accounts that have seen your posts on their screen at least once. For Reels, accounts reached means the number of unique accounts who have seen your Reel at least once, whether or not they watched the video.

Once a post has reached more than 100 accounts, you can access demographic data on accounts reached. This data includes top countries, cities, age ranges and a gender breakdown.

Accounts engaged

Accounts engaged is the number of unique accounts that have interacted with your Instagram content through likes, saves, comments and other engagement activities. For posts, stories and Instagram Live, these metrics are drilled down into followers and non-followers.

Total followers

Business accounts with more than 100 followers can view overall trends in growth over time. They can also access follower demographic and platform usage data, including:

• Top locations
• Age range
• Times your audience is most active on Instagram

Plays

Plays is the number of plays video content received within a set time frame. That includes when a video plays automatically while a user scrolls through the app.

Using Instagram Insights for performance analysis

To take your Instagram game to the next level, you need to be making data-driven decisions. Luckily, you now have a wealth of performance data right in the palm of your hand.

Here are four ways to use your new Instagram business insights to your advantage:

Identify popular content 

With Insights, you can quickly identify the content that resonates most with your audience. All you need to do is look for patterns in what your audience finds compelling and tailor your content strategy accordingly.

For on-the-fly action items, we recommend conducting a brief start-stop-continue analysis of your Instagram performance data. This analysis evaluates the effectiveness of content and determines what actions to start, stop or continue.

It’s important to note that this type of spontaneous analysis is designed to provide quick takes on your Instagram strategy’s effectiveness, such as whether people reacted positively to a particular post.

For more complex questions, like determining the best time to post on Instagram, you’ll want to use a more advanced social media management tool. For example, Sprout customers can take advantage of ViralPost® technology, which analyzes audience engagement patterns and content preferences to detect the most active times for authentic engagement.

Track growth and engagement trends

A quick dip into the Insights tool is all you need to do to ensure you’re pacing well toward your monthly performance targets. If you happen to notice any inconsistencies, use Sprout’s suite of Instagram analytics reports to investigate the issue and its potential causes.

Use the Instagram Business Profiles Report to identify which types of content are driving results. That way, you can make strategic adjustments to stay on track toward achieving your desired outcomes.

Make stronger paid marketing decisions

Did you know that 50% of users become more interested in a brand after seeing an ad for it on Instagram? With these types of results, making every dollar count is critical.

Use Instagram Insights to optimize your paid performance so you can make better use of your budget.

Analyze your organic content performance to identify trends, themes and creative elements that resonate with your audience. Then, leverage that data to take your paid marketing efforts to the next level.

Gauge the impacts of an algorithm shift

An Instagram algorithm update feels like a monthly occurrence at this point. Keeping up with all the changes is one thing. Understanding how they impact your social media strategy is a different beast entirely.

Next time you hear about a rumored or confirmed algorithm update, use Instagram Insights to see how your strategy is weathering through the change. If everything is going according to plan, then you’re good to go. If you notice any performance dips, it’s time to investigate further using a tool that can provide a more comprehensive analysis.

Use Instagram Insights to create a picture-perfect social strategy

Instagram’s landscape is constantly changing. Trends come and go quickly, and what’s popular today may not be tomorrow. Use Instagram Insights in combination with a tool like Sprout to stay informed and up-to-date on what works and what doesn’t.

Of course, data is only part of the story. For practical advice on building your brand identity and expanding your community on Instagram, check out this comprehensive guide to Instagram for brands. It’s packed with valuable tips to help you achieve your platform goals.

The post Instagram insights demystified: How to access and analyze your metrics appeared first on Sprout Social.

from Sprout Social https://ift.tt/VwO4Ap3
via IFTTT

Social app IRL valued at $1 billion shuts down because it doesn't have any users IRL

IRL, a social app meant to connect young people and discover events, seemed to have everything going for it. The company was able to overcome the challenges of running an event discovery app during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic when everyone was stuck inside. With a killer domain name in IRL.com and a pivot to also focusing on online event discovery, IRL eventually grew to 20 million users, according to its founder Abraham Shafi, raising more than $200 million in VC funding.

One problem: It appears that the vast majority of those 20 million users are fake.

According to a report from The Information, IRL employees have been skeptical of user base claims from Shafi, who was also the CEO of the company until he was suspended by the board of directors in April. A subsequent investigation by the board found some shocking information that vindicated those employees' skepticism.

SEE ALSO: No one is on Facebook, so how are we inviting friends to parties and shows?

The board's investigation found that 95 percent of IRL's supposed 20 million users were actually "automated or from bots." The SEC has also launched an investigation into whether IRL misled investors, violating securities law.

This isn't the first time something like this has happened in the tech space. For example, just earlier this year, JP Morgan sued the founder of Frank, an app it required for $175 million, for lying about the startup's user numbers.

In June 2021, IRL raised $170 million from the investment firm SoftBank, which put the company at a valuation of more than $1 billion. When IRL laid off 25 percent of its workers just one year later, Shafi attempted to calm the remaining staffs' worries by saying the company had “more than enough cash to last well into 2024.”

Now, IRL is shutting down.

Any users – of the few that actually existed – who visit IRL.com today are met with a message announcing the shutdown of the app on June 27.

"IRL is shutting down and the application will formally be turned off on June 27th at 12pm PDT," the announcement reads. "We thank you for hosting your community chats with us, and we wish your community great conversations on other platforms moving forward."

from Mashable https://ift.tt/25jNIP1
via IFTTT

How to analyze customer reviews for brand insights

There’ll always be a competitor trying to outperform you. The only way to grow and stay ahead is a keen eye on what your customers are saying about their interests and pain points.

In a world where star ratings can make or break a brand, review analysis is your north star. It gives you deep insights from customer feedback so you can uncover trends, make targeted improvements to your business and build a richer brand management strategy.

To conduct review analysis effectively, you need to focus on the right platforms and choose the right review analysis tool. Only then will you get the most comprehensive view of your audience.

In this article, you’ll find out what review analysis is all about, the tangible business benefits, as well as a step-by-step breakdown of how to build a review management strategy to grow your business.

What is review analysis?

Review analysis is the process of analyzing customer feedback from various sources such as social listening data, review forums, customer service data and surveys to get targeted brand insights. These insights enable you to cut through the noise and understand how customers feel about your business, products and service so you can improve them proactively.

Why should brands carry out review analysis?

Reviews give first-hand information on how to improve your offerings, create better-performing content and build more authentic, meaningful relationships that boost brand loyalty. Let’s take a closer look.

Create more impactful content

Review analysis reveals what type of content resonates the most with your audience, which will help you deliver more relevant social posts for better engagement.

It also gives you an opportunity to insert your brand into the conversations drawing audience’s attention.

Review analytics tools like Sprout analyze content across multiple social channels and profiles simultaneously. This gives you rich, holistic brand insights across key performance indicators (KPIs) to fortify your social strategy, as Benefits Cosmetics found when analyzing this data to learn more about their audience.

Boost sales conversions

Social proof is everything. Think about it—if you want to buy a product or service, the first thing you do is look up reviews to see what other customers are saying about it.

Price may be an important factor but product quality, after-sales service and how competing brands compare, are important too. Review analysis gives you insights into all these factors so you can improve your end-to-end customer journey for higher satisfaction and conversion.

Manage brand reputation

With rising consumer awareness, brands need to make sure they are always fostering a positive brand reputation. Not being proactive can lead to grim repercussions as fast fashion retailers are learning the hard way.

Review analysis guides you toward the things that strengthen and weaken your brand image. These could be product issues, advertising campaigns, customer service or even sensitive issues gaining ground. According to The Sprout Social Index™ 2022, 34% of customers believe it’s important for brands to speak out to remain culturally relevant.

Social listening enables you to track thousands of direct mentions and comments across social networks to identify what’s resonating with your audiences, to build a positive brand perception, like the Atlanta Hawks did, with Sprout.

Improve customer experience

Review analysis is a great way to understand your customers’ emotional triggers so you can prioritize areas you need to improve or nurture.

Don’t hesitate to ask for feedback from your audience. It’s a great way to nurture customer engagement and it gives your brand a more human touch. Here are some tips on how to ask for reviews.

Gain competitive intelligence

Review analytics also provides you with insights on competitor brands, from how your competitors’ social posts are faring, to how you compare on customer satisfaction benchmarks. Competitor analysis tools, like Sprout, aggregate this data into ready-to-use reports for fast insights into your industry position.

Track emerging market trends

Monitoring trending topics on social media, forums like Reddit and review sites like Google My Business (GMB) gives you insights into what’s top-of-mind for customers. Track comments using keywords or hashtags and analyze them in real-time or historically. Doing this will help you future-proof your strategies so you are well-prepared to take on market dynamics.

Top sources of customer review data

Customers leave product and brand reviews on almost all social platforms. What’s important is that you decide which ones are most relevant to your business. Ask: Where do your customers mostly go to express themselves?

To get you started, here are some popular ones, which you can also track with Sprout.

Facebook

Facebook reviews or recommendations are where customers share their experiences with you in detail. These are visible on your business page and appear in the user’s news feeds when they ask for recommendations.

Yelp

Yelp is a popular platform where customers write about their experiences with local businesses, as well as make reservations or purchases.

Google My Business

GMB is another popular platform for local businesses to gain customer feedback. Regularly updating your content and information on the platform also helps your search rankings.

You can directly post to your GMB account using Sprout and simultaneously collect and analyze all your reviews to draw insights.

TripAdvisor

With more than one billion reviews for over eight million businesses, TripAdvisor is a go-to for planning a vacation. You can access this goldmine and draw important audience insights based on keywords, competitors or specific time periods.

This helps you improve customer experience and also get targeted ideas to grow your business.

Glassdoor

Glassdoor lets millions of people get the inside scoop on companies they are interested in working for. Analyzing this data is the best way to measure the success of your employer branding to attract a richer talent pool.

How to analyze online reviews in 4 steps

While you can sift through customer reviews manually, review management tools help you do so quickly and efficiently. They dig into thousands of comments across platforms and social networks simultaneously to find insights that can be easily missed when doing so manually.

Sprout enables you to identify, organize and respond to customer reviews from a number of social channels and other sources including Facebook, Google My Business, Yelp, TripAdvisor and Glassdoor. Let’s check out how you can connect with these platforms to gather data.

1. Connect your review sources

Connect your profiles to Sprout using the connection wizard, which will give you prompts.

For Facebook or Google My Business, you will need company permissions to connect with your page. For TripAdvisor, Sprout automatically looks up your location, but you can do it manually as well.

To connect to Glassdoor, you will need a Glassdoor API key. As with Facebook, you will need admin permissions for this. Click on Obtain Key from Glassdoor Employer Center to get your API key.

You’ll be prompted to verify the key and once you’ve done that, you’ll be connected to your Glassdoor profiles.

2. Filter by date range, profiles, ratings or tags

Once you’ve chosen your sources and gathered the data, you will need to filter them to begin your analysis. You can sort your reviews by date range, profiles, ratings and tags.

You can also search the Smart Inbox by using keywords or phrases to see the number of messages for a certain topic or to find specific reviews. Then, you can tag and export those messages to analyze trends.

Use the following steps: Navigate to the Smart Inbox tab > Click on the search bar at the top of the screen > Type in keyword/phrase > Press Enter.

3. Reply to reviews

With the most relevant reviews at hand, you can reply to them directly through Sprout. You can also assign them to team members for immediate attention through the Smart Inbox.

4. View reports

Sprout’s Reviews Overview Report gives you a comprehensive view of customer feedback, so you can monitor trends based on time periods and key metrics across various parameters. Some of these are:

Performance summary: Compare top-level performance metrics with the previous publishing period.

Average rating:  Measure and compare your average rating across networks or for a specific network.

Review volume: See the total number of reviews you received during the reporting time period.

Review volume by rating: Get a breakdown of ratings by volume and network.

Review reply management: See your average reply time over the reporting time period.

Review volume by action: The total volume of actions taken in Sprout based on the review’s date.

Profiles tab: View metrics at the individual profile level.

These reports provide you with an overview of customer sentiments and your brand health, which you can use to amplify your social strategy and other marketing efforts. And because you can delegate action items to team members with clear instructions, it offers much-needed transparency and structure for efficient workflows and data sharing across teams.

Start analyzing your reviews today

Review analysis helps you meet customer demands proactively. It also gives you a comprehensive view of competitor insights and emerging trends that impact your bottom line. Tools like Sprout help you analyze numerous sources at once, layering context onto thousands of customer conversations to draw critical and timely business insights faster.

Get started with a personalized demo to learn how Sprout will help you enrich your customer experience and business strategy with review analysis and more.

 

The post How to analyze customer reviews for brand insights appeared first on Sprout Social.

from Sprout Social https://ift.tt/ivl6noz
via IFTTT