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If you haven’t checked out Radian6 yet, you should. Radian6 (@Radian6) was founded in 2006 with the idea that companies need to actively engage on social media. This means that they need to listen to what is being said about their brand, industry and competitors, and measure, analyse and report on their social media efforts. Their platform is so robust, and the company does such a good job at social media monitoring, that they got acquired by Salesforce.com in 2011 for $326 million. That’s simply amazing! They’re also recognized as a leader in social media listening platforms in “The Forrester Wave: Listening Platforms, Q3 2010” report. If that’s not enough, more than HALF of Fortune 100 companies choose Radian6 as their top platform, and Mashable named Radian6’s Co-founder Chris Ramsey one of five masterminds redefining social media. Are you convinced that they are an awesome company yet? I am!
Now, you’re probably wondering what makes me, a fourth year Commerce student at Mount Allison University, qualified to work for Radian6. I’ll tell you why. I understand what the company does. Not only that, but I also understand the importance of what they do, and how this will change the social media industry forever. But why do I know this? Because I do it for myself.
Some of my peers probably think I’m crazy spending hours on end, every single day, listening and analyzing to what is being said within my social media community. I say I would be crazy not doing so! Why? Because what I am doing is an extremely valuable learning experience that cannot be taught in books or university lectures, but only by doing it for yourself.
Now you’re probably wondering: “What the heck is he talking about, he understands the company because he does the same thing as they do for himself?” See, when you look at a social media profile, you can only see the face value of it. You can see how many Twitter followers a person has, or how many LinkedIn connections, but you can’t see the work that goes into making a social media strategy happen. You see the end result, which is only a minor part of social media!
Here are some of the things that I do, on my spare time, for fun, that help me with my online community:
#1 I listen to relevant keywords in my industry, and engage with followers accordingly
It’s important to know what’s going on in your industry. I choose to follow social media and branding keywords, as that’s what I find relevant to what I want to do. I listen to what conversations are happening, who’s discussing the topics, and I engage with the followers that I see fit my community best.
#2 I target followers that are relevant to what I want to do in the future, and engage with them
I use tools like SocialBro and Twellow to find followers that are relevant to social media and branding. I do keyword searches to find followers based on their conversations and what’s included in their profiles, and then follow and engage with influencers.
#3 I monitor what my influencers are saying, and engage accordingly
I have followers that are influential in my community, and I think it’s important to listen to what they have to say. I monitor their conversations, and make sure I engage with them and build relationships.
#4 I track my own keywords, to make sure I respond to conversations about me
Unless you are tracking your own keywords, there is no way to monitor on Twitter if someone shared your content if they don’t mention you or re-tweet you. So I make sure I monitor conversations around my name, and if someone shares my content without tagging me to it, I can still thank them and engage with them because of keyword following.
#5 I use tools to analyse my online community, to make sure I engage with them at optimal times
In order to engage with your followers, you need to know when your community is most active. So I did a full analysis of my Twitter account, using different tools, to figure out what were the optimal times for me to share content with my community. I compiled the data, analysed it, and came up with results for when to best share curated content, re-tweets, and my own blog content.
And it has worked well for me so far! I always measure my results that I found from my analysis and make sure it is consistent with my findings.
I do all of that on my own spare time. I don’t sell a product or a service, I don’t get online revenues from ads and such. The only reason I do this is for the sole purpose of my own education (and for fun, of course!). I think it’s very important to invest in myself, and I believe that this learning experience has thought me extremely valuable skills that are in high demand in the social media and marketing industry nowadays.
As you can see from my points above, those are all things that I do that mostly revolve around Twitter. That’s just because I prefer Twitter as my channel of engaging with my community. However, I am present and active on many other social media platforms as well. Here’s a list of all my social media profiles:
Here are links to all the different tools to manage my social media presence:
- Hootsuite
- BufferApp
- SocialBro
- Twellow
- Tweepi
- Follow Friday Helper
- Tweriod
- Crowdbooster
- Google Reader
- Visibli (not using anymore, but used for a long time previously)
- Paper.li (not using anymore, but used for a long time previously)
One very important thing about social media is to make sure that you don’t seem like a robot. You need to show an essence of your personality in order to be successful. So here’s a little bit more about me…
I wouldn’t consider myself athletic (far from it actually), but I do enjoy physical activity. I go to the gym during the winter, and during the summer, I like to golf. I also love to cook! I am somewhat of an adventure seeker in the kitchen. I like to create new recipes from scratch, and hope for the best that they taste good! I’m also somewhat of a musician. I play piano and guitar, and I also sing. I can also play the bass and mandolin a bit as well.
As you can tell, I am passionate about social media and marketing. I think I would be a perfect candidate to work at Radian6. When I take on a project, I take it on with nothing but a commitment. And that includes my place of work. I always give it my all, and nothing less. I am eager to learn and to move up as high as I can within the company. I hope you enjoyed this post, and I’m looking forward to hearing more from you. You can contact me through any of my social media profiles, by commenting on this post, or by email at dhebert@mta.ca.
Dave Gallant said:
What a great post Dan! I totally see you as being a great fit for Radian6!
Daniel Hebert said:
Thanks Dave! I appreciate the warm sentiment 🙂
Ray Hiltz said:
Most mornings after I fuel myself up with coffee, I sit at the computer and start my day of research, writing, thinking and networking.
Everyday is a challenge, but working in “social”, has its rewards.
One of those benefits is networking with people whose passion for social media is like a IV drip of inspiration.
Reading this post Dan, made me smile as I’m sure it did to the team at Radian6.
You make a great case for the importance of “listening”.
Daniel Hebert said:
Thanks for the comment Ray!
You and I have a very similar morning routine it seems, haha 😛 Listening is very important.
Chris Dessi (@cdessi) said:
Dan – you’ve done it again. I’m HUGELY impressed by this post. It oozes social media savvy, and digital acumen. Plus I did almost the same thing a few years ago – so I’m picking up what you’re putting down. Well played – oh yeah, check out http://www.facebookshouldhireme.com
Nicely done!
Chris Dessi
@cdessi
Daniel Hebert said:
Thanks for the comment Chris!
I checked out your site as well! Cool 🙂 I didn’t know you tried to get a job at Facebook!
Phil said:
Great article! Good luck getting a job with Radian6 and thanks for using Tweriod! 🙂
Daniel Hebert said:
Thanks for the comment Phil! And for the warm sentiment! 🙂
ron tite said:
nice work. Congrats (and good luck).
Daniel Hebert said:
Thanks Ron! I appreciate it 🙂
Trish | @Dayngr said:
Daniel,
I trust you’ve already connected with @Radian6Careers and sent them your resume. 😉 Great post and great use of social media! I agree, when it comes to social media (and everything else – unless you’re an actor) be yourself, let your personality shine though and be as social as possible.
Trish, Community Manager for @Radian6
Daniel Hebert said:
Thanks for the comment Trish!
I am connected with @Radian6Careers, and they have responded to this post on Twitter. And I attached a link to this post in the email that I sent, that included my resume and cover letter! 🙂
Trish | @Dayngr said:
Daniel,
I had no doubt you were on top of things! Keep rockin’ it, like you already do.
Wishing you lots of luck –
Trish, Community Manager for @Radian6
Daniel Hebert said:
Thanks Trish! 🙂
Stephen Ghigliotty said:
We have clients that use the Radian6 platform and I had a demo last fall. Very impressive….just like your post. Very well done Daniel…hope they see the light and offer you a job.
Daniel Hebert said:
Thanks for the comment Stephen! And for the kind words 🙂
Cross Validated said:
i am baffled. All the best.
Daniel Hebert said:
Thanks! I appreciate it 🙂
Stefanos Karakasis said:
Hey Dan,
Could you break down your scheduling. I have been working on a similar approach for the past weeks now for optimal times. All Freemium modules 😉
Cheers and nice post!
Stefanos
Daniel Hebert said:
Hey Stefanos!
Send me an email at dhebert@mta.ca, and I’ll send you my excel spreadsheet. I will say though, my scheduling is based on the AST timezone, and on my follower’s activity. So I would recommend doing your own analysis. Use http://tweriod.com, and pay for a report. Only cost $2.50 US, well worth the investment.
Stephanie Butler said:
What a thoughtful (and genuine!) use of social strategy. Well done Daniel – you’re an inspiration to budding community managers. Looking forward to seeing what happens next.
Daniel Hebert said:
Thanks for the comment Stephanie! 🙂
Stacey said:
All I can say is, “Wow!” Ragan.com directed me here, and I am so very impressed with all you have been doing, not to mention the package you put together for Radian6. You’ve got a bright future ahead of you…and I’m guessing it’s going to start at Radian6!
Daniel Hebert said:
Thanks for the comment Stacey! And for the kind words 🙂
Kittie Walker (@TheIndigoGirl) said:
Very cool post, here’s hoping that it gets you where you want to be.
Also thanks for the by product of sharing how you manage your process and the tools that enable you to do it effectively.
Daniel Hebert said:
Thanks for the comment Kittie!
I was trying to be as educational as I could with the post, so anybody could benefit from it! Glad you found it useful 🙂
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Bryan Cromlish said:
I like it! Hope you get a gig with Radian – great company.
Daniel Hebert said:
Thanks Bryan! I’m glad you liked it 🙂
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London Media Agency said:
Great post and an even better way to get your foot in the door there… you sly old dog! Love Radian 6 and their website is even made with WordPress. If anyone knows what theme they used, I’d love to know!!!
Daniel Hebert said:
Thanks for the comment! 🙂
j452haley said:
Have you heard back from Radian6 or any other companies through the publicity this post has generated? Also, I was wondering which of all the social media tools you use are your favorites?
Daniel Hebert said:
Thanks for your comment!
Yes, I have. I had a few phone interviews and email conversations with them so far.
As for the tools, I think you absolutely need Hootsuite, BufferApp, SocialBro and Tweriod. Those are definitely worth a look (and you’ll most likely use them once you’ve tested them out ;))
j452haley said:
Thanks! I’m a big fan of Hootsuite. Tweriod is also really cool.
Good luck!
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