I've always found it a little strange that Twitter hasn't done more with its data and analytics, leaving it up to users to revert to third-party tools to gain relevant insights. I mean, Twitter hosts all the data, and there's a heap of valuable audience insight to be gleaned from tweet activity, but Twitter's own analytics tools have only ever touched on the full capacity, providing some good insight, but not as much as you can get elsewhere.
But now, with Twitter looking to enforce stricter rules around its API usage, it's also looking to roll out its own advanced analytics functions, which it flagged back in January, including a new events dashboard and new, in-depth analytics functions.
And now the first of these additions has been rolled out - this week, Twitter has unveiled its new 'Timing is Everything' audience video engagement data display within Media Studio.
As explained by Twitter:
"Timing is Everything displays historical data showing when audiences are on Twitter watching and engaging with video, as seen in the image above. This data highlights the best time(s) to Tweet video content with an aim to maximize engagement, conversation, and viewership."
That's pretty cool, right? That's pretty helpful info to have.
Of course, you can also use any number of third-party tools to access insights into when your Twitter audience is most active - which doesn't relate to video engagement specifically, but does help provide similar insight.
The tool is also dependent on the user having access to Media Studio, which not everyone has - which, again, doesn't make a lot of sense, seeing as though you can get more insight from other sources.
Still, as noted, its the first of various analytics tools Twitter's looking to roll out, and the more data you can get, direct from the source, the better.
To utilize the new 'Timing is Everything' insights for your profile (for those who have Media Studio access), Twitter advises:
- Go to the Analytics dropdown menu within Media Studio and select Insights.
- Study the graph to understand when your audience is online.
- Experiment with Tweets, or scheduled Tweets, during the times of day that have the highest engagement.