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©2009 Free Twitter scheduling apps A review of seven free online apps 09.09.27 Wednesday, September 30, 2009

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Which is the best free tweet scheduling tool on the market? We looked at the seven available tools and compared them. Which one turned out to be the best?

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Page 1: Free Twitter scheduling apps

©2009

Free Twitter scheduling appsA review of seven free online apps09.09.27

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Page 2: Free Twitter scheduling apps

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Apps Rated

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Page 3: Free Twitter scheduling apps

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Our methods were simple: We visited each site and scheduled a tweet. Then we spent 10 minutes looking around the site and rated it on 12 criteria. If you want more details on our methods see the next slide. Otherwise skip it.

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

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Overview

Criteria

I was looking for a free app to schedule tweets for the agency.Critical features for me were the ability to set tweets to recur at hourly intervals so they would post multiple times in the same day.

I wanted features like URL shortening and the ability to work with multiple Twitter accounts because that would save a lot of time. I also wanted an app that would post without indicating that it was a scheduled Tweet. Integrated spell check and translation would be nice to haves.

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

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Overview

MethodologyI looked at seven online apps that promoted themselves as free:

Tweet-U-LaterTwaitterFuture TweetsDynamic TweetsSocial OomphTwit Robot Twuffer

I visited each site, registered and scheduled a test tweet. I then spent about 10 minutes looking around the site. Based on my quick visit, I rated each site on the 12 criteria that interested me most. I took a screenshot of the scheduling interface and one of the resulting tweet as it appeared on Tweet Deck.

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Page 6: Free Twitter scheduling apps

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Overview

ConclusionNone of the sites had all 11 features I wanted. Tweet-U-Later is the most useful to me because it had the most flexible recurring tweet scheduler.Twaitter was a close second. It’s just as easy to use plus offered a lot more useful features. However, I couldn’t schedule multiple posts in the same day and that was mission-critical for me.

Please let me know if I missed something or if you know of another free online Twitter scheduling app.

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RatingTw

uffer

Socia

l Oomph

FREE ONLINE TWITTER SCHEDULING APPS

Scheduling intervals include minutes (not just on the hour) Y Y Y Y Y Y NSchedule tweets to recur Y Y N N Y N NRecur intervals include hours (not just just day/week/mo/yr) Y N N N N N NAuto URL Shortening on scheduled tweets Y Y Y Y Y Y YAllows user to work with multiple Twitter accounts N Y Y N N Y NHosted online Y Y Y Y Y Y YTweet appears like normal tweet (no indication that it was scheduled)

N N N N Y Y NSpellchecks scheduled tweets N Y Y N N N NTranslates scheduled tweets N Y N N N N NHas extra functionality beyond scheduling tweets N Y N Y N Y NUnlimited scheduled tweets Y Y N Y Y Y YIntuitive GUI

$$

$$

$

No

Yes

No, unless you pay

Future

Tweet

s

Twitt

Robot

Dynamic T

weets

Twaitt

er

Tweet

-U-La

ter

$

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TwufferPros

Easiest to use with no explanation of how it worksSimple registrationAutomatically shortens URL’s upon publishing tweetYou can see the queued tweets and sent tweetsClean interface design

ConsOnly possible to publish on the hourNot possible to set recurring tweetsCan’t handle multiple accountsNo way of knowing it will shorten URLs when you first use it

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

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TwufferComments

No frills scheduler Too stripped down for professional use

Rating

Scheduler Interface:

How it looked on TweetDeck:

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Future TweetsPros

Simple registrationAllows you to post without identifying that you are using a schedulerSchedule tweets at any time of the day down to the secondEasy-to-use interfacePossible to have recurring tweets scheduled for daily, weekly, monthly or yearlyAdd icons to tweets or post upside downEnglish spellcheck

ConsCan’t set tweets to recur more than once a dayOnly supports one user account at a time

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Social OomphComments

Love the functions hate the user experience.

Rating

Scheduler Interface:

How it looked on TweetDeck:

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Twit RobotPros

Super-simple to register with the siteGreat for Twitter campaign management, in theoryAttractive and easy-to-use interfaceAble to add an RSS feed to site to publish feed

ConsIt didn’t work. Seems the default time on their scheduler is set for US central time and I couldn’t find a way to change that.

No recurring tweet function unless you run a campaignProgramming glitch makes half of the functions of the site unusable. No auto URL shortening featureIt’s not clear if you can have more than one tweet in a campaign and how to schedule time intervals

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Twit RobotComments

Wish it worked as good as it looks.

Rating

Scheduler Interface:

How it looked on TweetDeck:

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Tweet-U-LaterPros

The only app that lets you specify the hour of a recurring tweet so the only one that lets you have multiple recurring tweets on the same day. Allows private scheduled messagesEasy interface

ConsDoesn’t support multiple accountsCan’t post without indicating that it was a scheduled tweetDoesn't have auto URL shortening feature

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Tweet-U-LaterComments

I need the recurring flexibility it offers so willing to overlook minor short comings.

Rating

Scheduler Interface:

How it looked on TweetDeck:

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TwaitterPros

The app with the most functions I was looking for (10 of 12)Lots of innovative functionality - and they all seem to work Easy to useCalendar view of scheduled tweets by the day, week or monthWill be add the ability to add RSS feeds soon

ConsCan’t schedule tweets to recur on the same dayCan’t post without indicating that it was a scheduled tweet

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TwaitterComments

A+, just wish I could have recurring tweets in the same day.

Rating

Scheduler Interface:

How it looked on TweetDeck:

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Dynamic TweetsPros

Minute-by-minute schedulingEasy to work with multiple accountsSpellcheckingAuto shortens URLs

ConsNo recurring tweetsScheduling limit of 20 tweetsMany paid options are free with other appsCan’t post without indicating that it was a scheduled tweet

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Dynamic TweetsComments

The site runs swiftly and smoothly To bee as good as other free apps you need to subscribe for USD 99/year

Rating

Scheduler Interface:

How it looked on TweetDeck:

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Page 20: Free Twitter scheduling apps

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Read the entire review on our Blog

http://blog.theduffyagency.com/

Check out Twitter Tuesday. New Twitter tips and reviews every Tuesday

The Duffy Agency webSite

http://www.theduffyagency.com/

Links

Wednesday, September 30, 2009