As a communications software company we’re always innovating, making sure our products are on track – or even better, setting the trend. So when it comes to our new social media monitoring and engagement application, Engage121, we’re continuing to evolve the product in real time – making it more valuable with every day that passes. Today we’re updating Engage121 with several exciting user interface (UI) and data-management improvements to give our customers a more intuitive and powerful experience. Here’s what’s on tap for an update later today…
User Interface Improvements
The "Outcomes" section of the Evaluate module
Engage121’s Evaluate module supports thirteen different types of charts reflecting data that measure Reach, Engagements, Outcomes, and Activity on the social web. The quantity and quality of Engage121’s data is fantastic – and only getting better – but as the saying goes, “a picture is worth a thousand words.” With that in mind, we’ve made some changes to the way data is visualized in charts so that creating and interpreting graphs is a faster process.
All roads lead to Rome (but they take different routes!)
Chart measuring buzz of "coffee" across media, blogs, twitter, and other social media sites
Facebook, twitter, linkedin, yelp, foursquare – collectively they all help make up your social media presence. But you do different things on each platform – and so does your audience. To help our customers understand their social media presence with more insight, most charts in the Reach and Outcomes categories can now be separated by platform. After today you’ll be able to see exactly what the buzz is on Twitter, all other social media sites, blogs, and traditional media – broken out by category; you’ll also being able to separate your “share of voice” along the same lines. It’s great to know where you are with your social media presence, but wouldn’t you like to know how you got there?
Making a mountain (cause mole hills are boring)
Sentiment chart displaying positive, neutral, and negative proportions
From their snow capped peaks to their dark, cool valleys – the variety of the mountain landscape captivates. So we thought we’d make our charts look like them! Both the “buzz” and “sentiment” charts are now portrayed as mountain charts – letting you see how your buzz breaks down by platform and your sentiment by tonality. By quickly glancing at the charts you’ll be able to understand where you’re being talked about, how loudly, and in what tones. Tell us that’s not exciting!
A place for your stuff
Our data’s comprehensive, it’s accurate, and it’s pretty – but there’s room for your data too! From the beginning we’ve given users the ability to upload their own figures into any chart so that they could discern a relationship between say, retweets and sales, or check-ins and store traffic. Now we’re letting you name that data so that you know exactly what you’re looking at on any chart.
Remember, unlike other social media software providers we don’t place limits on the number of charts, searches, or mentions we show you! So bring your data and put it next to ours – there’s plenty of room!
Dude, where’s my chart?!
With thirteen charts to choose from across four measurement categories, there’s room for interpretation: is a FourSquare check-in an Engagement or an Outcome? The result of such queries was that charts didn’t necessarily display where a user thought they would. We fixed that. Now when viewing any of the 
four sections – Reach, Engagements, Outcomes, or Activity – users will only be able to create charts that are relevant to that section. Want to create a FourSquare check-in chart? Do so in the Engagements section. Need a “share of voice” chart? You’ll find that in the Outcomes section. Users no longer face the hazard of creating a chart in one section, only to find it in another. If a chart is created, it will appear right in front of you!
Data Management
Data is just a bunch of numbers – it’s how you manage it that counts. Sourcing and parsing data is a big part of what we do in order to make our customers lives easier, so we’ve made a couple of improvements upon Engage121’s ability to shape data into meaningful insights. Today’s update offers a combination of new data with better ways of organizing it.
Let’s (not) ride the roller coaster!
Dubious graph caused by changing inputs. Now gone!
Recently we noticed that our keyword-driven charts, such as “buzz” and “share of voice” were too dynamic: it was possible to change data categories without changing the chart. In other words, if you started a chart monitoring buzz around the word “coffee” and then changed the word to “tea” a few days later, the graph would continue by simply jumping from the last “coffee” data point to the first “tea” data point, producing some very strange charts indeed. You can still monitor as many keywords as you’d like, but once you save the chart with chosen keywords – you can’t change it; if you want to monitor additional keywords a new chart has to be created. The upshot? Unlimited charts – just no inexplicable roller coasters anymore!
Living your life one day at a time
Bars represent "clicks per day" with a line for "overall clicks"
One day at a time is a good motto – it keeps you focused on the present without stressing about the future. But it’s also nice to look at your life in its entirety to see where you’ve been and what you’ve done. The same thing goes for link tracking. You generate hundreds of links on twitter, facebook, blogs, and other platforms – all of which persist for weeks or even months. We’re now offering link tracking data that allows you to simultaneously visualize click activity on your links one day at a time, as well as over the life of the link. Now you know how many people click on your link on Tuesday and how many people clicked on the link overall!
Coming soon to a theater near you!
As part of this update – but coming just a day later than the rest of the improvements – we’re incorporating YouTube channel subscribers into the “fans and followers” chart. In about 48 hours you’ll get to see just how many people are tuning in to your channel and compare those stats alongside your fan/follower count on other platforms like facebook and twitter. More exciting updates are coming and we’re always looking for feedback, so stay tuned!
In the meantime, shoot us an answer to this question in the comments section: can you remember a time when a chart fundamentally changed your perception of an issue, whether business or personal? Tell us about it!
