Despite the advance of a lot of other Social Networks entering the scene recently, particularly Google+, Heello or Subjot, Twitter's stickiness is still very prominent and growing fast.

Especially, the recent changes made to Twitter point to a very bright future. The activity stream in addition with the @username tab make the Twitter experience much more interactive I believe.

Twitter's eco-system continues to thrive and Twitter announced recently that there are over 1 million Apps connected to the Twitter API. Most of these Apps greatly enhance our Twitter experience and here are my top 7 Tools to get more out of Twitter.



1.) Buffer – Get 200% more clicks on Tweets 
It often happens that I read great posts late at night or early in the morning. Tweeting them then often puts my efforts to waste and no one sees my updates. By adding everything I find to Buffer, the App posts them at optimal times well spaced out over the day. Through optimal timing and higher frequency Buffer gives you over 200% more clicks, retweets and reach than non-buffered Tweets.


Top Tip: What I like best is that you can Buffer tweets right from the article you are reading with browser extensions for Chrome, Firefox and Safari. 




2.) InboxQ – Speak to the right people on Twitter

A tool I only discovered recently is called InboxQ. Trying to connect and get hold of the people that matter for your particular niche is key if you want to work efficiently on Twitter I found. Although directories already do a good job, InboxQ takes this to a new level. You can set up terms included by anyone asking questions on Twitter. Then jump in and answer them from within InboxQ.


Top Tip: Via the Chrome extension you can dip in to answer questions whenever and wherever you are. It is a great way to build new connections with relevant people.



 





3.) Twylah – Customized brand pages

Another App that has greatly transformed how I use Twitter is called Twylah. The App takes your Twitter content and turns it into a beautiful page for your followers to browse through. It is neatly ordered by topics most relevant to your Tweets and allows you to capitalize much more on the content you put out via Twitter. On top of all this you can add a little ad on the bottom right to guide people through to your product or service.



Top Tip: There is a great feature coming with Twylah called “Power Tweet”. This will create a special site on your Twylah allowing you to keep visitors engaged up to 4 times longer with your content.

 





4.) TweetBeep – Who is talking about you?

Although it might appear rather basic at first Twilert can change the way you are able to respond and give customer support via Twitter. You can set up search terms related to your brand or niche and every day the App will send you a set of alerts relating to it. It helped me greatly to find out who is talking about me and help people out with questions and support. I like to see this as a Google Alerts for Twitter.



Top Tip: I particularly like the sentiment analysis you can put in place so the quality of your alerts increases significantly.

  




5.) Rapportive – Learn about Tweets right in your email

A productivity tool that has helped me greatly to get more out of Twitter is Rapportive. If you install the Chrome extension, you are able to see a new column next to each email giving you detailed information about the persons activity on Social Networks. You can immediately get a peak of past Tweets and get a better feel of how to phrase your emails.


Top Tip: You can even go ahead and reply to Tweets right form inside Gmail to make your communication process more seamless.

  





6.) Commun.it – Who is in your Twitter network?
Another Tool that makes Tweeting way more worthwhile for me is Commun.it. The app analyses the people you follow and buckets them according to influencers, top members and many more interesting details. You can then go ahead and strategically interact with those that add most value to your Twitter network.

Top Tip: What I like best is that you are able to filter through people mentioning your brand. You can follow and interacti with them right from inside the App. 
  



7.) Formulists – List building made simple

The last App I want you to introduce to is called Formulists. As one of my top Twitter Mentors @MQTodd uses to say: "Being on Twitter without creating lists, is like building your Twitter presence in sand." Making an effort to focus on list building is key. With Formulists you can automatically set up lists whenever someone retweets, follows or @mentions you.

Top Tip: The App makes it very easy for you to have your lists available no matter where you are. Set up list columns in TweetDeck or HootSuite and the corresponding lists will automatically appear.


These are my top 7 tools to make the most of Twitter and using them regularly saves me time and effort. Most importantly it increases my impact tremendously and I can focus on genuine engagement with new people.