Tweet Later: The Magnificent Twitter Management Tool

It's no wonder that Tweet Later has become so popular among twitterers. If you tweet regularly, you'll want to consider using this tool to manage your twitter account/s. Tweet Later provides organization and automation applications that prove to be valuable time savers.

Below are a few of my favorite features (included in the free version):

• Schedule tweets

Create unlimited tweets that will be published at future times of your choice. I like to create a week's worth of tweets first thing on Monday morning. If you are targeting a particular market or topic, schedule your tweets during optimal times that will make the most out of connecting to your followers.

• Track keywords on Twitter

Follow topics of interest to keep up with trends or to connect with others who are talking about the same subjects that are important to you. Since the keyword feed is sent to your email inbox (I have mine set to one per day), you can read tweets that include your keywords at your convenience. You can also take action (follow, reply, DM) directly through the email.

• Save and reuse drafts

This feature is most helpful if you want to repost marketing campaigns, so you don't have to reinvent the wheel. Just keep in mind that it's important to create fresh content through Twitter, so it is a good idea to make frequent revisions to the draft.

• Send automated welcome DMs to new followers

Other Twitter tools have this feature, but it's nice to have it included on your Tweet Later dashboard for the sake of efficiency.

• URL shortening

Since you are publishing tweets directly from Tweet Later, this feature is a must. Just add your bit.ly (or other URL shortening account) details to your TweetLater profile once, and it automatically shortens you links. I prefer bit.ly because it allows me to track how many people are clicking on my links.

• Automatically follow those who follow you

You can also automatically set your Twitter account/s to unfollow anyone who unfollows you.

• Manage multiple Twitter accounts

Again, for the sake of efficiency, this feature is very helpful if you actively use more than one Twitter account.

Of course, the main draw to Tweet Later is the scheduling feature that will boost your productivity. All features are optional, so you can customize this service to fit your Twitter management needs.

It's worth noting that you'll still want to show up directly on Twitter to connect with others via replies, retweets, real time tweets, and personal direct messages to get the most out of using Twitter.

Follow me on Twitter, so I can "tweet you later"! [@perezsimons]

Also, here are some other essential Twitter tools and applications:

1. Tweetdeck: We love this one!
2. Twitterfeed: Add your blog to your Twitter stream.
3. Twitterberry: If you have a Blackberry, you can post updates to Twitter using this tool.
4. Tweetie: Like tweetdeck, but for the iphone.
5. Tweet(url)ly: Tracks and ranks what URLs people are "talking" about on Twitter.
6. Twitzu: Promote your events on Twitter.
7. Tweetgrid: A dashboard of Twitter searches that update in real time. Helps you monitor multiple topics at once.
8. OutTwit: Lets you send and receive tweets without leaving Outlook.