Many big brands are embracing social media management systems (SMMS)—such as HootSuite—to manage their Twitter accounts.

A recent study by Royal Pingdom, a company that monitors websites, found that 96 of the top 100 brands (as noted by Interbrand) are using Twitter, of which 68 are using an SMMS.

Pingdom carried out the study by identifying 20 tweets from each Twitter account and examining which tool the brands used to post them.

Typically, these platforms give social media managers a dashboard to track real-time activity on Twitter, enabling them to schedule posts and check analytics.

The battle for SMMS supremacy rages on but clear leaders have emerged, according to Royal Pingdom.

The stats tell a story:

• HootSuite is winning. Of the 96 brands surveyed, 20 percent use HootSuite, 16 percent TweetDeck, and 9 percent Social Engage

• Posting via Twitter.com still occurs. Of the 96 accounts in the survey, 67 had at least one tweet that came from the actual Twitter website.

• iPhone dominates mobile tweets. In terms of mobile apps, Twitter for iPhone dominated as a posting tool, with 14 accounts using it. Twitter for iPad was employed by only 3 accounts. One account among the 96 surveyed used Twitter for BlackBerry.

Big brands—and small businesses—would do well to look more closely at these handy tools.

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