Just a few short years ago, a friend of mine said to a computer savvy fella, “Hey what’s this TWITTER GIG all about?” “It’s some dumb little app for SMARTPHONES,” he answered. Why would someone want to send a message using only 140 characters when they have email? Because that’s the world we live in.
TWITTER is now 5 years old and sends 140 million Tweets a day… that’s 1 billion tweets every 8 days! Twitter is not just email but an IMMEDIATE interactive news source. SEE YA NEWSPAPERS, even radio and TV outlets are having trouble keeping up. Twitter has been used to orchestrate revolutions, raise funds for Japan earthquake victims, save Toyota, get people elected and even revive Old Spice® aftershave. The power and the reach is enormous.
I was in Sydney, Australia a few months ago and I nearly bumped into a singing-in-the-rain Wayne Brady. Seriously, he was just walking around downtown, in the rain! When I returned to the ‘States a few days later I posted this on twitter: ”I just about ran into @WayneBrady in downtown Sydney, and no one knew him.” Not an hour later, I received a response from @WayneBrady that read: ”The thousands of people at my concert knew me… so go suck it.” (Ok, I added that “go suck it part.”) You get the point. I upset Wayne Brady. That’s awesome. Frankly, I didn’t really mean to upset the guy, I was simply trying to see if he was monitoring his tweets and if he uses twitter. I was right. And I don’t believe thousands were there, he’s Wayne Brady.
Twitter is about the here and now and getting answers. The higher quality connections you have and follow — the higher the quality of your tweets and re-tweets. If you have good “tweet cred,” your brand will get more attention than a hole in the wall of a nudist camp.
That 140 character limit forces you to be clear and concise (you can extend it — more on that later). This is headline writing not dissertation time. If you build your tweet cred, you can move from being a nobody… to a somebody … fast.
The Twitterverse functions in three basic ways:
1. Information – instead of scanning papers or news sites, YOU can scan twitter accounts to get news pertinent to YOU and YOUR interests in a tenth of the time.
2. Immediate Response — twitter is a way to immediately contact people, especially clients who have questions or are dissatisfied.
3. Integration — simple and often free software is available that allows you to integrate your Twitter, Facebook, blog and website for brand message consistency.
Building your TWEET CRED. Like all social media, there are new twists popping up all the time. No “how-to” list will ever be complete for long — but keep these general points in mind and your Twitter posts will quickly build your TWEET CRED and social media presence.
1. Design your brand profile. A MAJOR MISTAKE — TRYING TO GET FOLLOWERS WITHOUT A FACE. People like people. Faces can be trustworthy and smiles make people feel at ease. If you use a company logo, you better have good content or deals to offer me, because I’ll likely drop you like Nick did Jessica. The picture can be taken on a phone — but make sure it’s clean, clear and attractive. I saw a joker-face one time and it frightened me. After I re-booted my demon-laced computer, scrubbed my keyboard with clorox-wipes and re-filled my watered-down gatorade bottle, I started to tweet again.
It’s true that you can be on Twitter in about 15-20 minutes but you can also get lots of attention by running around the State House naked, while flapping your arms and singing the Buckeye fight song (no, no one has ever proved that was me). You want to build valuable TWEET CRED using Twitter in a way that builds primary, positive and preeminent presence with your target audience. The way to begin doing that is to start with a good Twitter address that fits your brand. “@SteelersFan” may appeal to your interests but probably won’t be brand consistent if you’re trying to sell high-end jewelry. What do you want your brand to be quickly identified with? (Hint: If you have a good mission statement you can shape a profile for your business or cause from that.) If you want to personalize your Twitter experience, consider a moniker that you want associated with you “@bestdj” or “@topcardealer.”
USE GOOD JUDGMENT (or Judgement, as the Brits still spell it). Yes some *&%$! cut you off in traffic and you’re good with calling him a *&%$! Is this a wise use of 140 characters? How is it going to build your brand’s tweet cred? Be careful. Use common sense, or you’ll soon be writing “How I Ruined My Reputation in 140 Characters.”
Stop swearing. Yes, it’s funny most of the time — but when trying to establish TWEET CRED, it’s like having a hole in the back of your trousers. You look stupid and no one takes you seriously. You’ll want to follow a pastor one day, and he’ll read your cursing tirade and guess what? He’ll never say a word, but you’ll be THAT GUY. No one wants to be him.
Tweet often. Your audience always changes. Twitter works best when you post at least 2-3 times a day between 1pm and 5pm weekdays when people are most active. Decide who is going to have access to the account and who can tweet. Twitter calls for a good writing personality. Read your tweets out loud before you send them so you can hear if your message sounds unintentionally insensitive.
ANOTHER NO-BRAINER — BUT NECESSARY. TWITTER SAFETY. Tweeting about how you are far from home and sweating at the gym or chowing down at a local restaurant may seem social, but you need to remember that criminals are social too. If you tweet your habits criminals have been known to follow these. You don’t want your innocent tweet at your visit to COSI with the kids to be translated as “Hey, I’m not home and the key is under the front doormat!”
2. Get integration software. Integrate your Twitter, FaceBook, and website all through one connection. One and done! Integration software also saves time by allowing you to quickly see tweets you send and follow, tweets where you are mentioned, direct tweets, check profiles of people you might want to follow, keep track of groups with similar interests and basically managing all of the aspects of your Twitter account. Tweetdeck (www.tweetdeck.com) is pretty intuitive especially if you started with the Twitter site to begin with. Hootsuite (www.hootsuite.com) is great because you it does work similar to Tweetdeck but you don’t have to download any software. When you want to access your social media it’s “to the Cloud.” There are other third party programs for Twitter users like SocialOomph and Tweet Chat. The best part of such specialized Twitter software is that the basic versions are all free.
3. Get a shortening account. Link urls can be longer than a husband’s excuse for lipstick on his collar. They can really eat into your 140 character limit. Twitter has its own fix but a shortening service is better, easier and free. Some of the better known services are TinyURL (links never expire) bitly, and SnipURL. Twitter is all about headlines grabbing your attention. Most readers are going to give you 5-7 seconds to be interesting… not 5-7 minutes.
4. Talk to your strengths. Tweet about things you know. You might be a professional bowler. Don’t try to sound like an expert at baseball. Some of the best tweets are those where you reference an outside news source that provides an interesting view beyond just yours.
5. Talk and listen. Remember Twitter is social media, not business media. People who do nothing but self-promote their business are regarded as spammers. Twitter is a lot like a Rotary luncheon; you don’t talk business there, but you do talk about interesting business information. (Some of it may just happen to be about you from time to time.) Twitter is also an immediate response forum. Listen to the hash tags (#) or address references. There are opportunities for you to immediately respond to clients with negative comments, learn something new in your field, or make a new connection. Treating Twitter as your “immediate response channel” helps build your tweet cred as a polite, connected, social media user.
6. Be nice. Exercise good “twittiquette.” When someone follows make a point of thanking them. Don’t be a compulsive twitterhead. You may be very interesting but no one wants to see an endless stream of “logorrhea” dumped on their tweet stream, especially if it’s on the same topic.
And lastly… show some weekend love. Fridays are traditionally “friendly fridays” when you can spread your twitter seed. People will post something like “#ff @GabeSpiegel @maxnrgmike @thebeautydoc….” Look at the #ff’s of people you follow and connect with their friends as well.
