Twitter is not Facebook, it is not Linked in, nor is it SMSing, but real time thought streaming and sharing with followers with shared interests and passions. Twitter is not just another communication channel to reach the market, but rather a microblogging platform through which to start a conversation, listen and contribute (consistently) in order to create a connected community.
According to Wikipedia, between 5 and 10k people join Twitter every day and the number of daily tweets in excess of 65 million. Whilst the platform is only 4 years old in human years, it is currently experiencing a massive growth spurt as more and more people around the globe find value in joining the conversation.
Why is it important?
In today’s day and age where two way dialogue between consumer and brand owner is fast replacing the one way monologues of traditional communications, Twitter provides brands with a means with which to engage and enable consumers to become active contributors in the brand conversation;
As life happens “faster, faster, faster”, consumers are demanding instant response and gratification which a live stream is able to provide;
More and more consumers are demanding transparency and honesty from brands and seeking out brands they can trust. Twitter gives your critics a forum and allows you to hear and respond to them;
Twitter is a traffic generation tool as the placement of links within profiles and conversations direct visitors to specific sites and helps with search engine optimization.
Twitter is a participative marketing tool that makes your brand a doing word. According to P&G CEO, A.G.Lafley (2006) “Consumers are beginning to own our brands and participate in their creation”. Today’s brands are co-created by consumers and to build long-term sustainable bonds with consumers we, as brand owners, need to entice participation in and with our brands. We only have to look at the impact that the Apple “evangelists” have had on the Apple brand to understand the power of creating real connections with consumers.
How can Twitter help my brand?
By Monitoring and Engaging:
Monitor (Listen and learn) – track conversations around your brand, competitors and category in real time. Twitter provides daily opportunities to learn and understand what it is you need to do differently and/or better to succeed.
Ask yourself: what are consumers saying? What do they want/need? How are your competitors responding? Who are the industry experts/influencers and what are they saying? What industries are related to/impact on your own and who are the key influencers in this space? What are they saying? Ensure that you find and follow them, listen and learn from them.
Engage – Through response, interaction and participation, Twitter reduces the emotional distance between your brand and your consumer. To earn influencer status, brands need to start leading conversations by introducing opinions, links and other commentary. In doing so your brand shows passion, expertise and leadership in your space.
A constant state of monitoring, engaging and connecting that creates conversations around your brand and a space where your brand has influence.
It is wise at the outset to monitor until you feel comfortable engaging and to begin by responding to what you “hear”. Once your confidence in using the platform grows, you can start leading conversations, shifting you toward influencer status. It is not the quantity of followers on Twitter that counts, but the quality of those followers as followers who are “influencers” will spread your message wider and with more credibility.
“The big advantages of Twitter are: I get great insight when I ask questions; I get great traffic; and people on Twitter spread my thoughts to new places” – John Jantsh, founder of Duct Tape Marketing
What’s the strategy?
Before using this social media platform as a tool to build your brand, make sure you are clear about:
Who your target market is? Psychographics and demographics.
What does your brand promise? What is the most compelling reason for your target market to choose your brand? Give them a reason to follow you. Is it relevant? Is it differentiated? Is it credible?
What are your brand passions? What are the values that drive your brand, the code by which every one involved with your brand lives?
What is your brand personality? How does it feel to interact with your brand? If your brand were a person, what personality attributes would you ascribe it?
Spend some time considering the above as your response to these questions will inform the rules of engagement and determine:
WHAT your brand will say – subject matter, views and opinions;
To WHOM – which communities you will join and/or create;
HOW your brand will say it – tone of voice and manner;
WHEN your brand say it – frequency.
Getting Started:
Creating connections with consumers takes time, as trust is earnt and bonds are strengthened. Do not expect overnight success – Twitter is about long term sustainable influence.
Sign in and register with your (real) name (or brand name)
Personalise your page as much as possible, giving a human face to your brand. Add your web/blog address, a picture (preferable to a logo) and a short bio. Twitter is first about people, then about brands and businesses.
Twitter search to listen for your competitors and names that relate to your space. Identify the key influencers and follow them. Find out who they are following and follow a selection.
Build up a history or timeline so that visitors to your page will have something to read. It will also give you a chance to practice and gain confidence before you have built up a following.
Some tips on what to tweet about:
Point out things in your space. Share interesting links, be helpful. Be more interested in helping others than yourself;
Reward your followers with inside info, tips and hints, they will reward you by spreading your message further;
Always ask the question “So What?”. Don’t simply tweet information, turn that information into something useful and add real value.
Ask questions. Twitter can even help when hiring, send out a message asking for recommendations and referrals;
Twitter can also be used as a company intranet connecting employees to one another on projects or within divisions – you will need to use the locked tweets functionality to ensure the community remains an internal one.
Some watch outs:
Don’t over promote or hard sell. People may be interested in what you do but don’t want to hear about it every day;
Don’t follow your friends and family (unless it supports your strategy);
Don’t over follow or you will become overwhelmed;
Don’t over react – “what goes online, stays online”.
You will feel vulnerable at first… welcome to the world of co-created content and brands!
