Top 10 Reasons Your Company Probably Shouldn't Tweet
Everyone's Talking About It, but Should You Be Doing It?
Everyone and his dog seems to be tweeting, from CEOs, celebrities and not-for-profits to venture capitalists, banks, business services, government and, well, dogs (and cats and the random parakeet, too). Should your business be tweeting? Twitter is not for everyone. Here are the "Top 10 Reasons Not to Tweet."
- You think using Twitter is a social-media strategy. It's a tactic, a tool, not a strategy. It works if you already have an online following who'll view your Tweets as a way to interact with your company on a human level.
- Every tweet has to be approved by legal. Twitter is a social network where conversation is fast and interconnected. If you have to wait a day, or even a few hours for your 140 character Tweet to gain legal approval, Twitter will be the wrong platform for you.
- You plan to use Twitter for nothing but broadcasting headlines or deals. People follow people they find interesting. Followers are earned on Twitter. Be interesting, make only every 10th tweet about you, and you'll gain and keep a following. If all your tweets are a one-way street: Block!
- You think a ghost tweeter for the president of your company is OK. Authenticity and transparency are the keys. It's fine if someone besides the CEO tweets for your company, as long as they say that's what they're doing.
- You are not going to respond when people direct tweets at you. Twitter is like the new water cooler. If you walked out to the water fountain and talked nonstop to people gathered there, they'd certainly be happy when you left. Ditto for Twitter.
- You think Tweeting as XYZ Corp. and using the company logo as your avatar might be a good idea. Identify the person or people tweeting for your company or don't tweet. The days of hiding behind the faceless corporation are over.
- You think all that matters on Twitter is getting a lot of people to follow you. Quality trumps quantity.
- You want to protect your updates. If people have to ask permission to see what you're posting on Twitter, you're defeating the purpose, which is conversation.
- You plan to track Twitter with Google Analytics. Google Analytics won't give you true tracking. You can track the URLs you post with a service like BudURL or bit.ly, but you'll need to use one or more social-media tracking tools to monitor your corporate reputation and influence on Twitter.
- You think you can just jump in and start tweeting. Listen first. Monitor what's being said about your brand, your industry, your products. Then join the conversation and become part of the community. Then your occasional marketing messages will be accepted, or at least tolerated because you also add value to the community.
~ ~ ~
B.L. Ochman is a marketing strategist and blogger and can be found Twittering, at WhatsNextOnline.com or with her newest venture, Pawfun.com.
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I think part of the over-hype also comes from the "rules" the self-professeed social media gurus like to pin on the rest of us - which usually means clueless companies and not individuals that will use Twitter as diversely as they like, and on Twitter there seem to be lot's of different ways of using it (even the maligned 'don't use it as an RSS feed!' seems to work for some).
I agree with you on all counts, save the last part of point 1 where you state, "It works if you already have an online following who'll view your Tweets as a way to interact with your company on a human level."
Everyone has to start somewhere....and I've seen clients such as @mommadefoods start from nothing and build a community through Twitter.
I'd also add that it also helps to build your community FIRST before attempting to follow some of the "rock stars" who may not follow you back if you are new to Twitter. Get started, wait until you're comfortable that you've hit your stride with Twitter, and THEN follow the big guys, and maybe they'll follow you right back!
First, thank you for being sagacious enough to know the difference of tactic and strategy. Thank you for recognizing that Twitter, while hot, is not.
B.L. Ochman, you've won your self a keen admirer, and I hand out my affection fastidiously, why? Because 95% of the people writing about branding, marketing, digital strategy and the like, are tet book reading rookies. Because 95% of the people reading this exact blog, have still yet to understand the difference of strategy and tactic.
Because I am going to offend 95% of the people who read this, when I am not attempting to, by saying that they should take a professional hiatus and apprentice from a pro.
Seriously, thank you. I like to debate, but instead I want to celebrate you.
All this said, I just wrote an article lamenting Twitters decline.
I share with you, in hopes you get a laugh.
http://www.bradfredricks.com/2009/04/07/and-there-it-went-the-end-of-the-line-for-twitter/
#4) It really is OK if someone tweets for the CEO. Sometimes CEOs hire other people to do some of their work. Its also ok if John McCain has someone that tweets for him because he doesn't use a computer. If Barack Obama has someone tweeting for him because he is busy with something else, that's ok, too.
#5) It really is OK if you don't respond when people direct tweets at you. Its also OK if you walk out to the water fountain and don't stop to talk to everyone there, especially if you have something more important to do.
It really is OK if people use Twitter any way they want, even if its a different way than you want them to.
Its also OK if you call an article the Top 10 Reasons Your Company Probably Shouldn't Tweet, even if they aren't. I would comment further, but I have to talk to people at the water fountain.
Pat O'Malley
Pat, I respect your opinion but I may have to disagree with you on one points:
4) If someone tweets for the CEO then I am not talking directly to the CEO. The CEO hires people to do some of their work, but would a CEO hire someone to represent them in front of an important client? Every follower on twitter is VIP because this is a time when the company can contact the consumer directly unlike TV, Radio, Print...
CEO needs to find 10 minutes to tweet and get in touch with his consumers.
Jonathan Hutter - Portland, Maine
For more, check out my recent blog:
"Is Twitter Right for Your Company? 3 Things to Ask"
http://www.pageonepr.com/blogs/thepagewonders/2009/03/is-twitter-right-for-your-company-3.html
Twitter was and is a fundamentally mispositioned brand. So pointing out--as this article does--that many people/companies are taking the WRONG APPROACH TO TWITTER is too easy. Fish in a barrel. Twitter is very poorly understood--by you, me, the author of this article and everybody. Twitter is a much more dynamic, evolving, and complicated phenomenon than it's apparent simplicity would imply (i.e., short text messages, simple user interface, following/hooking up--"there's nothing new here"). It was and continues to be a surprise even to its creators.
Here are what I think are the two most helpful/accurate observations about Twitter at this time: 1. Twitter is something genuinely interesting and new. 2. No one (including its creators!) really have a thoroughly good understanding of it (what it is and where it is going). 3. It's value/use for marketing is only a very small part of its overall use/value. Don't let Twitter's surface simplicity fool you into thinking that this is a simple phenomenon or something that can be simply understood and easily applied in business.
At this stage, the best thing you can do--if you're interested in Twitter--is jump in, look around, play around, explore, scratch your head and humbly share what you find with your fellow explorers. If you come to Twitter with only a focus on how it can be used in marketing, I suspect that you're going to miss most of the real value and use of Twitter.
http://www.thenewgroup.com/blogs/tweet-or-not-tweet-we-review-10-reasons-why-not
I think what's often missing in discussions around Twitter is that it CAN and has been used as simple distribution channel (i.e., updates, coupons, headline feeds). The key to that success is setting expectations from the start. I don't believe that every online social relationship has to be deep to be meaningful just as I wouldn't if I called a customer service line.
LynnAnn - good points. people do still come from scratch when they have something interesting to say and they go out of their way to contribute to the community. Much more likely a possibility for an individual than for a corporation though, IMO.
DigitalSavant - i couldn't disagree with you more. Twitter is starting, not stopping. It's a sea change in communication, and we haven't seen even a small part of the role Twitter and platforms like it will play in media, marketing, social networks and news going forward.
Patrick - opinions, by definition, can't be wrong. :>)
Allen - I absolutely agree with you on some of your points, but take issue with your statement that I don't understand Twitter. Over the past three years, Twitter has become one of my main sources of news, information, assistance from peers, and it has expanded my business network immensely. I have helped clients use Twitter as a TOOL in their communication strategy; and a wonderful way to interact with customers.
I am really happy to see this post inspire so much controversy, conversation and Tweeting.
Follow me on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/whatsnext
BL
See this column:
http://bit.ly/WznGt
Or this post:
http://bit.ly/TqyE
And I would strong suggest that rather than avoid Twitter due to the restrictions listed above that you overcome them instead.
This will be bigger and more important than any platform to come along in years.
Edward Boches
I advise Fortune 500 companies on how to incorporate social media into their marketing communications strategy. And so I know first-hand that this is for an awful lot of name-brand companies.
Please read some of my other articles to get a more complete picture of my approach to corporate use of social media, as well as other posts I have written here:
Businessweek.com: Debunking Six Social Media Myths http://budurl.com/2pux
Tips for Effective Corporate Use of Twitter http://budurl.com/zqwv
Thanks for links. Good stuff. Didn't meant to suggest that there weren't a lot of companies slow to get it, just that these points can no longer be excuses. Companies, large or small, have no choice. We all know that the consumer decides in all cases where, when, how and why to engage and that they insist on a voice. Brands, marketers, media have no choice but to figure it out. Your thoughts are right on.
Edward
This is a good summary B.L., hope a lot of these hurdles are easier to overcome in 2009.
http://www.twitter.com/admaven
http://admaven.blogspot.com
BL
http://www.keithrhodes.com/2009/04/land-rover-connects-new-york-auto-show-attendees-on-twitter-lrny.html
Sheesh!
If your business is going to tweet, here's some advice on how to do it right: http://socialcomputingjournal.com/viewcolumn.cfm?colid=833
Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/fearlessadvisor
Gaston,
http://www.Ultimate-Resell-Rights.com