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<\/a>If you only take one thing from this session, this should be it: Twitter is about human communication. Any brand that has an audience that they want to connect with can excel on Twitter. It\u2019s all about finding the community; using the tools they\u2019re using; engaging your community with content that adds value.<\/p>\nReady for more? Here\u2019s Ric Dragon\u2019s nitty gritty Twitter for Business run down:<\/p>\n
A quick intro to Twitter:<\/h2>\n
\u2022 When to use a handle? If your name is really, really long.
\n\u2022 Twitter posts have 5 basic elements: display name; hashtags; @mentions; shortened URL; via or by at the end of the tweet.
\n\u2022 RT = rewteet. What does MT mean? Modified Tweet! (Start using it tweet modifiers!)
\n\u2022 If you\u2019re using an @mention, make sure you are including a period (or other character) before the @mention if you want that tweet to go into your public newsfeed (and not just to you and the person you are @mentioning)
\n\u2022 Consider the words you use in your bio; all of these words (including hashtags and @pages) are searchable
\n\u2022 Consider your background image. Ric uses Geico as an example of a company that is doing a great job. It doesn\u2019t take too much and it makes a big impact to have a designed background image.
\n\u2022 Your user icon: As a brand, think about trying to humanize yourself with your profile image. Don\u2019t try to include too much information. Make sure your profile image is clear.<\/p>\n
What makes the language in a tweet great?<\/h2>\n
Make your tweets engaging! It\u2019s like any other venue for content marketing. You have to write something enticing that will make your audience want to click through.<\/p>\n
Here are some examples that excel:<\/p>\n
When you\u2019re retweeting, try adding a bit of personality to your retweets. Make people want to follow you.<\/p>\n 1) Write more @ tweets! <\/b> 2) Don\u2019t automate tweets.<\/b> 3) Add value in what you tweet! <\/b> 4) Leave room for retweets. <\/b> 1) Use Twitter lists to connect with influencers Communi.it<\/b> Twiangulate<\/b> TweetUp<\/b> This is the idea behind a TweetUp: TweetUps are comprised of a bunch of people who want to meet up and communicate with each other via Twitter but they don\u2019t want to have to include everyone\u2019s handle every time (in every tweet), so they all start using a hashtag to communicate. And, thus, a TweetUp is born! This creates a great community experience, and also an excellent shared history for all the users.<\/p>\n Twitter chats are great places to meet people with common interests, and a great way for a brand to start building community with their community<\/em>.<\/p>\n TwitterChat Lists<\/b> TwitterChat Etiquette<\/b><\/p>\n – Stay on topic (don\u2019t ask questions that are off topic. Don\u2019t start side conversations.) The key is truly to connect with individuals and participate in real conversations. To become a real part of real communities with real people.<\/p>\n As a Twitter sales person you need to be asking yourself:<\/b> Can I take time each day to engage with community for X hours?<\/p>\n Think in terms of a virtuous cycle of activity you can do: Should a brand follow back? Ric advocates for reciprocal followbacks<\/p>\n Take time to stop, analyze what you\u2019ve been doing, and consider whether you can do better. Can you write better tweets? Can you engage more with the community? Can you personalize your @responses to people?<\/p>\n Ric doesn\u2019t advocate for two reasons:<\/p>\n 1) Nine out of 10 times one of these accounts is going to get dropped off; you\u2019re going to just give up on one of them.<\/p>\n 2) Social media is all about being human. People want to know that Jon the Dell worker is also into Fishing. They want to see Jon as a human. Only positivity can come from showing your personality next to your professional tweets.<\/p>\n Yes! Using Twitter is all about connecting human to human. Sure silliness is a part of that connection, but it isn\u2019t the sole reason people are on Twitter. As an example, if your business is a team of Divorce court attorneys (a rather somber profession) you don\u2019t have to tweet doom and gloom; this \u201chow can I serve my community? What do my clients (and potential clients) need?\u201d Consider hosting something like a #DivorceChat TwitterChat so that people [your potential consumers] can get together and ask each other \u2013 and you! \u2013 questions.<\/p>\n – Don\u2019t try to control the conversation; enable the conversation.<\/p>\n – Consider ways you, as the community manager, can help humanize the brand. One logistic that helps is ending your tweets with a human signature (for instance ^CA). You can also put the handle of the person that is managing the page in the brand\u2019s Twitter bio. Mayb<\/p>\n e even use the community manager\u2019s photo as the Twitter page user icon (of course, branded. Make sure the manager is wearing a shirt; or watermarked with a logo; or something else creative that allows you to clearly convey to your users \u201cthis is the X brand channel, and this is the human who is running this channel. Talk to them!\u201d)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It wasn\u2019t that long ago that Twitter first debuted in 2007 at SXSW. And, in fact, it wasn\u2019t that long ago that we didn\u2019t even consider ourselves \u201csocial media marketers\u201d\u2014we were search marketers.<\/p>\n If you only take one thing from this session, this should be it: Twitter is about human communication. Any brand that has an audience that they want to connect with can excel on Twitter. It\u2019s all about finding the community; using the tools they\u2019re using; engaging your community with content that adds value.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\nSome Twitter for Business Best Practices<\/h2>\n
\nCommunicate directly with people. Make an effort to reach out and talk directly with your community more. It\u2019s not all about getting people to look at you; it\u2019s all about you\/your brand\/your business engaging with the community.<\/p>\n
\nYes, you can schedule<\/em> tweets, but don\u2019t automate them. Automation = content is going right from one platform to another (IE: right from your blog to your Twitter; or right from Facebook to Twitter). Imagine: What if your automation makes your account tweet something about Miley Cyrus when a catastrophic hurricane has just hit a neighboring state? Automation can inadvertently put your brand in awkward, unforeseen PR-disaster situations if you\u2019re not careful.<\/p>\n
\nA story should have a narrative arc over time, and so should your tweets. Does your business have an event coming up? Creating a narrative arc around that event. Build up to it; offer sneak peeks; make the event your high point; and then keep the narrative going even after the event.<\/p>\n
\nWhen possible craft your Twitter messages in a way that allows for the added \u201cRT\u201d without chopping off the end of your post (especially if the end of your post is the URL).<\/p>\nTwitter Lists<\/h2>\n
\n2) Consider the story that your list of lists is telling
\n3) Subscribe to lists that include you<\/p>\nSome Twitter Tools<\/h2>\n
\nAllows you to see if someone has followed you and you haven\u2019t followed them back. Also allows you to see your top content influencers; your followers who are very active and often interact with your content (these people are your brand advocates!). It\u2019s a good way to identify your brand advocates (and to help you reach out to them).<\/p>\n
\nThis tool can take two or more other profiles (as designated by you) and see who the two profiles have in common. It\u2019s a great tool that can help you discover people to engage with; people that would be a great addition to your community.<\/p>\n
\nDefinition: A group of friends on Twitter that are planning to meet up. Also a request by a user to meet with friends via Twitter.<\/em><\/p>\nTwitterChats<\/h2>\n
\nSearch for this; this is a list of TwitterChats that are active<\/p>\n
\n– Number your answers. (A1 after Q1; A2 after Q2; etc.)
\n– Don\u2019t self-promote (unless the moderator asks you [everyone] to introduce themselves at the beginning of the session, or if it\u2019s at the end of the session and you have a relevant link to share)
\n– RT with attribution
\n– If late, don\u2019t ask \u201cwhats the topic\u201d (just read the stream! Catch yourself up)
\n– Say thank you (that\u2019s just nice.)<\/p>\nLooking to make sales from Twitter? Do This\u2026<\/h2>\n
\nCan I help 5 people out per day?
\nCan I join 3 (or however many) TwitterChats per week
\nCan I host a meet-up?<\/p>\n
\nEngage \u2192 Reciprocate \u2192 Nurture connections \u2192 Create Content<\/p>\n<\/a><\/h2>\nShould I have two Twitter profiles? One for me, and one for me as X-brand advocate?<\/h2>\n
What if my brand is somber, or boring? Can we still use Twitter?<\/h2>\n
Some Community Manager Considerations<\/h2>\n