Stylized Tweeting

So you're tweeting away these days and you're getting pretty comfortable with it, but now others from your company want to get in the tweet game too. So, what would be the reason not to let them? If you have a very small company it may not be necessary, but the larger your company the more beneficial it can be to have others tweeting too. The question then, how do you make sure all that there is consistent tweeting in terms of message and tone?

Well, the good news is that you only have 140 characters, so there isn't too much that can be done to ruin your brand or for people to vary too widely in the way the write their tweets. However, you should develop a Twitter style guide to ensure consistent tweeting.Here are the things to think about when creating your Twitter style guide.

1. If there are any acronyms that your company uses internally, think about whether or not you want to start using them publicly. Acronyms are a great shorthand and since you only have 140 characters this can be very useful. However, often internal acronyms have no public meaning, which can pose an issue in the terms of clear communication.

2. What are the topics you will discuss? Consistency in message is huge. Make sure that your Twitter style guide accounts for the types of messages that will be tweeted.

3. Include checks and balances. While this could be more appropriate for a social media policy, its not a bad idea to include it in your Twitter style guide too. This means who do you double check your tweets with prior to posting, what are the rules around including phone numbers or other contact info, etc.

4. Decide how you plan to use links. Do you only link to your own site? Do you link to other sites?

5. Your style guide should also include rules and suggestions on frequency of tweets for events. For example if you tweet about something coming up in a week, remember that it should be tweeted again at least a day in advance. If you want people to come to the event, then it might be worth tweeting right up until the event starts.

As you are creating your guide there will be other things that come up which are specific to your company. To make sure that you have a complete Twitter style guide that will work for your company make sure you go back and look at why you're tweeting in the first place. Remember who your audience is and what you want to accomplish with Twitter.

Above all remember that your Twitter style guide is subject to change. Just as social media is a fluid medium, you need to be willing to make adjustments in your social media policies and your Twitter style guide. Nothing is set in stone, but it is important to have guide to work from