So What's the Tweet?

Well, be careful what you wish for. We've launched our Twitter page and now we have to feed the beast. So comes the next step in your company's Twitter page. You've taken the time to answer the five simple questions that will help you strategize your Twitter efforts. You've launched your page. Now, what to Tweet?

Well, this is a little more difficult to discern. It can really vary by industry and it is also dependent on what your answer to question number one was (see the previous post). In our case we are trying to reach our customers. So the goal is to offer up tweets that are relevant to our customers.

While this sounds simple and straight forward, it isn't as easy as that. It is important that you get a few people thinking about what you want to tweet about. Don't put all the pressure on yourself to come up with relevant tweets. Try to get a team of people thinking about it.

When you do decide what you are going to tweet, try to make it a call to action or offer your audience something more from you tweet. Send them to your website with a link. Send them to a partner website or provide them with a physical location you recommend they visit. Invite them to do something.

You want your audience to come to expect that they were learn from your tweets or that there is something in it for them. This will help you to build the number of followers you have and will also improve your chances of having your information "retweeted" or forwarded to your follower's followers.

It is a good idea to brainstorm a series of tweets and then decide how often you want to tweet at a minimum. You can always tweet more, but you need to make sure you have set number of tweets you will do each day or each week. You must tweet at the very least once a week, but try to tweet once a day. Again you can increase the number of tweets if you find you have more to say.

When you tweet remember that Twitter is a short lived medium. You can give your followers a heads up about a coming event, but unless the event is happening with the next 24 hours, you will probably need to tweet about it again. This is a great way to build up anticipation about an event though, so don't discount it all together.

So, here's the bottom line about what to tweet:

1. Make sure you have your target audience in mind as you think of your tweets.
2. Have a team of people who can help you come up with tweet subjects (or at least one other person).
3. Have a list of tweet subjects ready to go at all times.
4. Have a call to action or an additional option to allow your followers to get more from your tweet (i.e. a link to your site or another site, or invite your followers to physically do something)
5. Determine how often you are going to tweet, set a minimum, you can always tweet more. Consistency is important.
6. Keep the format of this medium in mind when you're tweeting. Information on Twitter is short lived so if you're talking about a future event it will need to be tweeted repeatedly.

If you follow the guide above you should be able to keep your Twitter page up. Consistency and the relevance of your tweets build quality followers and quality is more important than quantity.

Let the Tweet Begin...

So today we did it.  We launched a Twitter page at our company.  In my industry, which is fairly conservative, this is a pretty big step.  In a world that is predetermined and needs to have a great deal of well thought out strategy attached, this move to the Twitterverse is enormous.

The arguments not to Twitter are many.  What if we get too many people following us that are really just Twitter spammers?  How do we control that? How do we get followers?  How often should we Tweet and most importantly, what do we Tweet?

Well, in all honesty, sometimes you need to jump in and find the answers to those questions as you go.  However, having some sort of a plan is better than no plan at all.  So let's tackle the basics of your Twitter strategy.

1. Who are you trying to reach with your Tweets?  Is it customers? Employees? 
   
2. What are you going to Tweet about?  There are many options here, but you need to have some sort of focus.  The kitchen sink approach is not the best way to go.  
3. Who is going to be point to manage the @replies that must be sent and that are received?
4. Who will manage the content?  We decided on a team approach, one point person with a team feeding ideas for Tweets.
5. Should your user name represent all your brands or do you want to pick a focus area to start with?  Your user name can be key and should be discussed, particularly if your company has more than one brand. 

Then, get going!  Pull that trigger, land the plane, place your company's euphemism here.  The key is to start.  Answer some of the basic strategic questions above and don't go in blind.  Be adaptable, as Twitter is a fluid medium.  Most importantly, don't wait until you have all the answers to every possible what if.  You can't possibly.  If you try to wait and create a fully cooked strategy, the opportunity will be lost.  Now is the time to get on board, dive in, again, insert your company euphemism here.  So what are you waiting for?  Go launch your Twitter page!

All a Twitter...

How long have you been using Twitter?  As a new user of this fun and exciting forum, I'm enjoying learning the ropes.  I'm impressed by the tweets of many and trying to figure out my place in this new community.

My mind is reeling with all the possibilities that Twitter and other social media sites offer to businesses and for the non-profit world.   The trick is not being over zealous and really trying to be focused on your goals or your clients' goals. 

In addition to focusing on your outcomes, it is necessary to make sure that your message is direct and meaningful.  If everyone is reading you don't want to just say anything.  PRSA's February newsletter "Tactics" had a great article about Twitter and making the most of the characters you have available. 

Twitter offers opportunities and has pitfalls to be aware of.  As I navigate through and try to learn more about how to make the best use of this forum, it is important for me to remember this is an excellent exercise in being brief and meaningful at the same time.  I tend to get a little wordy, for those of you who know me, I'm sure you aren't shocked by this revelation.

So, I will continue to make the most of my 140 characters and would love to hear your thoughts in 140 characters too.