We really can’t deny the fact that businesses are testing out Twitter as part of their steps into the social media landscape. You can say it’s a stupid application, that no business gets done there, but there are too many of us (including me) that can disagree and point out business value. I’m not going to address the naysayers much with this. Instead, I’m going to offer 50 thoughts for people looking to use Twitter for business. And by “business,” I mean anything from a solo act to a huge enterprise customer.
Your mileage may vary, and that’s okay. Further, you might have some really great ideas to add. That’s why we have lively conversations here at [chrisbrogan.com] in the comments section. Jump right in!
Oh, and please feel free to reblog this wherever. Just be kind and link back to the original article.
50 Ideas on Using Twitter for Business
First Steps
- Build an account and immediate start using Twitter Search to listen for your name, your competitor’s names, words that relate to your space. (Listening always comes first.)
- Add a picture. ( Shel reminds us of this.) We want to see you.
- Talk to people about THEIR interests, too. I know this doesn’t sell more widgets, but it shows us you’re human.
- Point out interesting things in your space, not just about you.
- Share links to neat things in your community. ( @wholefoods does this well).
- Don’t get stuck in the apology loop. Be helpful instead. ( @jetblue gives travel tips.)
- Be wary of always pimping your stuff. Your fans will love it. Others will tune out.
- Promote your employees’ outside-of-work stories. ( @TheHomeDepot does it well.)
- Throw in a few humans, like RichardAtDELL, LionelAtDELL, etc.
- Talk about non-business, too, like @aaronstrout and @jimstorer.
Ideas About WHAT to Tweet
- Instead of answering the question, “What are you doing?”, answer the question, “What has your attention?”
- Have more than one twitterer at the company. People can quit. People take vacations. It’s nice to have a variety.
- When promoting a blog post, ask a question or explain what’s coming next, instead of just dumping a link.
- Ask questions. Twitter is GREAT for getting opinions.
- Follow interesting people. If you find someone who tweets interesting things, see who she follows, and follow her.
- Tweet about other people’s stuff. Again, doesn’t directly impact your business, but makes us feel like you’re not “that guy.”
- When you DO talk about your stuff, make it useful. Give advice, blog posts, pictures, etc.
- Share the human side of your company. If you’re bothering to tweet, it means you believe social media has value for human connections. Point us to pictures and other human things.
- Don’t toot your own horn too much. (Man, I can’t believe I’m saying this. I do it all the time. – Side note: I’ve gotta stop tooting my own horn).
- Or, if you do, try to balance it out by promoting the heck out of others, too.
Some Sanity For You
- You don’t have to read every tweet.
- You don’t have to reply to every @ tweet directed to you (try to reply to some, but don’t feel guilty).
- Use direct messages for 1-to-1 conversations if you feel there’s no value to Twitter at large to hear the conversation ( got this from @pistachio).
- Use services like Twitter Search to make sure you see if someone’s talking about you. Try to participate where it makes sense.
- 3rd party clients like Tweetdeck and Twhirl make it a lot easier to manage Twitter.
- If you tweet all day while your coworkers are busy, you’re going to hear about it.
- If you’re representing clients and billing hours, and tweeting all the time, you might hear about it.
- Learn quickly to use the URL shortening tools like TinyURL and all the variants. It helps tidy up your tweets.
- If someone says you’re using twitter wrong, forget it. It’s an opt out society. They can unfollow if they don’t like how you use it.
- Commenting on others’ tweets, and retweeting what others have posted is a great way to build community.
The Negatives People Will Throw At You
- Twitter takes up time.
- Twitter takes you away from other productive work.
- Without a strategy, it’s just typing.
- There are other ways to do this.
- As Frank hears often, Twitter doesn’t replace customer service (Frank is @comcastcares and is a superhero for what he’s started.)
- Twitter is buggy and not enterprise-ready.
- Twitter is just for technonerds.
- Twitter’s only a few million people. (only)
- Twitter doesn’t replace direct email marketing.
- Twitter opens the company up to more criticism and griping.
Some Positives to Throw Back
- Twitter helps one organize great, instant meetups (tweetups).
- Twitter works swell as an opinion poll.
- Twitter can help direct people’s attention to good things.
- Twitter at events helps people build an instant “backchannel.”
- Twitter breaks news faster than other sources, often (especially if the news impacts online denizens).
- Twitter gives businesses a glimpse at what status messaging can do for an organization. Remember presence in the 1990s?
- Twitter brings great minds together, and gives you daily opportunities to learn (if you look for it, and/or if you follow the right folks).
- Twitter gives your critics a forum, but that means you can study them.
- Twitter helps with business development, if your prospects are online (mine are).
- Twitter can augment customer service. (but see above)
What else would you add? How are you using Twitter for your business?
By the way, Jeremiah Owyang has a great post on this, too.
The Social Media 100 is a project by Chris Brogan dedicated to writing 100 useful blog posts in a row about the tools, techniques, and strategies behind using social media for your business, your organization, or your own personal interests. Swing by [chrisbrogan.com] for more posts in the series, and if you have topic ideas, feel free to share them, as this is a group project, and your opinion matters.
Get the entire series by subscribing to this blog, and subscribe to my free newsletter here.
Pingback: How Johnny Cash would tweet « B2B Communications Blog: Red On Marketing
Pingback: Twitter ideas for your business or ministry « Baseball, Cotton Candy & The Lord
Pingback: Microblogging (Twitter, Laconi.ca, etc.) - Linksammlung | ichbloggenicht
Pingback: Top 20 Twitter Posts of 2008
Pingback: Harmon Creative x 2 » Blog Archive » Using twitter to promote your business
Pingback: 10 of my favorite lists from 2008 | The Responsible Marketing Blog
Pingback: Are you twittering yet? « Writeassociate’s Weblog
Pingback: Our Top Ten List of…ummm….”top ten” lists for 2008. | The Rocket Ride
Pingback: Twitter in 2008 :: Richard Womeldorf.COM
Pingback: Best Internet Marketing Posts of 2008: Social Media, SEO, and More » techipedia | tamar weinberg
Pingback: Esther C Kane » Blog Archive » Using Twitter In Business
Pingback: N th n R T yl r » 50 ideas on Using Twitter for Business from Chrisbrogan.com:
Pingback: When Listening on Twitter Becomes Creepy « Tweetworks
Pingback: Que votre Année 2009 soit sociale !! | Diane Nadeau
Pingback: First Issue Blog » Blog Archive » Do You Practice the Twitter KISS?
Pingback: PhotoBiz Blog » sample 3
Pingback: 140 Health Care Uses for Twitter
Pingback: Using Twitter for business? Chris Brogan has some ideas « social media
Pingback: Twitter Tips Pro & Con | BuzzBuilderz
Pingback: The Fundamentals: Twitter | Deep Bench
Pingback: fomandy.com » Blog Archive » The coolest posting, blogs, websites, books for communicators (and other humans) for Dec
Pingback: Twitter: what you’re missing out on… « The Screaming Room
Pingback: 140 Healthcare use cases for Twitter « YAFC (UCSF) Technology Initiative
Pingback: You got to go on Twitter… | Webanalyticsbook - Web Analytics
Pingback: 6 Free and Easy Tips on Using Social Media to Market Yourself Through the Recession — James Poling
Pingback: Why I use Twitter « Marjory - Pieces of Wisdom and some Trash