More on Twitter

I've seen and heard the following a lot lately:
"How can reading about so and so's life help my business?"
- It can't
"I'm wasting my time reading all those Tweets!"
- You probably are
"I don't see the value in it for my business."
- Now we have a problem...

The ultimate point of any social network, be it Twitter or anything else, is that you communicate what you want, when you want. Remember, communication is a two-way street. You can read all you want or nothing of what other people put out there, just as they can of what you put out there. But what you read has no bearing on your business at all - it's what other people read about your business.

Let me say that again: it's what other people read about your business.

If you and your business are on Twitter to say "I'm at the airport now" or "Tough board meeting!" you're wasting your time and actually inflicting potential damage on your brand. Outside of your mom, no one wants to know where you are and what you're doing every minute of the day. Leave emotion and ego out of this, and deliver straight product in 140 character bursts.

Use Twitter for the following in business:

• New product launch
• Old product improvement/update
• Publicity Event (like a Tweetup)
• Grand Opening or Re-Opening
• Daily/Weekly reminder of specials and offers/coupons (re-direct to your web site whenever possible)
• Photo opportunity (either famous person at your place, or have people post their own pics at your place - great pub either way and people love to see themselves)
• Staff growth or expansion
• Business growth or expansion
• Interesting articles that are about or relate to your company (if people are following you and you're a bakery, they must like baked goods. Keep them posted on your bread and other similar areas of interest like cakes, desserts, bagels, coffee...)

Hopefully that's enough of a lead and examples for you to see what I'm talking about here. You can interract with customers who do so with you, and it helps humanize you if you do. But make sure you reply "at" them and keep on top of messages to you. For people who can't or don't interact with you or your storefront on a daily basis, this is key line of communication that can bring them back in, giving them a sense of ownership in store and product. That also makes them more likely advocates for you and advocates always bring friends!

Take away this - Twitter is a way to promote your business and keep it connected. If you want to spout personal opinion or inject your latest political rant, do it on your own acount, not that of your business. Read what other people in your industry post, follow the articles, and stay personal with the people who are your loyal customers. But you don't have to catch up on what every single one of them is saying, and you'll go crazy trying. Keep your focus on your business marketing.

Where are you missing out?

Likely, you're missing out on the web. You have a web site - and you may even have a wonderful web site - but can someone go one-click-done to a solution/answer? Probably not. Even though I preach streamlined, simplistic web site design (having done a number of them in my day) it's not always enough to get people direct answers in less than three clicks. So what do you do to augment this?

You should have your customer/client interraction contact points set up not only as phone numbers and emails, but as Twitter accounts, Facebook pages, and perhaps even a Tumblr account. These social media portals allow you to instantly and personally answer questions while in a sense creating a legacy FAQ that people will see. Heck, you can even re-post your FAQ on Tumblr or Facebook accounts to help ease access to the information.

You don't have to make this a PR arm, and you shouldn't. Don't spam people with your Twitter, they'll stop reading. One of the great powers of social networking is that people can opt-out at any time, so you have to give them reason to read and stay put. In the case of a sports franchise, you can reach out to your season ticket holders with special offers, advice, and links to shortcuts that relate to them directly as STHs. If you're in an event venue, you can answer ticketing questions, procedural inquiries, and even things as simple as parking directions and locations. Don't be afraid to make it a multimedia presentation. Use a Google Map to help out, and make sure you pin some info on the place you're sending people. Link back to your own web site by all means. Use whatever tools are available to you.

What is even more important than your ability to respond is that you monitor this account and ACTUALLY RESPOND! You have to do this in a timely fashion, and keep tabs on things. This also means finding ways to monitor and organize. For Twitter, I use a program called TweetDeck, setting up search algorythms that tell me when someone talks at or about my account, and allows me to also search general comments about my business through use of hashtags. Once you have it sorted out so that you're able to make sense of the information flying around, you're well on your way to being able to monitor online noise regarding your company in a simple, easy manner.

Lastly, I completely and totally recommend that you keep it professional on your customer service outlines. As I mentioned above, no spam. But also refrain from personal commenting (that's what your own personal or business-persona account is for) on situations or events, even if they directly concern your team/enterprise. This isn't the place. Don't feel the need to follow everyone back on this account, in fact I'd recommend you don't. It will keep your one-page stream to just information you have posted and those who have publicly queried you. It will cut down on a lot of extra footwork and enable damage control if needed!

Hey, you're going to need a thick skin, people love their anonymous cloak on line. But by the same token, take your medicine, hear what's being said about your company and who the ringleaders are, and target them to be won over. If you direct your energy and efforts towards getting them on your side, that alone is worth its weight in gold - especially on line.