8 Things To Ask Yourself About Twitter (alternative title: Twitter Scares Me to Death…What Should I Do?)
Is Twitter really all that different than other marketing communications vehicles? While it is easy to get overwhelmed and lost in social media I say “no, it isn’t”. Why? Well it’s just another part of your overall plan like so many other things in your overall plan. You have to start by thinking about “what you should be thinking about”. You still have to ask yourself 7 of the 8 basic questions that are not very different than the basic questions you should ask yourself when developing a website, online advertising campaign or other initiative. Before we go any further I probably need a disclaimer…I am not a heavy user of Twitter or a twitterholic. I am only a moderate user of Twitter and have to challenge myself not to get lost in Twitter much the same way I have to challenge myself not to get lost in related links on blogs, google searches or my often ADD conversations (usually caused by me). Actually I don’t even consider myself an avid social media enthusiast. I am just a guy who has learned to ask himself “why, am I doing this and is it really worth it?”. Okay, on to the questions:
- Why am I am I thinking about using twitter? If it is purely personal and not about business or building a personal brand then “Move along. Nothing to be seen here”. If it is about business or building a personal brand then proceed to question 2.
- What is my brand? Simple enough, right? But how many times have you been on Twitter and seen this basic consideration, well, not considered.
- Who are my audiences? Well again, simple enough but how many marketing initiatives are “inside out” focused instead of being audience focused? Twitter is no different. It is really easy to get inside out.
- What is the priority of my audiences? Again, simple right? This question will resonate strongly when we get to question 8.
- What is it I want to receive from my audiences as a result of my efforts on Twitter? This gets back to question number 1.
- What will I need to give in order to receive what it is I want to receive? One of the unique things about Twitter is the depth and quickness of engagement it offers. Think in terms of relationship building potential. You can’t just tweet and think great things will happen. You have to be involved and engaged with your followers and the people you are following. It’s is not about how many followers you have, it’s more about how engaged you are with the followers you have. Depth over breadth.
- How will I measure success? This one has started a lot of discussion in the social media realm, hasn’t it? I like to simplify this. Most businesses customer life cycles are similar. There is a continuum from stranger to suspect to prospect to client to long-term loyal client. Start thinking about what part twitter is going to play in moving your clients from left to right on this continuum and I think you will quickly come up with some meaningful measures.
- What resources can I commit? This is the question that brings sharp focus to the other questions. You may have to regroup and make hard decisions about questions 4, 5, and 6 which will cause you to alter your answer to question 7.
Once you have answered these questions to “help you think about what you need to think about” then it will become much easier to determine how to use the assets you have at your disposal in Twitter. Mainly thats name, location, website link, bio, your tweets, your ability to link to other content in your tweets, the RT, the follow. Finally, remember like all social media, transparency and authenticity make up the necessary foundation for successful engagement.
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