67. e-Branding 6: Twitter

67

E-BRANDING 6: TWITTER

Twitter is one of the most successful social media. Each “tweet” is a message of 140 characters or less. Tweeting is becoming an art form; some writers specialise in writing short, interesting sentences in their own or their brand’s tone of voice. It’s instant. People will tweet from wherever they are using their phones or their laptops.

Consider your Twitter identity as part of your brand. If you aren’t there, you’re missing an opportunity.

The idea Do you need to be there? You need to take a look at it, and see what your competitors are doing to fi nd out. But, generally speaking, yes you do. You’re expected to be there, in the same way as you are expected to have a website, a blog, or both.

Using Twitter you can link to interesting sites including your own, to fi lms, photographs or anything else on the Internet. You can use it for research to fi nd out what other people are tweeting about, including your competitors. You can post useful information. If you write or link to something interesting, people will pass them on by “retweeting” them to their own followers.

If you use it badly, just for blowing your own trumpet and telling customers how marvellous you are, it will work against you. Allow your brand to show its human side, and Twitter will work for you. It’s an extra way to build up a direct relationship between your brand and the outside world. If you’re small you can get away with tweeting

once a day, and replying to direct messages from customers. You really do have to reply to all your messages, so if you aren’t prepared to do that yet, don’t build yourself a presence.

In practice • You can use Twitter to build your brand, and as a way to search for mentions, good or bad. • Twitter can be a dreadful place for gossip. People are happy to spread rumours there without fi nding out fi rst whether or not they are true. The sooner you fi nd something tweeted about you that’s not good, you can answer it directly, and nip any nastiness in the bud. • You will attract followers by being useful, informative, funny, interesting or just by being famous and popular.