Seriously. Why is your company on Twitter? This may seem like a silly question, but it’s one worth considering. Too many companies, brands, and organizations don’t consider the question, I think. They jump on Twitter and begin spitting out Tweets, follow thousands of people hoping that all of them will return the favor, and for the most part, begin what can essentially be described as a Twitter Spam campaign. This type of “strategy”, as you can imagine, accomplishes nothing. And, in fact, it can even hurt your brand, as opposed to strengthening and growing it.
If your business is on Twitter, or thinking about using Twitter, you need to have a strategy in place. Twitter is, in the right hands, a very powerful and effective marketing tool. It allows you to identify members of your target market(s) and engage them directly. It can also be used to quickly respond to questions and concerns from customers and other stakeholders. Backed by a well-planned marketing and communication strategy, Twitter can be just as powerful, or even more powerful than a traditional media campaign. Without a strategy, however, none of this is possible.
The world that is Twitter is a fast-paced, hyper-crowded environment. Attention spans are low and you only have 140 characters (or less) to grab your audience’s attention, convey your message, and to make it resonate. Imagine standing on a small stage with hundreds of other people, all shouting at one person in the audience. This is what Twitter is like, as the average Twitter user follows at least 50 other people. It’s not uncommon for someone to follow over a hundred or more. If you don’t have a plan to successfully operate in this environment, why even bother? Your time will be better spent focusing on other aspects of running your business.
I’m not trying to talk you or your organization out of using Twitter. Quite the opposite. I think you should be using Twitter. But you need to go about it in the right way. Like any other communication strategy, if you can produce a message that effectively communicates the value that your products or services offer to the customer, you will do well. Basically, if you can provide a reason for people to pay attention to what you’re saying, people will listen. This isn’t necessarily hard, but it does require some effort and thought. And, really, this is no different from any other marketing campaign.
The important thing is to develop a Twitter marketing and communication strategy. If your Tweets are “spammy”, irrelevant, or unclear, your organization will never achieve any level of success on Twitter. The old saying of “Anything worth doing, is worth doing well,” comes to mind. Twitter can help your business and your brand become more successful. Hundreds of organizations are achieving this type of success right now. With a well thought out plan, yours can, too.
-Dan Cheek
www.LaserBurnMedia.com
dan@laserburnmedia.com
