Red Giant Consulting

Twitter 101

Definition of Twitter [Twit-er]

• Twitter is a social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read messages known as tweets.

• Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters displayed on the author's profile page and delivered to the author's subscribers who are known as followers. (Wikipedia)

Simply put, Twitter is a public short messaging service to share news and information and have conversations with groups of people or individuals

Who Uses Twitter and Why?

• Business People Expand network and build personal brand

Promote company, products, and services

Find people with like interests

• Companies Provide customer service

Engage with community

Promote products and services

Generate incremental revenue

• Personal users Find people with similar interests/hobbies

• i.e. reading, cooking, etc.

Deciding if it’s Right for You

• Listen – the conversation is happening, decide if you want to be a part of it

• Determine your goals

• Create a strategy for Twitter use whether it be for personal or business use (or a combination of the two)

Decide what you want out of your involvement with Twitter

Configure how you will measure your success in relation to your previously stated objectives

Signing up for Twitter

• Sign Up

twitter.com/signup

• Choose a handle (username) that is:

Short

Memorable

Personable

Connected to you or your business, what you will mostly be Tweeting about

Has longevity

Fill out Your Profile

• Choose a photo/avatar/logo

Having a photo will allow you to be taken more seriously by other Twitter users

Your photo should be professional and recognizable

For a corporate account, use company logo or a photo of who will be Tweeting on behalf of the company

• Create a bio

Use full amount of space available

Reflect what you do/what you are interested in

This will show potential followers what you will Tweet about

Include location to help people build their own networks

Don„t forget a link to your website or blog!

Start by Listening

• Set up searches for:

Company or personal name

Categories/keywords (e.g. inbound marketing, mobile advertising…)

Competitors

Partners

• Monitor searches daily to follow conversation & get to know community

http://www.search.twitter.com

Tweetdeck, Hootsuite, Seesmic, etc.

• Listen and observe how people are communicating before jumping in

Find People to Follow

• How do you find people to follow? Upload existing contact/customer list to see who is already on

Twitter

Follow bloggers/reporters/analysts whose work you enjoy reading

Find people talking about your interests via searches:• search.twitter.com

• Subscribe via RSS to stay up to date

• Use search column to Tweetdeck, etc

Use 3rd party services:• WeFollow keyword based directory

• Listorious directory of Twitter lists created by others

• Mr. Tweet recommendation service

• Twitter Grader evaluates your Twitter presence and provides lists of top Twitter users in geographic areas

Joining the Conversation

• Replies – to respond to someone publicly Use @ in front of user handle (e.g. @tgruber)

If you use the Reply button or start your tweet with @ -- only those followers also following that person will see the response

If a word is put before “@” everyone following you can see the tweet

• Send a Direct/Private Message (e.g. DM) DM @tgruber

User has to follow you back for you to direct message them

• Retweet (RT) If you like something, retweet it to share with your followers

Use “RT” button or include RT in tweet

RT as is or edit

If you add content, separate from original tweet [e.g. RT @tgruberTwitter 101 is now available (cool, can‟t wait to read it) ]

What Should You Tweet About?

• ~40% Sharing Links, news blogs

Use URL shortnening services to preserve your 140 characters when sharing such as bitly.com

With a free Bitly account you receive stats to assist you in measurability

Connect your Bitly account with your TweetDeck account under settings to simplify and measure all short URLs shared

• ~40% Engagement Replying to people

Having conversations

• 10-20% Self Promotion

Where to Tweet?• Twitter.com

• Third-party desktop applications

Tweetdeck, Co-Tweet, Hootsuite, Seesmic

• Mobile applications

m.Twitter.com

Tweetie (now Twitter for iPhone)

Echofon, Tweetdeck, Foursquare….

• From the web

Connect to Facebook and/or LinkedIn but cross-post selectively

Retweet from others blogs

“Share This” button

How Often should you Tweet?

• Rule #1: Don‟t expect to read every Tweet

• Time spent depends on goals

• Plan to check in periodically throughout the day to see updates on groups, keywords that are of interest to them

• Create a “must follow” list if you want to see every Tweet by a key contacts

• Tweet once a day at a minimum

Best Practices for Businesses

• Use the bio to identify who is managing the account and/or link to site with Twitter/Community Manager bios and alternative contact points

• If managed by multiple people, consider using identifiers to show who is responding (e.g. ^TG)

• Monitor throughout the day, assign times for evenings/weekends

• Train individuals in corporate messaging, customer service, crisis communication, and other policies

• If you are experiencing a high volume of Tweets, seek alternative tools (Co-Tweet, etc)

• Consider more formal social media monitoring tools such as Radian6

What the ####?

• A hashtag (#) is used to identify and thread conversations about a certain topic

• Conferences use hashtags to integrate everyone in attendance

• If you want to be found by association with a certain topic, use a hashtag in your Tweet

• Search using hashtags to see who is talking about a certain topic

• Common hastags include: Wireless Wednesdays #WW, Music Mondays #MM

Follow Friday #FF (recommend other people to follow)

• Hashtags are also used to thread Twitchats (set time, day discussions such as #sbbuzz, #soloPR…)

Measuring Success

• Go back to your goals

Customer satisfaction

Brand favorability

Brand awareness

Sales revenues through Twitter channel

• Twitter-specific metrics

It is NOT about the followers, it is about engagement

# of replies

# of RTs

# of clicks/opens of short URLs shared (via Bitly)

Now What?

• Twitter 201 will cover:

Auto tweet or not?

Turning location on or off

Scheduling tweets

Cross-posting to other social networks

Alternative tools for using Twitter

Participating in and creating TwitChats

Building lists

Creating custom backgrounds

Follow me on Twitter

http://www.twitter.com/tgruber