The trouble with Twitter
Should businesses be using Twitter?
Maybe.
Twitter is getting the most attention in social media at the moment and it is seeing huge growth since A-list celebrities like Oprah have jumped on the bandwagon. But Twitter isn’t for everyone and definitely not all business enterprises. Jennifer Leggio of ZDNet has the proper perspective regarding online marketing and Twitter.
“Twitter is not the end-all, be all of social media. It’s not even the start and it doesn’t even matter to some companies. And an agency using a social networking tool is all well and good, but it does not indicate any above average understanding of social media.”
Some companies are using Twitter to great effect. The Zappos Twitter account has over 640,000 followers. Yet, the success of Zappos came before its Twitter account. Zappos was well established for its outstanding customer service, concern for employees, and empathy with customers before Twitter gained any significant noteriety. The company culture embraced the openness of social media before Twitter grew to what it is now; Zappos created their own YouTube section in March of 2006. The Zappos Twitter feed fits in with its pre-existing social media strategy. Twitter is part of a social media strategy, not the focal point.
At the same time, a large part of Zappos’ success on Twitter is that CEO Tony Hsieh personally updates the account. The content on the feed is Hsieh’s personal thoughts. He has tweeted about conversations, people he has met, and trips he is planning or on. None of this is directly Zappos related. The benefit is that Zappos is making a personal connection with followers. The negative is, that connection is with Tony Hsieh. What would happen to all that goodwill if Hsieh resigned tomorrow or, worse, got arrested on felony charges?
Businesses need to clearly define their reasons for using Twitter by asking questions such as, how does a Twitter presence fit in with their goals? Are they going to mix corporate and personal content? What are the benefits? Can we live with the negatives? Do we have the commitment to update Twitter regularly? How will our content be valuable to our followers?
Most important for businesses is this tidbit from Jamie Harrop:
3. Treat Twitter Like a Party, Not a Show and Tell
Much like how at a party it would be classed as rude to walk up to every person and throw them a business card, it’s rude to show off your blog address on a regular basis in front of people you haven’t built a relationship with.
Parties and networking events are not meant to produce instant results, but rather meant to aid in the building of new relationships to ensure there is a return in the far future. Whether that return is a new customer for your business, or, possibly in Twitter’s case, a visit to your Web site, the relationship should be built first and done so over an extended period.
Don’t expect quick results from Twitter. You must build solid, honest relationships first.
So true. Social media is about relationships, not businesses. Business can be successful on Twitter but they must build relationships to do it.