How to use twitter for business

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for Business
Twitter for Business (GF501)
Professor: Laura Fitton, Pistachio Consulting and
co-author of Twitter for Dummies
Twitter for Business
• What is Twitter?
• Why is it valuable?
• How does it work? What is Twitter?
• How should a business get started?
• What does it make possible?
• Some examples
• Your fears and concerns
• Learning more…
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What Are You Doing?
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~20 million monthly uniques
(x5.7 since Nov 08)
125 million monthly visits
(x4.3 since Nov 08)
Why is it valuable?
20% of online adults 25-34
23% of social network users
27% of bloggers
December 2008
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http://twitpic.com/135xa
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How does it work?
What Are You Doing?
“Use it Where You
Think Best”
-IBM ThinkPad
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The User Multiface
Browser • SMS • IM • RSS
reader • FriendFeed •
Facebook • blogs • widgets •
desktop, iPhone, Blackberry,
and SMS clients
The User Multiface
Browser • SMS • IM • RSS reader
Clients: iPhone • Blackberry • desktop • SMS
Lifestream aggregator, Facebook, blogs
…
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The User Multiface The User Multiface
Browser • SMS • IM • RSS reader Browser • SMS • IM • RSS reader
Clients: iPhone • Blackberry • desktop • SMS Clients: iPhone • Blackberry • desktop • SMS
Lifestream aggregator, Facebook, blogs Lifestream aggregator, Facebook, blogs
… …
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The User Multiface The User Multiface
Browser • SMS • IM • RSS reader Browser • SMS • IM • RSS reader
Clients: iPhone • Blackberry • desktop • SMS Clients: iPhone • Blackberry • desktop • SMS
Lifestream aggregator, Facebook, blogs Lifestream aggregator, Facebook, blogs
… …
The User Multiface
Browser • SMS • IM • RSS reader
Clients: iPhone • Blackberry • desktop • SMS
Lifestream aggregator, Facebook, blogs
…
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The User Multiface Anyone
• Develop dynamic and engaging “behind
Browser • SMS • IM • RSS the scenes” personalities, content,
sneak-previews and other genuinely
reader • FriendFeed • engaging content
Facebook • blogs • widgets •
desktop, iPhone, Blackberry,
and SMS clients
Individuals Companies and Brands
• Build your network, access better • Engage more deeply with consumers
professional relationships, faster and markets in strategic and powerful
knowledge-sharing and leveraged ways
problem-solving
• Particularly valuable for Executives, • Drive productivity, value, innovation and
sales and marketing professionals, human capital growth through better
consultants, freelancers and celebrities. networking and idea-exchange
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Externally Internally
Customer service Relationships Sales Teams Decentralized teams
Market awareness Branding Event Planning Employee Support
News Direct sales Project Status Mentoring
Innovation SEO News Problem-solving
Understanding Driving traffic Coordination Purely Social
Extending reach Networking Interface
research
VALUE. marketing
visibility networking
relevance customer Influence (was)
relationships service
social capital traffic Attracting attention to
community news yourself
ideas sales
trust SEO
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Influence (is) Social Media is Nothing New
Providing attention and
value to others
Social Media is Knowledge
Photo Credit: (cc) jerryfletcher on flickr.com
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Knowledge is Socially Mediated Knowledge is Socially Mediated
Photo Credit: (cc) fredoalvarez on flickr.com
Knowledge is Socially Mediated Knowledge is Socially Mediated
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Markets are Socially Mediated
Photo Credit: (cc) gregor_y on flickr.com
Markets are Socially Mediated Markets are Socially Mediated
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How should a business get
started?
Photo Credit: (cc) matrianklw on flickr.com
Manners 101 How Best to Approach?
• Dress nicely Cultivate standards of
– Background graphic, avatar • Excellence
• Introduce yourself • Authenticity
– Fill out profile completely
– Mention your Twitter on your site • Engagement
• Be a good conversationalist
– Listen, respond What will work for your organization?
– Contribute relevant, useful material
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Twitter Campaigns? Business Objectives
not so much.
Measured by the most appropriate
Twitter literacy standards for the objective
Bearing in Mind… Advanced Twitter for Business
• Twitter can be a great vehicle for a brand extension • Twitter as a serious B-to-B Tool?
– if you are willing to produce feeds of cool, useful things
• What if my customers are NOT
• Publish & subscribe environment there yet?
– The self-serving will flounder. The useful will flourish.
• How do I prevent wasted time?
• Brands need to work to not be rejected as spam • Best branding lessons
• Big picture trends
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Off-Platform Benefits
• SEO
“Off-Platform” Benefits • Research
• Content Generation Engine
• Word of Mouth
• PR Gravity
SEO Research
• Google the word “pistachio” or “dough” • Passive - free and paid listening tools
• Common words, but the Twitter IDs • Active - ask questions, use #tags,
DOMINATE “recruit” groups
• Live - create real-time focus groups,
• What Google Adsense word would you polls, surveys
spend your last dollar on?
• Incorporate your Name too for
additional words
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Word of Mouth Content Generation Engine
• @DellOutlet -- $500,000 of computers • Let’s say you’re Madonna…
to HOW many followers? • ABC News during Obama’s speech
• Disproportionately influencers, still • Many ways to slice this
• Journalists and bloggers, especially
• “Passs-along” ethic
“PR Gravity” How…
• Forbes, NYT Magazine, Newsweek, • BE USEFUL
BusinessWeek, Inc.com, Entrepreneur Turn the message inside-out!
Magazine
• Offer things
• Publish, become known, be helpful
• Talk about what you do
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Applicability Measurement
• Listening Most of all:
• Innovation Measure the desired business objective
• Research the way you always measure that
desired business objective
• Measurement
Measurement
• Follower numbers -- yes, but.
• Follower engagement
• Measurable links
Preventing “Time Suck”
– Clickthroughs
– Conversations
– Context
• Ripples in the water
– Retweets, reposting your links
– Others pointing towards what you do
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Efficiency
• Tools
• Objectives Branding Lessons
• Discipline
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Outlook
Outlook
• Landscape for business use of Twitter and “We see an ecosystem of developers
microsharing generally swarming around the Twitter API like
moths around a flame”
• How to think about brand opportunities in
microsharing -TechCrunch.com
• What’s on the horizon? What trends should
we watch for next?
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Learning more…
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