- 10.15.09
- Filed Under: Social Media
- 20 Comments
A while back we hired someone to come on board and explain to us how to use social media in a way that was thoughtful and practical. It doesn’t really serve us to blab on and on through twitter and facebook, as our time is already so limited with the business and the baby, so we wanted to approach these tools in a way that really worked. Among other things that this consultant did for us, he crafted a Twitter Etiquette Guide for us to use. I thought it might be fun to share it with all of you and start an open discussion in the comments section as to how YOU use Twitter for your businesses…
Tone
The tone of communication should be consistent with your brand. Avoid overly formal communication and appear generally positive, friendly, helpful and approachable. Likable and knowledgeable.
Tweeting
You want to share something daily with users to establish an expectation of consistent tone and communication. Here are some examples of thoughtful tweets:
• New Blog Post: “Inspirational photos from Irene and Joe’s exotic Hawaiian wedding: http://bit.ly/1RFE”
• Retweet good wedding related information or wedding joy: “RT: donnavaldes: Today I’m celebrating 10 glorious years of wedding bliss! Thank you God for blessing me. Julio bought me a 10th ann.ring.”
• Ask a question: “What was your inspiration for your wedding dress?”. These can engage already married women, while encouraging discussion for the bride.
• Answer questions that others might want answers to. Don’t be afraid to link to your site, but don’t always. Example: Question from user, “lllipstick: How much will i regret not having a photographer capture my wedding day?” Answer: “@lllipstick It’s a hard call. You could find a student photog, or distribute instant cameras on tables.” Answering questions is really key for twitter and will quickly establish credibility and a strong presence.
• Share links to items that might not fit the blog, but are still on-topic. Don’t be afraid to Retweet stuff from your ‘competition’, as since you were the source it will come back positively to you. “Top 10 Trends in Wedding Invitations 2009: http://bit.ly/tXQA”
• Asking for a Retweet (RT). This is done infrequently, and carefully, but it is ok to ask for someone to RT a link to your site if its something that you are really wanting to showcase.
• Tweet about an event you are attending or hosting. Obviously not everyone can attend the events that you get to go to, but many people would love to know what’s happening and that you are a person that is attending these things. People often tweet the flight they are about to board, or where they are going, and sometimes “livetweet” what speakers from an event say. This is very popular and gets a lot of RT’s organically.
• Participate in fun memes. These are harmless and show that you are a member of the community that ‘gets it’. One of the most recent ones that has stuck is #followfriday, where people suggest a person that others should follow on Friday.
• Say something bold. This one can be tricky with a brand, but on occasion saying or doing something bold once you have sufficient followers can often get a lot of conversation going. Rarely does mild controversy or conversation scare away followers, but should be treated with caution. Best done after you have a good idea of what your users will tolerate and their thoughts.
Twitter’s Unwritten Rule
The number one rule will be to not follow more people than follow you. Companies/non-person twitter users especially look bad quickly if they follow everyone out there. Do not follow everyone who mentions “wedding” by any means. On a daily basis, check followers that come in. Check each of their profiles. If the profile is complete with location, a photo, and short bio then that is a plus in their direction. If they are pushing links for their company, tweeting poorly, in a language that you don’t understand, or a robot of some sort then do not follow them back. Ideally you will follow about a 9:10 ratio of people that follow you, which will give the appearance of a community resource that is approachable but non-spammy.
It is far better to have slow growth than to be thought of negatively as a spammer, or to have people that don’t really ‘matter’ follow you back.
On Site Presence
Alerting the current users of your webpage to your Twitter presence can give you a strong kickstart. Having a link on the front page that points to the Twitter account in a similar way that your RSS link does can yield you a good number of followers.
Having your Twitter account on business cards, press releases and even nametags at events is a sure way to help growth.
Summary
Twitter is something that will need daily attention. Thankfully, after about a week or two of constant use it becomes a very natural workflow and its usefulness becomes more apparent over time. The values of being open, authentic, non-spammy, and a community resource can always be a solid guide for how to engage Twitter. In providing the community with value, they will rally around the brand and share it with others as friends are still better than any recommendation engine. Thanks so much to Dave Fisher for helping us out!
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OK. Your turn…do you think that Twitter has helped grow your brand? Do you have a strategy when using Twitter or Facebook? We had this done for us about a year ago and I am sure that times have already changed…do you think it’s still relevant? Don’t be shy…as my dad always said, it’s so much easier to learn from someone else’s mistakes!
Abby- this is priceless information. I can’t thank you enough. Starting my business is a tough balance and sometimes I notice product development takes a back burner to social networking {as well as the fun stuff, like reading other’ blogs!}. Your consultant’s information is poignant and will keep me on track. It’s printing as we speak!
Absolutely think twitter has helped grow my business and my professional relationships. I have met so many wonderful tweeps and developed real life relationships with some of them. Its also a tool to keep current with trends and a source of news for the wedding industry. Mostly it is a fun way to keep in touch with like minded individuals.
I think this is an EXCELLENT guide. In my experience, the people for whom Twitter has done “nothing” or those who “don’t get it” are the ones who aren’t practicing any of the above suggestions.
I’ve met some great people through Twitter and have even more blogs to fuel my Google Reader every day and I absolutely love it.
Great guide to Twitter. I definitely use it!
Hi Abby! I just had a chance yesterday evening to read some of your posts on”Backstage”. I absolutely love the insightful information offered by you.
Twitter, Facebook and my company’s blog has been very valuable tools this past year especially. I have met amazing wedding professionals that are all so very inspiring.
A tool that I use for those of you who would like to begin the Socail Media craze but really do not have the time. Tweetdeck: http://www.tweetdeck.com/beta/ is a program you can download; which allows you to make one post and it updates both your Twitter and Facebook status at the same time. It’s a must have for me:)
We absolutely love Twitter and have been using it since day 1 … We find that it has completely helped our company grow … what’s more?? We have learned about so many incredible wedding companies, vendors, and events that we might not have known about before
It’s an incredibly valuable tool and we’re so glad that you posted this helpful guide! We can’t wait to Tweet more with SMP and all the fabulous Tweeters out there!
~xoxo
Heather and Kimberly
Style Unveiled.com
Hi Abby,
This is great advice, thank you. How established was your readership when you started using Twitter? Based on previous thing that you’ve said it seems like you were already pretty established. Do you have any ideas on how to grow your Twitter following if your blog is young and you have minimal followers there as well? I write about facilitating your life so I tend to use Twitter to tweet about my posts and about any other good tips that I find online. I know that really focusing my tweets is an area that I could grow in. Also, what’s the most appropriate way to ask someone to Retweet something? Direct message?
i love style me pretty for the pretty but just wanted to let you know that i find backstage fascinating! i have no thoughts of starting a business, a blog or any enterprise at all, but it’s so interesting to find out & think about how these things work. thank you!
I know I sound archaic, but I have been really hesitant about joining twitter because I didn’t want to fall victim to all the unnecessary tweets I see out there. I wasn’t sure how to use it to brand or better my business… until now! You have totally changed my outlook on tweeting and can I just say, I LOVE the backstage! Thanks for being so helpful!
Hi Jamie! We hired the consultant after about a year and a half of being in business and before we actually had a twitter account. We did have a solid reputation when we launched.
I think that the above ideas are all really good especially if you are just starting out.
Anna…thanks for the compliment! We don’t get a ton of traffic here yet so it’s good to know we have a few loyal readers.
Nancy…totally get it. It took me a while to get on board too. A long while. I am glad this will help!
This guide is so helpful!! I think this backstage area may be my favorite part of Style Me Pretty now. Thanks so much for sharing.
Nothing says “I love you” like a link. If you like what we’re doing or like a post we’ve done, please mention us in a blog post. We’ll be eternally grateful.
Aisha, TweetDeck is nice. Abby uses it sometimes. One forty provides a nice directory of twitter tools. See http://oneforty.com/ . I’d love to know what other twitter clients, etc. people like.
Thanks so much for this inside info to using Twitter to your best advantage. Like some of the other readers, I was hesitant to start using Twitter at first, but have it found it very helpful for learning about and connecting with other wedding businesses and key players in the wedding industry, both locally and nationally. (Like Style Me Pretty!) I really like that there is a word limit for Tweets—I have noticed it forces me to craft a clear, cohesive message and only post the most important info and details. Keep up the great work with SMP and Backstage! I can’t get enough of your posts and tweets
Again..you astound me with your wisdom and knowledge! What a fantastic article. I’m a bit new to Twitter as I’m not the biggest Social Networking fan in the world, but I definitely see the benefits. Some of my biggest clients have come from Twitter networking. This article is wonderful for little hints and tips to make it work in the nature that it was intended. Thanks so much for sharing this article!
Autumn
PS..Tait, I agree! “Tell me you ♥ me by linking back to my site.” Not big on the words, I want the SEO!
:)
Hi, gr8 post thanks for posting. Information is useful!
I normally do not post comments but I recently started using twitter and I am a little lost. Thanks for clearing some stuff for me. Looking forward to your next entry.