Top 5 Best Practices For Business Tweeting

Posted by Matt Curtis on 30 July 2009 | 8 Comments

Tags: social media

As a real-time vehicle for communication and expression, Twitter enables dynamic interaction on a direct, targeted level that was previously unattainable. Because of the tool’s powerful influence, Twitter has fundamentally altered the way people relate to each other and has forced businesses to reevaluate their traditional approaches to marketing.

Twitter’s surging popularity cannot be denied.  But can it be used universally? Anywhere, at anytime, and for anything? Perhaps there are certain situations where tweeting on behalf of your company would be inappropriate, or even ludicrous. Part of the difficulty in ascertaining the suitability of a tweet lies in the technology itself.  People think because they have a Blackberry glued to their hip that they should be tweeting all the time. However, there are situations that may not merit a tweet. Are you on the phone with a client? At your child’s soccer game? Where do we draw the line?

I have broken down this argument into a few simple categories to determine both the appropriate venue and guidelines for business tweeting.

1)    Relevance

Wish this priest would hurry up. Can I kiss the bride already? There’s an open bar calling my name. #badtimestotweet

Ask yourself, “Is this information relevant to my audience?” Using the company Twitter account for your personal tweets is just bad form. Do your tweets dilute the quality of your firm’s Twitter stream or add value to it? Are you just retweeting relevant links or including some thoughts and analysis? You should share your (or your company’s) position and suggest the importance of the information that you are publishing. Don’t forget that every other news source and competitor is distributing the same information. What differentiates you and your company from them? A key part of “thought leadership” is sharing your thoughts.

2)    Personality

Companies don’t have conversations. People do. Does your tweet have personality? Is it boring? Is it just essentially a manual RSS feed that you are creating by passing along a “bit.ly” link and title, or is it consistent with your brand’s personality? Twitter is an alternative form of communication where the only rule is a 140-character limit. Have fun (only if your company is fun though)!

3)    Authenticity

Awwww yea. How you like that LeBron? Just dunked on yo face! #badtimestotweet

The overall sentiment among social media marketers is that it is important to disclose any ghostwriters to your audience. Obviously, Jordan Crawford could not possibly be tweeting while dunking on the King. A fair number of celebrities and athletes have been outed as imposters – either hired PR professionals or just ardent fans. Because it would be difficult to prove the authenticity of each Tweet, it is important that your followers trust the integrity of your Twitter account. Ryan Seacrest, for example, maintains this trust by mandating that his producers and assistants sign their names to tweets they publish; any tweet that Ryan writes does not have a qualifying statement.

4)    Polarize Your Audience

Just made a PB+J for lunch. On wheat. #badtimestotweet

Mediocre content does not engage people. Or it engages the wrong people for the wrong reasons. This PB+J discussion is probably only worthwhile for the CMO of J.M Smucker Co. Mediocre content can take other forms as well: it could be weeks old industry news that has already been debated to death or terse comments that disclose the mundane. Insignificant day-to-day activities, like brushing your teeth or eating a sandwich, are not worthwhile reasons for tweeting. Information that it is naturally defensible from at least two positions stimulates discussion and involvement. Are you encouraging the right audience to develop an affected attachment to the information that you are publishing?  You want to use Twitter as a tool to engage your audience in conversation, so focus on delivering content that invites your audience to respond.

5)    Don’t Tweet at Inappropriate Times

This guy in front of me is going like 15 in a 35. Come onnn  #badtimestotweet

<3 surgery. Just cut open chest, entering thoracic cavity. Heart, here we come! #badtimestotweet

This SAT thing is caaaaaake. #40 is C rite? #badtimestotweet

Ask yourself, “How appropriate is the situation in which I am tweeting?” Are you driving in a car? Are you in your morning update meeting with your team? Does your attention need to be elsewhere, or are you able to focus completely on the task at hand (in this case, tweeting)? More so, how do you look to your followers right now? Do they see this as irresponsible? Immature? How are your tweets reflecting on your company overall?

Join me in educating tweeple. What are some other bad times to tweet? Make sure to use #badtimestotweet hashtag.