Here’s your guide to Twitter which, in a nutshell, is a peer-to-peer microblogging platform, allowing users to communicate via messages or ‘Tweets’ up to 140 characters in length.

Lately, Twitter is being used for a lot more than passing on links, sending and receiving snippets of information and communicating with peers. Every day Twitter takes another step towards being part of the mainstream media. There has been some discussion of brands being charged to use Twitter - so its founders clearly see the value of the platform to business.

Now, your company may not need a Twitter presence as much as another, but it is getting to the stage where it may become a standard. Much like Facebook Groups and fan pages; if Twitter profiles aren’t’ official, who knows what may transpire.

Here’s a quick look at some vital Twitter terminology (‘Twitter terminology’; there’s definitely a portmanteau in there, but I think Twitter has enough of those):

• @Reply: A public message that is directed to the recipient named after the @symbol (E.g. @DamianBurke or @quirkemarketing).
• Direct Message:  Also known as a ‘DM’, this is simply a private message to a user’s inbox.
• Fail Whale: The lovable cartoon whale (amongst other characters) displayed when Twitter is down, which, for some reason makes it more bearable.
• Follow: To subscribe to another user’s Tweets.
• HashTags: Tagging themes or topics in a conversation with a hash, like so: This sentence defines #hashtags.
• TinyURL: A website that allows you to shorten URLs for use in the provided space of 140 characters.
• Tweet: The message or ‘Update’ of up to 140 characters.
• TweetUp: The physical meeting of a Twitter community.

…others less appealing terms include Tweople/Tweeple, Twittersphere, Tweeterer and so forth.

Good Twitter Topics for Corporates

• Developments, updates and news of your brand.
• Industry articles (potential link bait and great conversation fodder).
• Tweeting of industry related developments, news and information.
• Internal activities of your staff add personality (if appropriate).
• Competitions, contests, opinion polls and the like.
• Advertising positions available for employment.
• Two way Q&A.
• Product info: Good for cross-selling or up-selling to your latest products or services (approach this kind of information carefully though, only offer information that will actually be of value to your followers).

Think Before You Tweet!

Keep it personal if possible. Bring out your brand’s personality. Even for the more reserved corporations, putting a well known employee or the brand mascot at the Twitter helm can do wonders for adding humanity to your brand.

For larger companies, it may work well to have multiple Twitter accounts for the various nodes of operation within your business. Just take a look at Dell’s many Twitter profiles; they’ve got it right. Many CEOs are Tweeting as figureheads of their companies, but this can be potentially hazardous if not handled correctly.

Respondez si'l vous plait!

While we recommend that you engage with your followers, as Twitter is a great way to have an actual conversation, there are some brands that are followed purely for their one way messages (see the table below). Remember to always setup your account to notify you of direct messages and @replies so no question ever goes unanswered or comment unrecognised. This is incredibly important - if you offer a presence you must use it. Don’t have Online Reputation Management? Remember to keep an eye for mention of your brand through Twitter Search.

Track and monitor who you are following, who is following you and your own estimated Twitter credibility with one of the many apps such as Mr Tweet. Also, it would be wise to analyse the traffic Twitter brings into your website or blog. There’s always room for some kind of improvement.
If you can, track and monitor your competitors on Twitter.

Do You Follow Me?

Here’s a breakdown of some recognisable international brands and their Twitter information:
 

	Following	Followers	Updates	Notes
Amazon (Amazon Deals)	8	5324	1660	Frequent Tweets of specials deals.
Burger King	1681	1800	255	@reply interactions, reminders of specials, tempting talk of burgers (and some humour from the King himself).
Capcom	0	1504	283	Personal and interactive, not always brand related.
Chicago Bulls	885	1096	845	@reply interactions, live game commentary, links to polls.
Delta Airlines	89	1192	30	User interaction and service information.
Electronic Arts	30	1893	95	Mostly @replies, and a personal tone.
GM (blogs)	1870	2803	1433	Mostly @reply user interaction.
Harley Davidson	732	483	26	Brand related and industry related info. Questions asked regularly posed to the followers.
Los Angeles Fire Department	2	2328	2580	Updates of fires and other emergencies.
M&Ms (Ms Green)	1	993	60	Another great example of a mascot Twitterstream, seeding M&M info.
Marriott Intl.	2193	2887	1040	@reply interactions, questions posed.
PETA	3289	3364	2169	@reply interactions, external links and PETA info/blog links.
Playboy	355	1543	730	Regular posts, user interaction and links to regular Playboy ‘articles’.
South West Air	3606	11825	1358	User interaction, service information.
The North Face	310	793	15	Content aimed at the ‘outdoorsy’ type, links to site and blog.
Valve Software	54	4435	105	Mostly information release, plus some @reply interaction.

While there is a possibility that a database of Twitter followers could replace email databases or bulk SMS, your level of activity really does depend on your brand.

Personally, I don’t want my bank filling up my daily feed with financial drivel, but on the other hand, when Subway have a new sandwich on their menu, I want to know before lunchtime.

If Twitter is not your medium, there’s no need to go making a ruckus – perhaps listening would be more beneficial to your business. Finding this middle ground between being informative and irritating will most likely come naturally – and it’s always great to have the option of a contact list in waiting. 

 

Do you have any advice to add? Would your company use Twitter?