My Views on Twitter

Prompted by the article “The Twuth About Twitter” written by Bob Bly, I thought I take the time share my views about Twitter.

Until a few weeks ago, I was on the Twitter bandwagon.  For several months I followed the advice of those who are more Twitter-savvy than I and maintained a Twitter presence (in addition to my Facebook and LinkedIn presences).

There is so much talk about connecting and conversing with your Twitter followers, but I just don’t see that.  I hear things like “join in the conversation” all the time.  With Twitter, I just don’t see how that’s possible.  First, there is the 140 character limit; it’s hard to say something of value in a short amount of real estate.  And when you do reply to something, the recipient may have no idea what you are tweet you are referring to.  So where’s the conversation???

In my opinion, Twitter is the internet version of radio/TV commercials, or so it has become in the marketing world.  Tweet a link to your product.  Tweet a special promotion.  Tweet a blog post.  This is all advertising—ONE WAY COMMUNICATION.  It is not a conversation, which requires more than one person (unless of course, you are talking to yourself).  So when the experts say “Twitter’s all about the conversation,” I just don’t buy it.  It’s free advertising, plain and simple.

So is Twitter an effective marketing tool?  It could be.  My thought is this:  tweet your products, promotions, articles, etc., but don’t waste your time trying to create a dialogue with followers.  Twitter is too cumbersome to use as a communication tool.  Instead, use a Facebook Fan Page to converse with current and potential customers.  The interface is designed for conversations and is easy to use—this tool is worth the time investment.

Friday Finds – 07/10/09

A weekly collection of things I’ve run across that may be of interest to you.

Article  Why Doing It Yourself Can Cost More, by Cathy Stucker – Some great considerations to think about when debating whether to hire someone to do the work for you as opposed to doing it yourself.

Article  Empowering Your Communication Methods, by Carrie Wilkerson – Find face-to-face communications to be uncomfortable?  Read this article for ideas to make communication easier and more enjoyable.

Article  How to Write an Attention-Grabbing Professional Bio, Alyssa Gregory – A must-read for all professionals.  Great tips and ideas for creating a stand-out bio.

Article  So you want to be a Change Agent?, by Eric D. Brown – A great look at what it takes to lead change in your organization.

A Look at Google Wave

I just finished watching the demo of Google Wave that was presented at Google I/O back in May.  Google Wave is a communication and collaboration tool that works in your web browser.  It’s planned to be released later this year.

 

In the simplest of terms, Google Wave is about merging the various communication tools into one tool that maximizes communication and collaboration. 

• Convergence of email and instant messaging.
• Threaded messages, beyond what you find in today’s message board and group forums.
• Real-time updates (literally to the nanosecond!).
• Capabilities to use it in conjunction with social media sites.
• And so many more possibilities to come, I’m sure.

The demo is 1 hour and 20 minutes long.  Most everyone will be interested in the first hour’s worth of content, while developers will want to stick around until the end.  I encourage you to view the demo, as it’s pretty difficult to explain how Wave works in a short blog post.  Plus, it really just helps to see it.  I had read other articles about it and thought I had a pretty good idea about how it worked.  But when I saw the demo, I was surprised at the tool’s capability, above and beyond my initial thoughts formed by reading other material.  It’s worth the look, plus they’re kind of entertaining.

I’d love to hear your reactions to Google Wave.  Do you have any ideas about how you could implement it in your organization?  Do you think it’s just another wave (no pun intended) that will be big for awhile and then fade away?  Drop me a line!

Photo Credit:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/23209605@N00/ / CC BY-SA 2.0

Email Etiquette: A Refresher

The advent of instant messaging, texting, and Twittering, has brought with it some horribly informal communication habits.  More and more, these bad habits are creeping into our emails.  It seems that "how r u" is acceptable in today's emails.  But is it truly acceptable?  Perhaps on a personal level, but professionally speaking, no, it's not acceptable.  Let's remind ourselves of some dos and don'ts when it comes to business-related email.

DO write professionally, even when conversing with an intimate colleague.  You never know who might see it!

DO keep it short and simple.  Enough said!

DO respond promptly to questions and requests, even if it's to say that you don't know or that you need more time.  It's common courtesy.

DO use the Bcc field for mass-mailings.  This respects everyone's privacy.

DO be cautious with your tone.  Without the non-verbal cues you get in face-to-face conversations, people might be offended if you come off sounding snippy or disrespectful even if you didn’t intent to.

DO send attachments only when appropriate.  Consider compressing or "zipping" files to reduce download time.

DO craft a subject line that quickly states the purpose of your email.  Simply saying "Hi" might not get your email answered right away.

DON'T continue to reply to conversations that have ended.  For example, when someone thanks you leave it at that; you don't need to reply with "no problem" or the like.

DON'T send/forward chain letters, spam, or other inappropriate material.

DON'T write your entire email in ALL-CAPS.  It's the Internet-way of shouting.

DON'T use "High Importance," "Urgent," etc. unless absolutely necessary.

DO however, use "Low Importance" when appropriate.  This lets the recipient know they can pass it over and review it at a more convenient time.

DO use a greeting and signature.  This keeps your email a little more personable than just simply starting your message.

DON'T format your messages with "stationary" backgrounds.  Depending on the email client, the recipient may have difficulty opening, reading, or replying.

DON'T use delivery notifications or "Read Receipts," except on the rare occasion it's necessary.

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Do you have some additional dos and don’ts?  Post a comment and let me know!

7 Fortune 500 Companies Using Social Media Effectively

Learn how some Fortune 500 companies are leveraging social media for marketing and customer service.

Businesses big and small are taking to social media as another means of reaching their customers and prospects.  For many, it’s about two-way communication.  With social media, they are not only able to push news and information, but have the opportunity to interact with their customers and even provide a different level of customer service. 

Following are seven Fortune 500 companies that are effectively using social media to inform and interact with their customers.  Follow and study them to generate your own ideas for using social media in your overall marketing and customer service plans.

1.  Home Depot  Home Depot is using Twitter to inform its followers about products and events.  In addition, they have in many cases, helped customers resolve issues.  Home Depot currently has 8,300+ followers.

2.  Pepsi  Pepsi is all over the social media world.  They are on Twitter with a current following of 3,500+.  Here they offer news about products and events.  They also converse with customers and followers, even on the day-to-day things.  You can also find Pepsi on Facebook.  With nearly 200,000 fans, they communicate news about products and events.  Pepsi even has their own YouTube channel, where they share a variety of videos.

3.  Allstate  Allstate currently has 1,100+ followers on Twitter.  They are using Twitter to interact with their customers, as well as help customers resolve issues.

4.  Target  With 7,200+ followers on Twitter, Target is interacting with their customers, as well as helping customer resolve issues.

5.  Kohl’s  Kohl’s is very new to the social media scene.  Even though they just joined Twitter in late April 2009, they have 382 followers and are conversing with their customers, even on the day-to-day things.  Kohl’s is also on Facebook.  Although it appears they have had a presence there for awhile, they are just now beginning to use it to interact with their 5,900 fans.  They are also using Facebook to share information about products, sales, and events.

6.  Southwest Airlines  SWA uses Twitter to interact with its 31,900+ followers, even sharing restaurant suggestions for travelers.  On Facebook, SWA shares news about services and events with its 68,000+ fans.

7.  Starbucks  Starbucks has 206,000+ followers on Twitter.  They use Twitter to interact with customers, as well as help their customers resolve issues.  On Facebook, they probably have one of the biggest group of followers totaling 1.7 million.  Starbucks uses Facebook to share news about products and events and provide relevant information of interests to its fans.

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Further Reading

•  How To Create and Promote Your Facebook Fan Page.
• 17 Ways You Can Use Twitter: A Guide for Beginners, Marketers and Business Owners
• Twitter Is My Help Desk