With millions using social media, people are figuring out that branding if used right could really be the next effective marking tool and put advertising/marketing firms out of business. It’s not personal, it’s smart. To be effective in branding on Twitter you must first stop thinking like an expert or guru or better yet a SME.
Branding yourself or company on Twitter requires a bit of a shift in mindset. Twitter is about simple conversations. The community that you are entering wants interaction—with you and with each other. Tweeting is 1 to 1, with the benefit of being in a public arena where visitors may read your conversation and interact with you and each other.
Rule of Engagement
Get to know your sandbox and who is playing in it. Remind yourself that Twitter is a real community and that each community has its own set of rules. Before you involve yourself into the conversation, spend some time observing and learning. You’ll find that most people are very friendly and supportive, but it’s best to understand the rules first. The best way to jump in is to ask for help. This may seem weird because brands are used to being on the other end typically telling consumers what to do. When you are asking for advice it may have you feel as if you are making your brand vulnerable, however, we as a community are helping each other out, which makes social media great
Connect PLEASE!
People don’t connect with brands, they connect with people! It doesn’t matter how large you or your company is. On Twitter, people want to connect to a person. You’ll lose people’s interest when talking about your ‘brand’ all the time. PLEASE I beg you! Make your updates personable and human, not polished like news columns. It’s OK to be human with some rough edges.
Conversation
It’s a two-way street companies look at Twitter as another ‘channel’ to conquer – bummer isn’t it. This kind of thinking is dangerous with interactive branding. Social Media is NOT about building a channel; it’s about creating a conversation. Our goal as Tweeters should be getting people talking by posing questions, asking for input and connecting people as a trusted community in your sandbox.
This way of communication “back and forth” motion is what makes social media totally awesome and it really helps build an emotional connection between you and community. The community now has more choices and for this the relationships has become more crucial than ever.
Offerings
Give people a reason to follow you we love to pass on information and if people are following your brand on Twitter, they are already showing your message. So why not offer them something? Like special offers or just one-to-one conversation with who follow you through more Social Media networks.
Once you have been using Twitter for a while, you’ll notice key people that like to talk about your brand (aka “Big Wigs”). These people are worth more than you know! Invite them to your private product launches, ask them how you can improve. You’ll be blown away!
Blog
Integrate your blog into Twitter it’s the kind of flexible technology you’re looking for which is what makes it so powerful. The fact that Twitter can be set up to automatically update your followers every time you post a blog entry or that any RSS feed can be re-broadcasted through your Twitter. Another great option is adding buttons, badges and widgets to sections of your other sites so that visitors are able to “Tweet” it’s contents.
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