Tuesday 6 April 2010

TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR BRAND ON TWITTER


Digital Agency Razorfish has developed recommendation’s to help marketers take control of their brands on Twitter and establish a successful social presence:
  1. Become familiar with Twitter by reviewing, or following, the activities of successful brands such as Dell (dell.com/twitter), Zappos (twitter.com/zappos) and Comcast (twitter.com/comcastcares).
  2. Listen to what is already being said on Twitter about your brand.
  3. Identify initial objectives for using Twitter, including what would qualify as a Twitter success story for your brand.
  4. Look into competitive activities and potential legal considerations, especially if there is already a Twitter account that uses your brand’s name or other intellectual property associated with it.
  5. Use the findings to decide on the appropriate opportunity — such as offers or community building, tone of voice and method of engagement — that may be right for your brand.
  6. Since Twitter is an ongoing activity — even if your company is only listening in — dedicate a resource to monitor the conversations and competitors.
  7. Map out a plan for the content you will share, including valuable initial content to pique user interest.
  8. Integrate your Twitter account throughout your marketing experience, by embedding it as a feed on the company Web site, including its URL in communications and so forth.
  9. Maintain momentum by following everyone who follows you, responding to queries and joining in conversations without being too marketing oriented.
  10. Provide ongoing direct value through your tweets by continuing to listen, learn and fine- tune your Twitter activities.
The importance of points five, six and seven cannot be stressed enough. Brands that create an account but do not respond to followers’ posts have found their reputation tarnished for not using Twitter in the 
best way.  On the flip side, brands that have entered into Twitter with the right attitude are reaping the
rewards. For example, Dell used one of its Twitter feeds to promote discounts and generated more than 
$2 million from Twitter followers.