Monthly Archives: January 2012
Engagement Does Matter: Twitter
This post was originally published on March 24, 2011.
Last night, I participated in #pr20chat and one of the questions asked was how much brands should schedule tweets? The questions sparked some great discussion, but it also got me thinking about how companies should approach Twitter, and the need for engagement and two-way dialogue.
So, what’s the perfect mix? @Andrew_ShipPR and I shared it should be a balance of 25% scheduled and 75% organic or engagement types of tweets. The 75% could include retweets, @replies and relationship-building tweets. Sometimes there might be some flux, but it shouldn’t surpass 30% of scheduled content. This enables us to build relationships, while sharing some promotional content. Rationale? There are three key things we need to remember:
There is such a thing as too much. Moderation is key. Automated tweets make you sound like a machine, and no one wants to talk to a machine. Well, maybe if you were Rosie from the Jetsons. (I loved her.) If we use scheduled tweets as a crutch, we won’t actually be on Twitter. Or worse, since we rely on scheduled tweets we also miss out on conversations that may be happening in the community or beyond. For example, you might have had a light and humorous post about your weekend plans, during the Japan earthquake. Mistakes happen, but being online and active minimizes the likelihood of an oops.
Engagement is essential. I recently read that engagement doesn’t matter in health care social media, but I have to admit that I disagree. Yes, engagement for brands is being available when customers need them, but it also means that in order to be available – people have to know what value brands bring. Engagement from a brand means sharing valuable content – content your audience will find useful or actually use. That means you have to know your audience before you can just start blasting messages. It also means you have to be listening to your community to find engagement opportunities to share resources and information (aka valuable content).
You can’t automate customer service. As more and more brands leverage Twitter as a customer service outlet and opportunity, it’s important to watch, listen and respond to members of your community. There’s no automation to this. You can’t walk away and say, “Okay, they’ll just call my 1-800 number.” Proactive customer service takes time, energy and yes, money. However, Ernan Roman, author of Voice of the Customer Marketing, reminds us that it’s 7 to 10 times more expensive to acquire a new customer than to sell an existing customer. So, it’s worth the investment.
Seeing a theme here? Listen. Listening is crucial to any sort of engagement. And listening happens throughout the process. But it’s also to remember that there is a distinct different between listening and understanding (as Beth Harte shared today – check out her post here). So, don’t just watch what’s happening, pay attention and understand the context of the conversation.
What are your thoughts on the mix of scheduled tweets versus organic ones?
An Easy New Year’s Resolution: Get Snipping
With every new year comes new year’s resolutions. Traditionally, at the top of the list each year, you’ll find losing weight (yes, it’s still on mine), saving money, and getting a better job. But this blog post isn’t about New Year’s Resolutions, it’s about lasting ones.
Image courtesy of visionboardvault.com
A few years ago, my friend Kong introduced me to vision boards and I’ve been hooked ever since. In my recent post about Pinterest, I talked about how I got my kick at boards and how Pinterest can be a nice online tool. But, if you’re looking to do one thing in the next couple of months that’s fun and inspiring, break out those old Elle and InStyle magazines and start cutting and pasting – the old fashion way!
What you’ll need:
- Magazines, catalogs, newspapers
- A cork board (I recommend this approach, but you can also use a poster board)
- Scissors
- Tape or push pins
- Marker
- A positive attitude of fun! (it’s all about perspective so don’t walk into this thinking it’s dumb or silly)
Visually break your vision board into a few areas that are important to you like your home, your relationships, your career, your finances, your environment and your dreams. Dedicate a square section of your board to each of these sections.
Be intentional about what you put on your vision board as things that you want in your life. It doesn’t have to be material things but the meaning behind those things. What do the images make you feel? What do you want in your life?
Think about long-term and short-term goals. You want to include things that you can achieve in a short time frame (1 week-3 months). Celebrate those short-term wins! To celebrate that you’ve achieved something, take it off the board and celebrate that moment. Hell, have a glass of campaign and toast yourself.
Place the board somewhere you look at every day and that is private to you. The last thing you want is judgment from others for things that are important to you, so share it with people who will support you.
Keep in mind that your goals will change, and when they do, acknowledge it and remove it from the board. That’s the beauty of a bulletin board over a poster board. You can always reserve the right to chance your mind. I reassess my board every two weeks.
And the most important thing — believe! You must do good, be intentional and believe that good will return to you. Yes, cheesy I know – but it’s the mantra I have to believe and live by. So far, so good.
Hope these tips are helpful! Happy snipping!
