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2. You establish yourself as more relevant than your competition who is not using Twitter.

3. You gain experience in how to package content in a short space (aka speak the language of the internet).

4. You create another online asset to be found by search engines.  Once it’s out there it’s working for you.

5. You can convert your twitter RSS feed into an iphone app very easily and for a couple hundred bucks.

6. You can have your Twitter automatically update your Facebook without having to login.

7. The Twitter mobile apps are extremely easy to use and less complicated than Facebook.

8. Twitter has a global search return that a private or semi-private Facebook account doesn’t.

9.  Twitter has a very narrow focus/protocol that will be easier for a newby to learn than other social networking tools.

10.  Twitter lets you find new contacts based on affinities like “sports” or “Boston grocery stores.”  Other social networks, not so much.

To hear Twitter themselves talk about why you should use them check out this article:

1. Make sure you a following new people often.  You can follow new people by doing a search on the top menu of your Twitter and typing in someone’s name, or you can use the topic search on the right sidebar and follow people who are tweeting about topics connected to your interests or business.

2. Have some kind of content that you are in the habit of linking back to.  A blog is best… post a new blog post then tweet about it.  Using Youtube or Flickr?  Then put up some new content and then spread the word via Twitter about all the cool stuff you just posted.

3.  TELL PEOPLE!  Make sure people know your business is on Twitter!  Advertise it wherever you can including:

- On your webpage

- In your email signature block

- In your printed ads or online videos

- On your business card

- In person when you’re talking to others

So you have a Twitter account up and running for your business… Now what? Here are the first 3 things you should do:

1. Make sure you have fully filled in your bio information. Fill in your website, location and description and get a cool picture up for the thumbnail like your startlingly  handsome face or company logo.

2. Start following other people. The basic Twitter philosophy is that if you follow other people they’ll follow you *(following is like friending for you first time users. Think Facebook friends, the more the merrier).

3. Get into a routine where you are interacting with your followers about their content and posting new content yourself. Post a link in your tweets that takes users back to your homepage or other place online where you can convert a visitor to a customer/sale.  Remember, 50% of Twitter users sign up, tweet once and then are never heard from again.  Don’t be a dropout!

(Next up:  Some tips and tricks once you’ve got the basics)

- Rolling your jeans up at the bottom like Zack Morris (mid 90s)

- Saying “diesel” as a replacement for “cool”

- Slap bracelets

- Neon

Now many of these things have come back or at least have resurfaced with some kind of postmodern ironic appreciation, but the fact remains, they are trends, now dead.  People are so used to this come-and-go process in our culture that when things like Twitter come along many simply write it off as a fad. I was in a conversation the other day where someone predicted the death of Twitter within 18 months.  At first my reaction is, of course, it’s all going to die/morph/change eventually, BUT it’s creating something that is more than a trend, it’s creating a new human mode of expression.  The new human mode of expression that started with email and is now continuing with Twitter is simply the idea of being online- communicating via digital instead of physical.  It’s the same modal shift that letter-writing and the telephone brought, the difference is obvious.

Yet many business leaders take the idea of a trend as an excuse not to learn the language, not to participate or to simply ignore what’s happening.  This is not the fault of the tools it’s the fault of modern leadership culture, specifically, not being flexible.  It’s fear, really; fear of being overwhelmed, fear of not getting it, fear of exposing personal insecurities to the whole world, etc… But the bottom line is that just because something is a trend doesn’t mean you should ignore it.  If Twitter does die in 12 months, will you be any more prepared for what the next “big thing” is?  Chances are it’s going to work in a very similar way to Twitter (people make profiles, gain connections, communicate).  So if a business leader can overcome the initial fear related to a trend they are in a position to benefit from more than the trend itself but the cultural impact that the trend leaves in it’s wake.  All it takes is a first step.

The secret to being relevant in an information society is being…FLEXIBLE!

]]> http://themunichgroup.com/blog/2010/02/14/social-media-goals-not-tools/feed/ 1 http://themunichgroup.com/blog/2010/02/10/know-your-audience/ http://themunichgroup.com/blog/2010/02/10/know-your-audience/#comments Wed, 10 Feb 2010 19:32:56 +0000 Munich Blogger http://themunichgroup.com/blog/?p=15 Check out this chart- It shows a sample breakdown of what your potential audience might be using in the way of social media.  A lot of times usage and channels varies depending on WHO the audience is.  Just because Twitter is insanely popular doesn’t mean that if you’re a mortician it’s going to help your business.  Get a sense from your current clients and potential clients about where they’re spending their time online and what they’re doing there.  If your target audience is on youtube then it sure makes sense to be creating quality content in video.  If they’re hardcore bloggers then start writing.  If Twitter is a big one for them then start tweeting.  The lesson of the day is just because you are spouting quality information doesn’t mean that it’s on a channel people are watching.  Speak the right dialect at the right time on the channels people are already watching.