ION Digital

Twitter is a great tool for companies seeking to connect with key audiences, build their brands and much more.Once you  get the swing of Twitter (last blog) , you’re ready to get fully immersed and start growing. The goal is to attract followers, and eventually build your own community.

Twitter communities are generally loosely organized at best; that’s the beauty of it but it’s also the challenge. Connecting with so many different people is like herding cats.

My approach is this: rather than thinking about hundreds (or in some people’s case, thousands) of followers, I’ll choose two or three representative followers to focus on at a time; that’s my “audience.” This is based on techniques I use in public speaking. Rather than scanning a big audience, I’ll find 2 or 3 audience members  in the front row and focus eye contact on them, providing me a chance to focus my energy and thoughts. When I’m answering a question or corresponding with someone on Twitter, they have my full attention.

I’m trying to build a  community one contact at a time–slow, yes, but steady and (I’m hoping) enduring. I’m really focused on quality of community vs pure quantity, so Guy Kawasaki (100k plus followers) has nothing to worry about with me.

Below are a few tips to get you started. (more…)

Twitter is all the rage now; I wish I had a nickel for every time a client mentioned it. Succeeding in it is another matter, though,  and at first it can be hellishly confusing.

When I first started, and was following dozens of people, I felt like I was in a busy sports bar during the Super Bowl. I remember thinking: I don’t know these people. I don’t know what they’re talking about. I must be in the wrong place.

It helps to know the rules and a little about the culture before you jump in. It’s not rocket science but it does take a little study and work.

1) Plan: First, think about why you’re even on Twitter.

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After posting my favorite Twitter articles earlier this week, several corporate managers I work with quizzed me about it. What’s Twitter? What’s that about? Some seem to wonder what’s going on behind the Twitter curtain. What are all those people doing?
But most of all, they want to know what can it do for me?

The answer is: a lot. It’s still early in the game for Twitter but you can already see the potential for businesses. Twitter is a fascinating, raging river of comments, observations, opinions, links and more—Facebook on steroids—and provides a potentially powerful tool for communications and other professionals, from sales and marketing to product development.

I’ve only been on Twitter a few months, but already I can see the potential for it on so many levels–as a tool for communications, to build brands and manage customer relations, just to name three. More on these later. But, for starters, it may be best to think of Twitter as a listening and research tool, even a new form of news service—both which are just starting to be appreciated.  (more…)