65 followers on Twitter and proud!
OK, so I’m starting my post for today with a disclaimer – I’m no Twitter expert. A social media evangelist? Definitely. But a Twitter expert? Not really.
But then again, who is?
To date, my whole Twitter experience has been at best, a stumbling, bumbling 140 characters in the dark. It’s not that I have a lack of understanding of how great a communication tool it is. Like everyone else, I see the potential but information overload together with conflicting advice has left me with a clouded brain and less than my share of tweets.
Before, it was merely time-passing but now, poised to take on the freelance writing world, it’s time-consuming. So before I wholly jump on this bandwagon, I want to know:
- What can Twitter really do for my business?
- And, what are the rules for achieving Twitter success?
In fact, what does tweeting success look like?
- Is it the number of followers?
- Or is it the traffic you get from your tweets?
- Is it the number of ‘retweets’ you get?
- Or is it what we all really want – actual business?
It seems to be undefined, unwritten and maybe, even unknown.
Observation tells me most people are making it up as they go along. Why, it even took the Twitter team themselves a while to launch the Twitter 101 for business – a clear indication that it was never built for business in the first place. It’s also got me wondering… what happens if I play Twitter by my own rules? Or better still, challenge the status quo as we know it?
- Image via Wikipedia
For the last few weeks, I’ve tried and tested, I’ve looked and listened, followed and ‘unfollowed’; and come out with the following learning and opinions about Twitter for business …. (feel free to input and comment).
It’s great for broadcasting but who’s really getting the air time?
I think the pure appeal of a channel like Twitter is in its opportunity to broadcast. For those of us who like the centre stage, what better than to own a platform of our own without the hassle of finding one that will accept us! As for those of us who shy away from the limelight, it’s an opportunity to ‘be seen’ without actually being seen (apart from your profile shot that is).
But broadcasting opportunity aside, there’s a lot of noise going on Twitter. Take this social trend graph for example. It claims that only 5% of users make up 75% of tweets. If these stats are to be believed, what does that say about the effectiveness of Twitter as a channel? That really, only 5% of people really care?
I don’t know about you, but I think the noise element of Twitter is mainly created by regular, inconsequential tweeting that doesn’t add anything to the conversation. I also stand firm that there’s a fine line between tweeting something people want to hear and being an annoyance.
My own take on this is to tweet when I have something I really want to say and when I have something I think one or more of my followers wants to hear. Somehow, ‘having a cuppa’ doesn’t quite come into the conversation.
Following people who follow you isn’t always the best policy
Self-professed Twitter experts have preached an unwritten rule that says its good practice to follow people who’ve chosen to follow you.
I disagree.
As a writer, Twitter’s indisputably been one of my main leads to follow trends and get information. But equally, I’ve found that it pays to be selective in whom you choose to follow back. I wasted a good bit of time in the early days following people who’ve tried to scam me, annoyed me or simply led me to poor/spam content.
I want to offer my audience something but I also want to get something in return.
There’s no harm in making an educated decision when following people, so my tip is – do your research. I certainly am.
It’s about quality not quantity
The more followers you have the better right? Not for me.
I’ve seen a real clamber amongst businesses to build numbers in terms of following. I’ve yet to see that this is a proven tactic to follow. For me, social media as a whole is simply NOT a numbers game.
It’s more about quality than quantity. It doesn’t matter how many followers you have as much as whom those followers are. Also, I want to be able to have a two way conversation with the people I engage with. Could I engage effectively with a million followers? Probably not. I only have a tiny following on Twitter but among these are advocates for my business, influencers and a couple of decision makers. So, 65 followers on Twitter and not bothered…
It’s not all about me, me, me
The one thing I’ve learned to love about Twitter and some of its best users (a couple of whom are on this blog) is that at the end of the day, at the heart of this powerful and amazing channel is good conversation. Twitter is a two-way street and your tweets don’t need to be ALL about you.
From what I see, the power of successful tweeting lies in a sharing of experiences, information, support and fun. Social media (and certainly Twitter) is not a selfish exercise and that’s why it works…
…which brings me to the start of my own Twitter strategy.
Did I answer my two questions? Not yet. But I’ve learnt that the only surety about Twitter is that there are no hard and fast rules for it. So for the most part, I too will be making it up as I go along. Whether or not this leads to marketing disaster I don’t know, only time will tell. What I do know is, I’ll be basing my own activity on what I’ve learned and what I’ve learned is:
- be yourself
- go beyond yourself
- listen as well as learn
- share and talk, not boldly promote
- turn down the noise
- engage not just emulate
- enjoy it, don’t over work it
and, last but not least define your own rules for success!
