social media
 My company has begun
using Twitter to promote our presence at trade shows and events. But I fear our tweets are already becoming too dry and corporate. How do we marry our marketing objectives with personal communication to create a loyal Twitter following?
 Unless you're well versed in social-media marketing, it's easy to think of this tool as just another channel to broadcast your marketing
messages. But social media is an entirely different medium with unique norms of engagement. After all, what makes the medium so powerful is that it provides an opportunity for your brand to interact with its community. And just like any community, social media is built on a give-and-take relationship. That means a long-winded, one-sided conversation is not the way to create an ongoing dialogue with trade show and event attendees.
So to make sure you're not turning your new social-media tool into a corporate jackhammer, your first and most important step is to analyze the type of Twitter accounts you're using. There are different schools of thought on whether to use a corporate Twitter account (@Company), which is what most companies use straight out of the gate, versus a more personal account (@BobSmith) that is hosted by a
specific individual from within your company. So here are some pros and cons for each type of account.
Corporate Versus Individual Accounts
Corporate accounts are good for broadcasting information, e.g., links to press releases, last-minute event announcements, your booth location, etc., as they can reach a large number of followers immediately. As such, they're a decent way to tell attendees about what's happening in your booth or at your event.
However, they usually lack transparency, as followers often wonder who's behind the corporate "Twitter curtain." Plus, this type of account usually doesn't offer the personal connection to which followers respond. So while followers may pay attention to your tweets during your show or event, without genuine, personal, ongoing connections, they'll likely stop paying attention after the event.
If you want to develop long-term, mutually beneficial relationships, consider an individual account that provides more one-on-one interaction
between your company and its followers. Individual accounts (e.g., @DougStar), which can be hosted by execs or employees with social-media savvy, give the company a personality, and create a greater sense of connection with followers. However, it's critical that people who agree to tweet about the company also agree to common-sense guidelines (and your corporate social-media guidelines, assuming you have some). In addition to occasional company and/or product updates, tweets should also provide personal opinions about industry trends, speakers at your events, or can't-miss happenings in your booth on the show floor.
To give you an idea of how this works, it's best to look at some examples. Some organizations allow employees to tweet about the company and their day jobs on their personal Twitter accounts. Zappos.com was an early adopter of this tactic, and 499 employees currently tweet about the company (see http://twitter.zappos.com/employees). Additionally, some companies' employees have developed large followings on Twitter because they tweet about a mix of personal, industry, and company insights. Scott Monty (@scottmonty), the head of Ford Motor Co.'s Social Media department, and Padmasree Warrior (@padmasree), Cisco Systems Inc.'s CTO, are great examples of company employees that act as brand ambassadors and provide authentic one-to-one engagement with the community. Sure, they retweet corporate tweets and promote their companies and events, but they also reveal unique insights about the company and themselves. By doing this, they send a message that they are approachable, accessible, and want to hear from their customers.
But more and more people are opting for a sort of hybrid strategy that mixes corporate and individual accounts. In this case, you create one or several corporate Twitter accounts (e.g., one account for corporate news, one account for trade shows and events, another for specific product lines, etc.) with somewhat generic names, such as @FordTruckNews or @TradeShowsIBM. Then you identify a few employees for each account who can regularly tweet about your company, events, and more.
This approach allows potential followers to use the account names (e.g., @CiscoEvents) to identify which accounts will be valuable to them. Plus, by engaging with individual tweeters from your company, they gain one-to-one connections and insights into your company culture and your brand.
Tweet by Example
Perhaps the best way to hone in on the type of account that is right for you is to look at some real world Twitterati. Check out these accounts to see how different brands and their representatives create an authentic Twitter presence that truly engages and dialogues with their followers. (Visit Twitter.com and search for the account names below.)
Corporate Accounts
@oldspice - This deodorant has more than 120,000 followers. Enough said.
@zappos_service - Who thought that customer service was this much fun?
@delloutlet - One of the first corporations to show direct revenue from Twitter, Dell Inc. offers exclusive deals to its 1.5 million followers.
@comcastcares - This is considered by many to be the technical-support gold standard on Twitter.
@jetblue - Here's proof that there is social-media life after PR disasters. (Remember the 2007 "stuck on the tarmac" crisis?) JetBlue Airways execs monitor customers' tweets to alert them of issues and respond to questions.
Individual Accounts
@scottmonty - Ford's head of social media, Scott Monty, tweets about the auto industry, social media, and his love of Sherlock Holmes.
@padmasree - Cisco's CTO proves you can represent a Fortune 500 brand effectively by being personable, insightful, and funny.
@LionelatDell - This Dell blogger shares insights and responds to customers' kudos and grievances.
@AlecJRoss - Alec Ross, the senior advisor of technology for Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, proves that even government organizations can personalize their mission.
Selecting the right type of Twitter approach - including the tweeters behind those accounts - is the first and most important step to creating an effective social-media presence. Without the proper foundation, you'll likely end up talking at your community, as opposed to building a relationship with your community.
- Desiree Lehrbaum, principal,
Lumen Consulting, Morgan Hill, CA
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