How You Can Use And Abuse Twitter

Last week we looked at various aspects of social media. One of the “cons” was the need for CONversation. This is none more true than on Twitter, where you can tweet to the whole world, or send a tweet to one individual person.

It was @davegorman the comedian, if I remember rightly, who retweeted a few weeks ago that you should only ever tweet like you would talk to someone across the table in the pub or at a meal. That means being mindful how well you know that person.

When tweeting to an individual, especially someone who doesn’t know you, there’s no excuse for being rude. There’s also no excuse for overdoing the number of tweets you send to them. How would you react to receiving them? Overdoing it is just like the pub bore.

Public tweets are not like being on a stage, but rather like standing atop a table in the pub with a megaphone. What would you say? How would you say it?

How often is also important. Some followers will dip into the river of Twitter only occasionally, some are logged in permanently. You need to send the message at regular intervals to catch the occasionals, preferably in different words to avoid boring the faithful. It’s also best to mix up a number of different messages. There are a variety of tools that can let you pre-schedule tweets to be issued automatically, so some of your tweets can be pre-planned.

Every celebrity wants to tell people about their latest book, music track, TV or other public appearance. Every business wants to tell people about their products, services and latest offers. But people will only put up with this so long, unless you offer something else. Followers you've carefully attracted can so easily “unfollow” and then not see what you are saying.

For celebrities and businesses, what makes Twitter powerful is the ability to interact with your followers. Conversely anyone can interact with the people you follow. Those celebrities and businesses who take the time to reply to the tweets they receive, in suitable voice, will better thrive.

Genuine complaints are always an opportunity to build a closer relationship from the way the issue is fixed. (Maybe not like this: Robert Fripp of King Crimson received a complaint some years ago when he played from the wings at a gig that he had only been seen for a third of the time. So apparently he returned two thirds of the ticket price and told the person never to attend again! If you want notereity ....)

Conversely, receiving rude tweets can be a shock, and getting too many from one person can be a real pain. The more followers you have, the more nutters. You have to decide whether to block them. It’s a great sense of power when you do!

There’s also various ways of issuing tweets. For example Heikki Kovalainen the Formula 1 racing driver (@H_Kovalainen) has been keeping us posted about what’s happening over the Grand Prix weekend. This week he has sent out a competition posted on Facebook. He will select some of the people who enter and ring them personally. If they tell him the right passphrase, then he'll send them a signed poster. That’s engaging with fans in a way unthinkable just a few months ago.

The prize could also be a free book (if that’s what you are promoting), a free ticket, a free meal with you the celebrity (if you can stomach the idea!), or a whole host of other possibilities.

Businesses can educate or enlighten with the use of free tips sheets and articles, or any manner of other offerings. Surveys are another idea. Even if the response rate is low, the offer to converse shows a more positive attitude than just shout-tweeting at people.

Actually none of these underlying ideas are especially new. The usual rules of marketing are little changed. What has changed is the possibilities social media has to have much closer, much quicker, real-time interaction with fans and followers.

The great thing about Twitter and social media generally is there are no rules for what you can do, only a few for what you shouldn’t. Imagination can run riot. Enjoy!

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