business

Rethinking Twitter for Business

February 13th, 2009 | Author: Beth Harte

Anyone who knows me knows that Twitter was not my first love. In fact, I really thought it lacked in any kind of value (business or personal). But, over time I changed my mind and have grown to appreciate and enjoy the community that has developed on Twitter.

When it comes to social media my opinion is that social media is about the tools (Twitter in this case). But those tools do indeed lead to sharing of information that, potentially, leads to conversation. And from a marketing perspective, that makes social media a communications channel for business.

Over time I have established my own rules for using tools like Twitter. I don’t follow everyone who follows me. And because I got tired of having to go back and unfollow all the people who auto-DM’d or spammed me, I only follow people who have had a conversation with me. I also find and follow people who might be interested in my services (that’s the business part!).

Yesterday I was really giving Twitter some thought from a business perspective and I tweeted the following:

“Sometimes I wonder why I follow so many people who never chat with me. Yeah, yeah, marketing, blah, blah. But really…why? Thoughts?”

The responses I received were interesting:

Well most people I follow don’t talk to me! But I can still gain amazing insights from their posts and opinions @Liela
It can be frustrating when folks don’t respond/engage, but they can still say things/post links that interest you. @Wzzy
I think there are just too many people blasting and not listening, Beth. They have no interest in conversation. @thurley
Mmmmmmm…hopeless optimism? @annebuchanan
I learn from @chrisbrogan etc…, but don’t expect them to talk to me, unless I’ve stimulated thoughts @mikegero
Because you never know where you’ll find insight. Cast a long wide antenna. @TomMartin
Hmm. I like to share, I guess. It might be useful and engage or it might fall flat and only be interesting to me. You never know? @leahcdaniels
Because they’re entertaining and/or informational. The line is crossed from conversation to broadcast at that point. @digitalvision
I usually jump in to chat when I can answer a Q or comment w/ value. I think there’s more broadcasting then chatting, don’t you? @dockane
I follow ppl who don’t chat w me b/c I’m interested in what they say. I like learning from them, even if the convo isn’t 2way @RaToTheBec
If they NEVER chat with you… Why follow them? I understand that people tweet at different levels but never? @PreppyDude
That’s the question! This is one-way communication = that’s why I think much of this isn’t ‘social’ media. @allenweiss
It’s a great question! I have found the 80/20 rule applies here too, it’s not you, it’s Pareto @karenswim
Because, just like in real life, we tend to gravitate towards like-minds. Especially when there’s so much chatter out there. @josh_sternberg
When we follow, we don’t know whether peeps will interact or not. Then it’s a matter of pain/cost to unfollow. Least resistance. @swoodruff

Perhaps I should have posed my thought this way:

“Sometimes I wonder why I follow so many people who never chat with me. What’s the benefit to me as a business, really? Thoughts?”

Does that change the context of where I was heading with my thought? I think it so. What I meant by “Yeah, yeah, marketing, blah, blah” was the notion that businesses think they need to use social media (in this case Twitter) to market to and engage with clients/customers (existing or new). And they need to follow everyone who follows them. But what if your followers (i.e. your market) don’t talk back? Is Twitter the correct marketing tactic then? To Allen Weiss’ point, if it’s only one-way conversation…it’s not really social. And isn’t that why businesses are investigating social media? To be social with customers, clients, etc.

Someone once said to me that I should follow all those who follow me because you never know where business will come from. Is that a valid business assumption?

If so, how would you answer my revised thought? (And really, we are just answering the question a lot of businesses are asking/thinking.) I have my opinions and I know the answer as it pertains to my business, but I want to know your thoughts.

[Photo: iStock]