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Twitter for Business (GF501)

Professor: Laura Fitton, Pistachio Consulting and co-author of Twitter for Dummies

for Business

Twitter for Business •  What is Twitter? •  Why is it valuable? •  How does it work? •  How should a business get started? •  What does it make possible? •  Some examples •  Your fears and concerns •  Learning more…

What is Twitter?

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What Are You Doing?

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~20 million monthly uniques (x5.7 since Nov 08)

125 million monthly visits (x4.3 since Nov 08)

20% of online adults 25-34 23% of social network users

27% of bloggers

December 2008

Why is it valuable?

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http://twitpic.com/135xa

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How does it work?

What Are You Doing? “Use it Where You Think Best”

-IBM ThinkPad

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The User Multiface

Browser • SMS • IM • RSS reader • FriendFeed •

Facebook • blogs • widgets • desktop, iPhone, Blackberry,

and SMS clients

The User Multiface

Browser • SMS • IM • RSS reader

Clients: iPhone • Blackberry • desktop • SMS

Lifestream aggregator, Facebook, blogs

…

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The User Multiface

Browser • SMS • IM • RSS reader

Clients: iPhone • Blackberry • desktop • SMS

Lifestream aggregator, Facebook, blogs

…

The User Multiface

Browser • SMS • IM • RSS reader

Clients: iPhone • Blackberry • desktop • SMS

Lifestream aggregator, Facebook, blogs

…

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The User Multiface

Browser • SMS • IM • RSS reader

Clients: iPhone • Blackberry • desktop • SMS

Lifestream aggregator, Facebook, blogs

…

The User Multiface

Browser • SMS • IM • RSS reader

Clients: iPhone • Blackberry • desktop • SMS

Lifestream aggregator, Facebook, blogs

…

The User Multiface

Browser • SMS • IM • RSS reader

Clients: iPhone • Blackberry • desktop • SMS

Lifestream aggregator, Facebook, blogs

…

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The User Multiface

Browser • SMS • IM • RSS reader • FriendFeed •

Facebook • blogs • widgets • desktop, iPhone, Blackberry,

and SMS clients

Anyone

•  Develop dynamic and engaging “behind the scenes” personalities, content, sneak-previews and other genuinely engaging content

Individuals

•  Build your network, access better professional relationships, faster knowledge-sharing and leveraged problem-solving

•  Particularly valuable for Executives, sales and marketing professionals, consultants, freelancers and celebrities.

Companies and Brands

•  Engage more deeply with consumers and markets in strategic and powerful ways

•  Drive productivity, value, innovation and human capital growth through better networking and idea-exchange

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Externally

Customer service Market awareness News Innovation Understanding Extending reach

Relationships Branding Direct sales SEO Driving traffic Networking

Internally

Sales Teams Event Planning Project Status News Coordination Interface

Decentralized teams Employee Support Mentoring Problem-solving Purely Social

VALUE. visibility relevance relationships social capital community ideas trust

research marketing

networking customer

service traffic news sales SEO

Influence (was)

Attracting attention to yourself

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Influence (is)

Providing attention and value to others

Social Media is Nothing New

Photo Credit: (cc) jerryfletcher on flickr.com

Social Media is Knowledge

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Knowledge is Socially Mediated Knowledge is Socially Mediated

Photo Credit: (cc) fredoalvarez on flickr.com

Knowledge is Socially Mediated Knowledge is Socially Mediated

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Markets are Socially Mediated

Photo Credit: (cc) gregor_y on flickr.com

Markets are Socially Mediated Markets are Socially Mediated

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Photo Credit: (cc) matrianklw on flickr.com

How should a business get started?

Manners 101

•  Dress nicely – Background graphic, avatar

•  Introduce yourself – Fill out profile completely – Mention your Twitter on your site

•  Be a good conversationalist – Listen, respond – Contribute relevant, useful material

How Best to Approach?

Cultivate standards of •  Excellence •  Authenticity •  Engagement

What will work for your organization?

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Twitter Campaigns?

not so much.

Twitter literacy

Business Objectives

Measured by the most appropriate standards for the objective

Bearing in Mind… •  Twitter can be a great vehicle for a brand extension

–  if you are willing to produce feeds of cool, useful things

•  Publish & subscribe environment –  The self-serving will flounder. The useful will flourish.

•  Brands need to work to not be rejected as spam

Advanced Twitter for Business

•  Twitter as a serious B-to-B Tool? •  What if my customers are NOT

there yet? •  How do I prevent wasted time? •  Best branding lessons •  Big picture trends

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“Off-Platform” Benefits

Off-Platform Benefits

•  SEO •  Research •  Content Generation Engine •  Word of Mouth •  PR Gravity

SEO

•  Google the word “pistachio” or “dough” •  Common words, but the Twitter IDs

DOMINATE

•  What Google Adsense word would you spend your last dollar on?

•  Incorporate your Name too for additional words

Research

•  Passive - free and paid listening tools •  Active - ask questions, use #tags,

“recruit” groups •  Live - create real-time focus groups,

polls, surveys

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Word of Mouth

•  @DellOutlet -- $500,000 of computers to HOW many followers?

•  Disproportionately influencers, still •  Journalists and bloggers, especially •  “Passs-along” ethic

Content Generation Engine

•  Let’s say you’re Madonna… •  ABC News during Obama’s speech •  Many ways to slice this

“PR Gravity”

•  Forbes, NYT Magazine, Newsweek, BusinessWeek, Inc.com, Entrepreneur Magazine

•  Publish, become known, be helpful

How…

•  BE USEFUL Turn the message inside-out!

•  Offer things

•  Talk about what you do

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Applicability

•  Listening •  Innovation •  Research •  Measurement

Measurement

Most of all: Measure the desired business objective

the way you always measure that desired business objective

Measurement

•  Follower numbers -- yes, but. •  Follower engagement •  Measurable links

–  Clickthroughs –  Conversations –  Context

•  Ripples in the water –  Retweets, reposting your links –  Others pointing towards what you do

Preventing “Time Suck”

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Efficiency

•  Tools • Objectives • Discipline

Branding Lessons

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Outlook

Outlook

•  Landscape for business use of Twitter and microsharing generally

•  How to think about brand opportunities in microsharing

•  What’s on the horizon? What trends should we watch for next?

“We see an ecosystem of developers swarming around the Twitter API like moths around a flame”

-TechCrunch.com

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Learning more…

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