Contrary to the reams of advice suggesting there are many best practice rules to using twitter effectively, there is truly only one.
The single most important rule is:
“Understand your goals.”
A multitude of Social Media Experts, self-proclaimed Gurus, Queens, Kings and Prophets are ready, willing, and able to take your money in exchange for sharing their experience but the reality is… it’s just that, their experience. Your experience may be something else entirely.
How is that possible?
How you choose to interact on Twitter depends on your individual goals! It depends on whether your tweets represent a person, product or company. It depends on whether you have the personality and/or resources to participate proactively. It depends on your expectations for results. It depends on your time and budget.
Any combination of the above items will result in different goals and a variety of results. Determining your goals is the first step in finding your twitter voice. Just as every person has a unique personality and every company marketing campaign is built to elicit a need for their product or service; your twitter stream will be distinct to your goals.
Here are some questions to help you begin to establish your Twitter goals:
- Is this a personal or business account?
- Will this account be managed by several people or just one?
- Will the account manager(s) be consistent for the life of the account?
- Will this account be used for any one or combination of: interaction, education, motivation, branding, advertising, lead generation, sales, traffic funneling, dispensing or cultivating of information?
- Does your budget allow for twitter stream content creation?
- Are there existing sources of content you’ve established that can be tapped?
- Is this something you’ll enjoy naturally or are you participating begrudgingly?
- How does Twitter support or enhance your overall marketing plan?
Depending upon the answers, the follow up questions can go in a multitude of directions. With thorough questions centered around your business, personality, behavior and budget, you can find the most effective – and realistic – plan for your twitter stream.
If I had titled this blog post the “Two Most Important Rules for Using Twitter Effectively” the second rule would be, “After the first rule, there are no rules.”
CyberCletch guides our clients towards their Twitter focus. We’ll help you determine what can realistically be accomplished with your budget, personality and goals. If necessary, we can help you carry out that plan with content creation and management. Let us know how we can virtually assist you!
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