Twitter for Dummies - Laura Fitton [70]
If you’re representing a large company (such as @JetBlue or @Starbucks), your Twitter presence might be a little more complicated because you’re not representing just yourself, but your business — and for some companies, that may mean tens of thousands of people. That’s a lot of responsibility!
If you’re managing a Twitter presence on behalf of your company, we highly encourage you to start a separate account for yourself so that you can get used to the service. Before you start tweeting on behalf of your business, know what users expect from brands and businesses, and how customers like to be approached. Getting used to how businesses operate on Twitter can prevent you from making a serious faux pas down the road. That said, a lot of what makes the best business accounts great is their personality and humanity, so the case can also be made not to always have two different (business and personal) accounts.
In Chapter 11, we go over how businesses can best take advantage of Twitter.
You as you on Twitter
Although Twitter can be a powerful tool for business owners and employees, it’s just as powerful for individuals who really have no intention of conducting any sort of business on it (although business might happen accidentally).
Twitter was originally popular helping individuals keep in touch with their friends and acquaintances via mini-updates. Many personal Twitterers still tend to use Twitter in this manner, updating a close circle of friends about thoughts and happenings in their lives. Over time, you can keep up with — and even make new — friends you might otherwise not contact often. Twitter removes many communication barriers.
A few things to consider for your personal Twitter presence:
Keeping your tweets private: If it helps you feel more comfortable with your personal use of Twitter, you can set your updates to Private. (We show how to adjust that setting in Chapter 2.) Enabling the privacy feature ensures that no one, other than the users you authorize, has access to your updates. However, setting your updates to Private also prevents Twitter Search from picking up your tweets; it’s a minor inconvenience that you may be willing to accept if you really feel strongly about protecting your personal updates from the world.
Introducing your business: Regardless of whether you plan to build your business by using Twitter “just as a person,” you might want to include some information about your occupation and company in your Twitter profile, and perhaps add a link back to your company’s online presence. The social capital (trust, thought leadership, and more) that you earn within the Twitter community may lead to new opportunities for you and for your business. Also, your opinions and statements may be biased because of your job, so in the interests of transparency, disclosure is a good idea.
Making it personal: You don’t have to include any business information on Twitter if you don’t want to. Twitter was built with personal connections in mind. Twitter is personal, so dress up your profile and adjust your settings in a way that makes sense to you and what you want to get out of your Twitter experience.
If you’re twittering as an individual who works at a company, use a real photo of yourself as your avatar and put your company logo on the Twitter background that you use for your page. By using this setup, you let people know that you’re affiliated with the company, but users don’t mistake you for the company’s official twitterer. Be sure you follow your company’s regulations regarding what you’re allowed to share. For example, many Apple employees can’t reveal that they work for the company.
Mixing business with pleasure
Some of the most successful Twitter personalities have embraced Twitter by transparently sharing personal, professional, family, and other aspects of themselves all rolled together. This is nothing wildly new. We’ve always spent time with colleagues, clients, and our professional network at the golf course, out to