I have never kept it a secret that BlogWorld Expo is one of my favorite conferences. The core messages that we heard throughout wasn’t “use Twitter for content distribution” as all the other conferences I have attended in the past. The panelists and keynotes emphasized the importance of authenticity, credibility and transparency. Although those are common themes, it continues to be in the core foundation of every successful social media program.

Although gaming the system can quickly gain a large follower base, it does not result in long term benefits that can move current and prospective customers closer to the final conversion.  I had the honor of discussing that very topic with Lucretia Pruitt, Jesse Stay, Aaron Strout and Micah Baldwin. My role in the panel was to specifically discuss the importance of brands engaging in Twitter authentically. At the request of the attendees, here are the seven key points I highlighted:

• Social Media is about being social: Brands build awareness and affinity by transparently conversing with their current and prospective customers. They should share information, not push commercial messaging.
• Set user expectations: When a company is setting up a profile, they should let the users know what to expect. If the profile will be dedicated to sharing news releases, promotions and company-related news, let the users know that the updates will be PR-oriented.
• Personal vs. Private: In a conversation with Nicole Simon, we discussed the importance of humanizing a brand’s Twitter profile, without sharing intimate details of the profile manager’s life. Drinking a cup of coffee is meaningless and considered noisy to the audience. They are more interested in valuable information that is customized to their needs and is provided in a personable voice.
• Quality, not Quantity: 20,000 followers that are mainly bots and inactive users provide little value to a brand’s profile.  2,000 active users who share content and connect with the brand have a lot more value. It isn’t about numbers; it is about the multi-directional conversation!
• Direct Marketing tool, not Branding tool: Wendy Piersall and I were discussing how Twitter is being abused by certain brands. Some brands use it as a “push” mechanism, when that gains little traction in the space. The audience is looking to “pull” content that interests them and is relevant to their needs. We are in the business of developing, optimizing and leveraging the right content, to the right people, at the right time, in the right place.
• Holistic Outreach: To avoid the brand’s message drowning in the noisy world of Twitter, it is important to have a holistic process that is supported across all of the brand’s social media outposts and search campaigns. That is the only effective way to connect a current or prospective customer to the branded information.
• Monitor: The focus needs to be shifted from quantitative data, like number of followers, to qualitative data, like conversation, community, sentiment and topics discussed. Essentially, the importance is in the feedback the brand is receiving from its audience.

*Thanks to Renee Blodgett for the image.  In the image from left to right: Lucretia Pruitt, Jesse Stay, Aaron Strout, Micah Baldwin and Reem Abeidoh (in them middle).

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!