Good Twitter Etiquette for the Business

16 December 2011 - Digital

When it comes to Twitter there is no right or wrong way to use it. However, if you are employing Twitter as a marketing tool to boost and promote your corporate brand or business, there are a few basic unwritten guidelines that should be followed in order to maintain good Twitter etiquette.

1) Strategy – Have a Plan

Don’t get carried away when Tweeting. It is very easy to lose all sense of time when promoting your corporate brand and interacting with your followers on Twitter. Have a structured timetable for when you spend time sharing content and conversing online. Set aside a specific time in the morning, midday and late afternoon, stick to this plan and be disciplined.

2) Stick to the 80-20 Rule – Don’t Over-promote

Make sure you abide to the 80-20 rule of marketing. Spend 80 percent of your Twitter time indulging in activities that are not considered to be self promoting. Someone who is constantly ‘bigging’ themselves up and promoting their own agenda will be a big turn off for other users and no-one will want to interact with you. Pass on useful information, such as links to ticket information and upcoming events, be creative, ask questions and start conversations around subjects that are related to your brand, but not directly associated with it. By offering diverse tweets in your own Twitter stream you can establish a strong following who will be interested in what you have to say.

3) Mix it Up – Integrate your Tweets with Your Marketing Plan

It has been proven that the most successful marketing strategies are ones that are fully integrated. Make Twitter part of this in every way you can, for example, put a ‘Follow Me’ button on your corporate website and company blog and a link in your e-mail signature. Make sure your Twitter profile reflects your corporate image by giving it a unique background, consistent colour scheme and profile picture.

4) Mind Your Language – Don’t get too Personal

As you are using Twitter as a marketing tool, you’ll want other users to view your Twitter profile and all your previous tweets. Once out there in cyberspace you will have no control over where your tweets end up as followers re-tweet and share them online. Google now index tweets, and they can get archived by all sorts of establishments and institutions. Don’t be a keyboard warrior and don’t ever tweet something to somebody that you wouldn’t say to them face to face. Be wary of being lured into arguments or squabbles, particularly if they run counter to your corporate brand beliefs.

5) It’s Good to Listen – Engage and Interact

Remember, there are millions of Tweeters out there and it is not all about you! To reap the rewards that Twitter has to offer as a marketing tool, you will need to view it as a relationship building instrument. Spend time listening to others, acknowledge and encourage them and share their content. As mentioned in Point 2 (above), do not over-promote.

6) Speak in Plain English – Don’t use Corporate Jargon

Unless your target audience are a niche market that expects to hear it, steer clear of corporate specific jargon. As mentioned in a previous blog (Glossary of SEO Terms), in house terms and abbreviations can be very confusing and could turn Twitter followers into ex-Twitter followers very quickly. Similarly, do not use corporate rhetoric. No one wants to follow a corporate brochure and read a robotic tweet stating ‘Going forward we shall implement a prototype realignment within our cross functional service plan strategy,’ instead an easy-going tweet along the lines of ‘we are working on a new customer service plan that our customers will love’ is much better.

We hope the points above have been very helpful. If you are still unclear about the opportunities online marketing can do for your business, please do not hesitate to contact us. We will be very glad to help.