In the past several weeks I’ve engaged in numerous conversations with clients and other professionals involved in social media on the topic of Twitter.
Some people are so enamored by this microblog tool that they are concentrating all of their social media efforts there. Others are new to the concept and are making the same mistake as most newcomers, tweeting about everything on their minds without actually attempting to establish a relationship or create value.
A recent post by one of my favorite bloggers, Jennifer Leggio, entitled “I don’t care if your company is on Twitter”, addressed the issue of over-reliance. She states:
These days Iím looking for a little bit more. Iím looking for depth. Iím looking for substance. I realize that a lot of companies are just now starting to get onto Twitter and thatís a big dealÖ for them. But several have already laid the groundwork so much that analytics tools are abundant, integration is on the horizon, and if social media has taught us anything itís that Twitter is not the end all, be all of social strategies. Itís not even a strategy.
I find my eyes starting to glaze over whenever a company or public relations agency emails and says ìHey, X is on Twitter, do you want to talk to our C-level executive about how this impacts our business?î My response is usually silence, but Iím sometimes tempted to say, ìReally? Your CEO wants to talk to me about Twitter? Can I talk to him about his overall marketing strategy instead?î
I want to be sensitive to the latecomers. But even the earlier companies who were first to join the Twitter ranks arenít doing much other than that. These companies are not all innovators. Some of them are still merely using Twitter and arenít doing much to manage it or grow the brand or presence. Some havenít figured out that if Twitter were to magically go away (or become less reliable due to spam, which is more likely) then the bottom falls out of their so-called social media strategy. The social Web is much larger than Twitter and while itís well and good if youíre using it, donít expect anyone who knows better to jump up and down about it anymore.
Look at the companies that you might admire in terms of their social presence. Then strip Twitter away. Whatís left? Thatís when you really see who is social and who just jumped on a trend.
The key to any effective social media (or marketing communications) strategy is to find the right tools for the right audiences with the right messages. Relying on Twitter because it’s the trendy choice may not be the best long-term solution. Twitter can be a wonderfully engaging and valuable tool, but it’s role must be defined in advance and integrated with an overall strategy.
Mike
One Comment
I’m still trying to figure out if twitter is worth my time