I Hated Twitter…But Not Anymore

Two months ago, I was on a conference call with my fellow Network Solutions bloggers.  We always talk about social media during the call, so naturally I brought up the fact that I hate Twitter.  It was decided that my hatred of Twitter would make a great blog post in April, when our theme would be (and now is) inbound marketing.  Steve Fisher, who oversees our little gang of bloggers, told me to write down the title, which was Why I Hate Twitter…But I Use It Anyway.

janyall/Flickr

The reason I hated Twitter was because it was so exclusionary.  How do you figure out that tweet jargon, all those @’s and #’s, on your own?  How do you find people to follow?  How do you un-follow people who are suddenly annoying?  And how on Earth am I supposed to keep up with it and use it as a communication tool with clients and prospective clients and people in my industry when I also have Facebook, LinkedIn, email, paperwork, and my actual work to keep up with?   I figured it out on my own, but still…I hated it.

All of that has changed, as you can see by the title of this blog post.

For now, lo and behold, Twitter has wizened up.  They have published a user’s guide for business owners called Twitter 101 for Business.  Why it took so long I’ll never understand.  However, I’m glad it exists, because it explains exactly how its real-time communication tool can help you connect with clients.  They offer examples of how and why to use Twitter: you can follow conversations about your company, product, or service; get instant feedback; solve problems quickly, or offer special deals exclusively via Twitter.

Twitter 101 is broken down into 5 sections, which I’ll discuss briefly below.  My main problem with Twitter will remain, though: how to find the time to use it effectively.  I am on Twitter (look me up @monikacjansen), but I don’t use it the way I should.  I post interesting marketing-related information on it, but I do not use it to connect with clients, current or prospective.  By doing a search, I could be connected to graphic designers, web designers, SEO specialists, and full-service marketing firms, all of whom send me business regularly.  But, like everyone, I only have so much time, and like most people, I wonder if I will have time to keep up with it.   

Twitter 101

1. What is Twitter?  Basically what I wrote above.  It’s just an introduction to how businesses use Twitter.
2. Getting Started.  This section explains how to effectively use Twitter and integrate it into your marketing and sales efforts.  Then it walks you through setting up an account.
3. Learning the Lingo(!). My favorite section!  A glossary of Twitter jargon and symbols. 
4. Best Practices…on using Twitter, posting tweets, and measuring ROI.
5. Case Studies.  13 real world examples of how a variety of companies have successfully used Twitter.  Very interesting!
6.  Other Resources.  Books, articles, websites, and blog posts that share information on how to use Twitter. 

This entry was posted on Friday, April 9th, 2010 at 8:00 am and is filed under social media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.


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