How to Grow Your Brand on Twitter

Twitter for Brands.A basic guide to growing your brand on Twitter.

Ryan Spoon: ryanspoon.comPolaris Venture Partners: polaris.vcDogpatch Labs: dogpatchlabs.com

About Us: Sample Companies

“Twitter is not a technology. It’s a conversation. And it’s happening with or with you.”Charlene Li.

Twitter is big.

… as if you needed convincing.

Today:

200m users

250m tweets/day

400m uniques/mo

http://9.mshcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/1bntweets3.jpg

“The biggest mistake we see companies make when they first hit Twitter is to think about it as a channel to push out information.”Tim O’Reilly.

Avoid making that mistake with these five guidelines:

1. Listen

2. Be authentic

3. Be compelling

4. Find the influencers

5. Extend off-Twitter, onsite

“Too many people fail to realize that real communication goes in both directions.” Lee Lacocca.

Your customers are on Twitter.

…Whether or not you are.

They are talking about you; good or bad.

Listen to what they are saying.

Listening: SearchTwitter search is enormously useful…and under-utilized.

By query / phraseBy usernameBy locationBy sentimentSave your searches!

Example: Local Search

Search: People looking for best coffee in San Francisco area.

Useful for: local coffee shops, bigger chains, customer support, etc

Example: Customer Sentiment

Listening: 3rd Party AppsThe most powerful “listening platforms” are from 3rd party tools.

Better way to create brand dashboard:- set saved searches, profiles- manage multiple accounts- integrated analytics- schedule tweets- manage workflow with team

Listening: Data

http://hootsuite.com/about

Listen to the data….figure out what’s working:- Best time to tweet- Most effective tweets- Characteristics of most

retweeted, replied tweets- Characterisitcs of highest

traffic drivers off-Twitter

Listening: Real-Time

Listen, and respond, in real-time.

From @wholefoods: “the online community doesn’t recognize office hours – nor should they. Waiting until Monday is just not good enough.”

Example: I tweeted bad Southwest experience. They responded < 4 minutes.

“The key to successful leadership today is influence, not authority.” Ken Blanchard.

Who are You Talking To?

Before engaging with users, you should understand their:

1. influence2. relevance3. background

… THEN determine response, speed, etc.

How? Try Klout.

Use Klout to understand individual user’s:- influence and reach- topics of expertise- network & similar users

Hint: try Klout’s Chrome app and see Klout scores on Twitter.com.

Use Influence To:

1. Customer Service: Manage & prioritize CS workflows

2. Acquisition: Identify potential customers & partners

3. Marketing: Run targeted campaigns; grow your following.

“Authenticity, honesty, and personal voice underlie much of what’s successful on the web.”Rick Levine.

Be Relatable

People want to hear & interact with real voices.The best brands on Twitter are personable & real.

Why so popular? Non-corporate, unique, fun, relatable, responsive.

Create Conversation.

Twitter is not an advertisement. It is a conversation.People relate to conversation. Not to advertising and broadcasts.

Broadcast (i.e. TV) Conversation

“I am all for conversation. But you need to have a message.”Renee Blodgett.

What IS Compelling?

Simple answer: Would you want to get these updates via SMS?- Unique content, spin- Current / real-time focus- Promotes more than themselves- Exclusive access: photos, deals, insights- Conversational: two-way platform- Fun, smart and worth the read

Examples: Compelling Brands(In my opinion)

Big brands

Personal brand

E-commerce

Emerging

Examples: Compelling Brands(in Twitter’s opinion)

* Twitter Case Studies

What is NOT Compelling?

- Corporate-only voice- Broadcast only- High volume- Stale content- Ordinary content- Mostly self-serving- Self-infatuated

Example: NOT Compelling

80+ tweets in 24 hrsOrdinary / useless content:

Untargeted content:

“Successful brands don’t stop on Twitter.com – they build social directly into their web and mobile experiences.”Me :)

Basic: Tweet Button

Better: Display of multi-user activity with inline reply, retweet functions

Great: Fab’s “Feed” shows real-time purchases and social activity

Social from the Ground Up: Flipboard reimagines Twitter reading & publishing

Summary:1. Create conversation, not ads2. Your voice: be compelling3. Their voice: who’s talking?4. Apply this to your web, off-Twitter5. Success requires dedication to it (mentality, product, people, tools)

Lastly, Best Practices According to Twitter

More Reading

- Using Twitter effectively- Twitter Marketing Guide- 7

Sneaky Ways to Use Twitter to Spy on Your Competition

- 10 Twitter Tools Used by Social Media Experts

- The Science of Social Timing Part 1: Social Networks

- 5 Tips To Make Your Startup’s Twitter Account Stand Out

- 10 Great Twitter Tools To Transform Your Tweeting Experience

- Twitter Best Practices- Twitter for Business- Twitter Case Studies- Examples: Twitter Media- Twitter for Websites- Resources for mobile

developers- Small Business One-Pager- Twitter Logos & Icons- Twitter Developer Guidelines

- Twitter for Publisher Networks- Humanizing your Brand- My Response to Mark Cuban’s: D

oes ESPN.com Have a Twitter Problem?

- 11 Ways to Usher NFL, NBA, MLB into new Web

- Why Twitter Images Is Important (Screenshot)

- Twitter Promotes Mobile Apps & SMS To Logged-Out Users. Smart.

- Twitter Promoted Tweets & Effective Real-Time, Event-Based Advertising

- For Social Ads, Voice and Relevance are more Important than Just Reach.

Learn more.Connect with us.

polaris.vc@polarisvcfb.com/polarisventures

dogpatchlabs.com@dogpatchlabsfb.com/dogpatchlabs

ryanspoon.com@ryanspoonfb.com/ryanspoon