Twitter Implementation
If you are ready to implement Twitter for your company, follow the advice outlined here. Remember that all companies are different and no one knows your stakeholders better than you, so be creative, have fun and do not be afraid of Twitter!
What should be included in a corporate Tweet?
- Information that is interesting and pertinent to your stakeholders: Stock quotes, product reviews, press on your company (both good and bad), new company products or services, further information in the field, educational information, customer service conversations
- Multidirectional communication: Talk to your constituents and they will talk back
- Answer questions: “What do you think about our new store location?”, “How can be make your life easier as an investor?”, “We just redesigned our Web site, did we get it right?”, etc.
- Let followers know how they can get involved with the company, such as job opportunities (but avoid typos!)
What should a company not do when using Twitter?
- Do not use Twitter as a means of advertising
- Do not have many “voices”, ideally a company should have one corporate communicator managing their official Twitter account
- Do not speculate, misquote, or say something you will regret, as all of the tweets are out in the open once you click
- Do not use Twitter as your company’s only means of corporate communication
- Do not be too serious nor too unprofessional – a happy medium is best
Who should manage the microbloging in an organization?
It is best if only one person, from the corporate communication department, manages the company Twitter account. This way the company can be consistent and truly build a relationship with their followers. However, encourage employees to Twitter on their own, but make sure your company has talked about rules and guidelines when representing the company online.
Should CEOs be on Twitter?
Yes! But only if they want to. CEOs have great insight to add, however if blogging or microblogging is not something they are interested in, the rich conversations will not happen. Business Week’s article in September 2006 suggests that is is up to the CEO. If the CEO chooses not to blog, it would be great if they could give material or quotes to the corporate communication department to include in their postings.
How can we engage customers on Twitter?
Listen, question, respond and use customer ideas as Southwest and GM have done.
Southwest asked their followers to write a sitcom about Southwest. It sounds funny, but they got many responses because customers wanted to share their ideas.
Chris Barger from General Motors says it is most important to listen when using Twitter.
Filed under: Corporate Use of Twitter, Twitter | 3 Comments
Tags: CEOs, Corporate Communication, Do's and Dont's, General Motors, Social Media, Southwest, Twitter
Alternatives to Twitter
Although I am a fan of Twitter, I am not biased. I understand the Twitter is not the best choice for all companies, so it is important to understand that there are alternatives.
If you are part of a company that has determined that your constituents simply are not interested in social media, and may not be online at all, that is completely fine. However, be sure to engage with them in other ways. Just because social media is not being used, does not mean that these stakeholders do not want to be having conversations. Personally, I feel that nothing is better than face to face communication. Finally, do not be afraid to re-evaluate in a year or so. As the Web evolves, so will its users, so your constituents may be interested in social media in the future.
If you and your company want to use social media, but have determined that microblogging is not the best channel, there are many other options. Before you determine which tools to use, you must answer two questions:
- Who are your trying to communicate with?
- What messages are you trying to communicate?
Once you have determined the answers to these questions, you can figure out which social media tools can help you communicate with your constituents. There are a plethora of social media tools available today, with new ones emerging almost daily. For most companies, I would suggest wikis, blogs and podcasts.
Wikis: Wikis are a beneficial tool because information can be easily shared and collaboration is encouraged. A 2008 Mashable article suggests wiki’s because they allow for participation. The content on wikis can be edited and updated by users or professionals. This video by Common Craft explains how wikis can be used.
Podcasts: Podcasts and vodcast (video podcasts) are also wonderful options for social media tools. They allow for creativity and for the messages to be shared in a new and interesting way. This Common Craft video outlines the benefits of podcasting.
Blogs: Blogs are best for updates and dialogue. Companies can write the “news” and their stakeholders can read it, or even comment and participate. Common Craft explains why blogs work today.
Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube are also sites worth looking into if your company wants to share information within a social networking community.
Before ultimately deciding on a social media tool, it is necessary to weight the pros and cons. For example, podcasts do not allow for feedback as well as blogs do. Finally, you must remember that each means of social media should be used tactfully and must communicate messages that are consistent with the company’s communication and business strategies.
Filed under: Corporate Use of Twitter, Twitter | 1 Comment
Tags: Blog, Common Craft, Facebook, LinkedIn, Social Media, Twitter, Vodcast, Wiki, You Tube
Internal Tweets
Thus far this blog has explored Twitter’s use in corporate communications, but mainly when communicating with external publics. However, internal publics, such as employees, are a huge group of stakeholders that are important to a company. Employees need and want to know what is going on within a company, and now that communication is changing the corporate memo is probably not the best form of communication within a corporation.
Social media is changing the way that companies communicate because it allows for feedback, immediacy,participation, transparency and dialogues. All of these aspects are ideal for establishing relationships with employees. The truth is many people are already using social media, therefore if a company is still communicating with their employees through traditional channels, they are behind.
Using social media, but specifically Twitter, within a company, has many benefits. First, relationships can be established through conversations. And, communicating with various people is easy. Lower level employees can speak with high level management, that they may not run into at the water cooler on a regular basis. Or, if a specific company has various offices, or worldwide offices, Twitter allows for easy (and free) communication. Additionally, employees may feel more comfortable to speak their mind with the computer screen in between the conversation. Even though Twitter is not anonymous, it is just a little easier to type something sometimes than speak the words. Plus, this means that a company is getting true feedback from their employees. Finally, Twitter is fun and interesting. Using social media is a way to spice up a boring e-mail or memo.
The idea of a company using social media to communicate makes a lot of sense. Employees are going to be having conversations anyway, so why not provide a space for them to have these conversations, and better yet, everyone can participate.
However, social media should not completely replace traditional forms of communication such as meetings and e-mails, but Twitter is great to remind others of upcoming meetings or send a quick direct message instead of an e-mail, as everyone’s inbox and BlackBerry is constantly full these days. Finally, Twitter and other forms of social media are great to discuss certain issues, but always remember that sensitive subjects are simply not fit for the Internet, and nothing can replace face-to-face communication.
This video from Ragan Communications features Shel Holtz explaining the use and benefits of social media for internal communications.
Filed under: Corporate Use of Twitter, Twitter | 3 Comments
Tags: Internal Communication, Ragan Communications, Shel Holtz, Social Media, Twitter
Do you remember when I explained how the Chicago Bulls basketball team uses an offical Twitter name to update fans on team news? The tweets include game scores, player information and fan information. This is the ideal way to communicate to fans (and other stakeholders) quickly. There is usually no need for the messages to be over 140 characters, and can be checked on the go. If for example, you had to leave the house and could not see the end of a game, you could get updates via Twitter on your phone.
This blog is exploring Twitter’s use for
corporate communications, and sports teams are a corporation
with many stakeholders interested in the current events of that
corporation. However, a recent story has changed that way we
think about Twitter’s corporate use.
This story explained the controversy of an NBA player, Charlie Villanueva of the Milwaukee Bucks, tweeting during halftime. His coach believes using Twitter during halftime means that he is not focused on the game. Charlie Villanueva did not realize that his use of Twitter would come off that way, but respects the concern of his coach. Moreover, he does not want his fans to feel he is not focused, thus apologized for his tweets. In a later tweet Villanueva mentioned to his fans that he just wanted to keep them informed, and did not mean any harm.
The truth is Villanueva was just communicating with his stakeholders, the people who care about his “corporation”. Isn’t that what corp comm. is all about when it comes to new social media? But, where does the line need to be drawn? Employers do not want their employees spending their day on Twitter. Though, hospitals are tweeting from the operating room.
Companies who choose to use Twitter need to have guidelines, expectations, and specific people in charge of managing the microblogging. For example, Southwest Airlines (I keep using them because in my opinion they use Twitter the best of all companies I have studied) has one corporate communicator who manages the office Southwest Twitter account. This is one place where constituents can go to get information about the company, through a legitimate source. Stakeholders can be confident that the information is accurate and backed by the company. However, what if a random employee of Southwest started tweeting updates? What if a pilot was tweeting about flighting conditions while in the air? I would be terrified for the safety of Southwest passengers, at first, but then I would also be concerned whether I was getting legitimate information or not.
Therefore, Twitter is great for corporate comm. so long as everyone is on the same page with rules and guidelines.
Filed under: Corporate Use of Twitter, Twitter | 3 Comments
Tags: Charlie Villanueva, Milwaukee Bucks, NBA, Southwest Airlines, Twitter
The Benefits of Twitter
Where are you? I would hope that as a result of reading this blog so far, you are at least at #3.
If you are part of a company leaning towards adopting Twitter into a communication strategy (maybe stage #2 or #3), this post is valuable for you. Twitter presents many benefits to a company, some of which are outlined here.
- Social media collaboration. Twitter can improve or work hand-in-hand with other social media. Some stakeholders may be following you on Twitter that are not reading your blogs, or visa versa. Once they become interested in one tool, they may very well read other blogs your company may have. Having various social media tools reinforces your brand and broadens your audience. Moreover, you can post ideas or questions on Twitter and get quick feedback, which can be expanded in to a blog posting or a podcast. PRBlogger, Darren Rowse, does just this. He posts questions on his Twitter, gets ideas, and then blogs about them. Similarly, Southwest Airlines often mentions their blog during tweets, or points customers to different parts of their Web site for assistance. Just like all of the components of an advertising campaign, social media should work together.
- Networking, networking, networking. Every new follower means dozens more people that are linked to you. An opportunity can easily be missed if your company is not known. As long as Twitter posts are appropriate, the worst that can happen from a new form of exposure is that you are ignored. Just imagine all of these people hearing about your company on a daily basis…
- Real feedback from real people. Twitter allows a company to connect directly with their customers, investors, employees, etc. In other words, the people who matter and will make a difference to the company. It is hard to rely on focus groups, statistics, and sales reports. Through direct communication with people who care, a company can get information that is meaningful.
Are you at stage 5 yet?
Filed under: Corporate Use of Twitter, Twitter | Leave a Comment
Tags: Feedback, ProBlogger, Southwest Airlines, Twitter
Twitter vs. Motrin
Now that we have talked about how corporations have used Twitter to communicate with stakeholders and learned about the positive aspects of Twitter in relation to corporate communication, I would like to look at Twitter from a different aspect. In one very specific case, Twitter proved to hurt a company.
In November of 2008 a commercial for Motrin pain killers appeared on a the company’s Web site. The commercial is aimed at mothers experiencing back pain as a result of carrying their babies in slings. Here is the Motrin commercial:
The commercial was not received well by mothers. In fact, they were outraged by the language used in the advertisement. Mothers believed that the ad was mocking them with phrases such as “it totally makes me look like an official mom” when a mother carries a baby in a sling. Moreover, they were offended that the company would suggest that they “wear” their child because it is “fashionable”. Thus, moms responded…On Twitter. The day the ad was posted on the Motrin Web site it was the most tweeted subject on Twitter. One mother stay up until 4a.m. reading the plethora of angry messages. The next day her video appeared on YouTube compiling many of the tweets against Motrin:
Within two days the Motrin ad was pulled from the Web site, moreover an apology was posted on the Web site and an apology was sent to the outraged moms who spoke up. The apology e-mail explained that the company did not mean to offend mothers, and appreciated the feedback they received. On the company’s Web site, the vice president of marketing stated that the video will not be used in any future marketing. Good choice.
Feedback was key. Feedback clearly means a lot to many companies in such a media rich society. These mothers used the power and reach of microblogging flawlessly. Twitter allowed the company to see just how upset these women were. Their ideas were made public, and as each new tweet was posted, others instantly learned of their frustrations.
The lesson learned from this incident is that people want to participate. Everyone has something to say, and through the use of social media (for better or for worse) they can get that message out to millions…And millions may link to millions…And so on.
It is hard to tell if Motrin was severely hurt by this issue. However the truth is, several major publications such as The New York Times and The Chicago Tribune covered the story. Moreover, many mothers have sworn to never use the drug again. Therefore, in the long run this might be a bump in the road, but with the social media available today, the video will remain on YouTube for a long time, and the Twitter postings may haunt the company for much longer than they would like.
Filed under: Case Studies, Twitter | 4 Comments
Tags: Motrin, Twitter, YouTube
Who tweets?
Okay, we got an idea for Twitter, its use in the corporate communications world, and then we looked at how one company excels with social media. But who else is using Twitter well?
Wachovia has been Tweeting since August 2008. The company uses Twitter to reach out to customers in these tough economic times. So far, so good, although the company says that sometimes Tweets about specific accounts come in, which are very tough to answer over the Internet.
The Chicago Bulls basketball team has about 1,800 followers, or fans. This sports team uses microblogging to quickly update their fans on wins, losses, players and pictures from games. Using Twitter for the Bulls is an excellent way for to fans to stay connected because they can access Twitter from their cell phones, BlackBerries and from their RSS feeds.
The Home Depot has over 1,300 updates in which they talk to their customers about customer service issues and often point them in the right direction to talk to specific departments. The Home Depot answers tons of questions and enjoys hearing about positive experiences with the company.
Dunkin Donuts has over 9,000 followers! That’s a lot of people who want to talk about breakfast pastries and coffee. Dunkin Donuts uses Twitter to start conversations with their customers about the products they serve. They want to know what people like and dislike, what they would like to see more of and even ask questions about certain products. This is much easier (and probably more effective) than comment cards or surveys.
You can check out the complete list of Mashable.com’s list of top 40 companies on Twitter.
Clearly these companies fall into a variety of industries and service different groups of people. But, that does not mean that Twitter works for every company. It is necessary to decide if your constituents would even be online. For example, if you were in charge of communications and public relations at a nursing home, the majority of the people you communicate with may not even use the Internet. So, take this information and decide if the company you work for or a company would like to work for could be using Twitter, too.
Happy Tweeting.
Filed under: Case Studies, Corporate Use of Twitter, Twitter | Leave a Comment
Tags: Chicago Bulls, Dunkin Donuts, Home Depot, Twitter, Wachovia
Southwest Tweets
Southwest Airlines is a company that was always excelled in the PR and corporate communications world, moreover they make it clear that customer satisfaction is their number one priority. The way the company communicates with their constituents has always been unique and ahead of the other major companies in their field.
Southwest started their blog “Nuts About Southwest” to interact with their stakeholders and build relationships. The blog encourages participation through comments, individual postings and sharing links. At times the blog ask their customers opinions about ideas they are thinking about, such as seating policy changes.
The blog then expanded to the use of Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Southwest has a Twitter account and posts updates about flight cancellations, weather delays, flight deals and news updates. Twitter is managed by one woman, Christi Day, so that she can build a relationship with the people she tweets with. Moreover, the best part is that company uses this social media tool to its fullest. The communication through Twitter is two-way by responding to customer “tweets”. For example, customers mentioned that their baggage was lost and they had a poor check-in experience, and in both cases the woman behind the Southwest Twitter account promptly responded. To the customer with issues about checking in, “So sorry to hear it! What don’t you like about the check-in process? Did your flight get off okay?”. It is just good to know someone cares, especially the company you are giving money to.
According to Christi Day at Southwest, ”We monitor those channels because we know these conversations are taking place there, and we can either watch the conversations or take part in them”.
This video gives you a little more information on Southwest Airlines and their use of social media, specifically Twitter.
If you want to get a feel for the Tweets, add Southwest.
Filed under: Case Studies, Corporate Use of Twitter, Twitter | 5 Comments
Tags: Corporate Communication, Southwest Airlines, Twitter
Twitter and Corporate Comm.
I hope you have gotten a chance to browse Twitter and get a better understanding of the site. Clearly, it is very unique. Therefore when it comes to corporate communications a company must consider the goals and objectives to be achieved before jumping in. Twitter should be used with purpose, like all social media tools in the corporate communications world. According to Joel Postman in his 2009 book, Social Corp, social media strategy should tie into a corporation’s business and communication strategy. When choosing a social media tool a company must consider the audiences as well as the types of messages to be communicated.
Twitter can be used for a variety of audiences both internally and externally. For example, if employees were to use Twitter they could share business ideas, remind each other of meeting times, share links to something that might be of interest to coworkers, or use the site to socialize. According to Biz Stone, the creator of Twitter, the site is meant for connections and to bring people together. Externally, Twitter has been used by automotive makers, travel companies, retail corporations and even NASA to communicate with customers or investors. The most interesting part of communicating with certain audiences on Twitter is that a message only goes to those who have an interest in the company, or the “followers”.
Twitter messages only allow for 140 character “Tweets”, thus an entire news release cannot be communicated through Twitter. In order to give you a better idea of the maximum length of a “Tweet” on the Twitter Web site, this sentence is exactly 140 characters long. Very concise. Therefore I company must decide if 140 characters is enough to get a point across. If not, maybe traditional corporate blogging, podcasting or social media sites such as Facebook maybe more appropriate. Moreover, consider what is the message to be communicated. Is it updates? News? Stock information? All of these questions are necessary to answer before jumping into the world of Twitter. As a company interested in using Twitter for corporate communications, the best way to get a feel for Twitter messages to is to add a few companies to your Twitter feed, for example, Zappos or Carnival Cruise Lines.
Filed under: Corporate Use of Twitter, Twitter | 2 Comments
Tags: Biz Stone, Joel Postman, Twitter, Zappos
I figured we need to get all of the definitions straight before we go any further.
Blog: According to Merrium Websters’s online dictionary a blog is a “Web site that contains an online personal journal with reflections, comments, and often hyperlinks provided by the writer”. Traditionally blogs, like this one, are written in reverse chronological order and can contain pictures, links, podcasts and personal reflections. Blogs can be found on a variety of topics such as sports, politics, public relations or soley for personal use.
Microblog: Microblogging allows for authors to update their profile many times a day with quick messages. Yammer and Twitter are examples of popular microblogging sites.
Twitter: According to the Twitter homepage, Twitter is a service for people to stay connected through the exchange of quick messages (140 characters or less) or updates. All of the updates answer the question “What are you doing?”. Twitter can be accessed and updates can be published from the web site and mobile phones. The idea is that the people in your life (family, co-workers, or friends) might care that you are running late or going to be sipping a latte at Starbucks for the next two hours.
All of these social media tools have been used in the professional world, some successfully and some not so much. Although every corporate communicator has their own opinions on corporate blogging, the truth is it is a way to bring people together. According to the Christian Science Monitor having a microblog within a company can bring departments closer, and in some cases replace E-mail. So love it or hate it, these tools are going to be around for a while, so we might as well start to understand them!
Filed under: Twitter | 3 Comments
Tags: Blog, Microblog, Social Media, Twitter
