Social Media: Set Your Company A-Twitter
This is the second post in a series about social media.
Twitter presents its users with a very simple premise: tell the world what you’re doing right now, in 140 characters or less. Hardcore Twitter users stay constantly engaged via Twitter clients like Twhirl and Twitteriffic, providing them a nonstop stream of news, updates, pictures and links.
In a world of highly-spun press releases and well-rehearsed corporatespeak, the idea of a company “tweeting” to its followers may seem ineffective, possibly even dangerous. Tweets are off-the-cuff, conversational. Not every company has the public persona necessary to communicate authentically via Twitter.
A great example of corporate Twitter use is Southwest Airlines.
Southwest uses its Twitter account to update their customers with interesting details about life at Southwest Headquarters. They respond to replies from followers, creating a sense of transparency within their Twitter community. Followers get first notice about fare sales announced via Twitter, free gifts, and articles of note about Southwest. In return for the time invested, Southwest gets priceless information on the habits and random thoughts of their customers.
The Southwest Twitter account seems, like Apogee’s, to be manned by multiple people though it speaks with one voice. I would strongly encourage having a “Designated Twitterer”, however, because it’s very possible to spam via Twitter if someone is not keeping track of what gets posted. Tweeting more than once a day isn’t spammy, but you should concentrate on having quality content behind it.
You can follow Apogee on Twitter for interesting SEM and company news and events — we’ve also been known to give out a discount code or two! Stay tuned to the Apogee Search Marketing Blog for the next entry in our social media series.
