a presentation on:

2 October 2009 www.searchenginecollege.com

A presentation on:

Twitter: It’s Not Just for Bored Celebrities

by Kalena JordanSearch Engine College


Who the heck is Kalena Jordan?

One of the first people to offer Search Engine Optimisation services in Australia/NZ, back in 1997.

In 2004 I co-founded the online search marketing training institution SearchEngineCollege.com. I’ve been blogging about search since 2002 and currently author an “agony aunt” style search

engine advice column at www.Ask-Kalena.com and I blog at SiteProNews.com From skeptic to Twitter *Power User* [@kalena]. Rely on it almost entirely for industry news &

business leads.


Audience Question:

Hands up – how many of you are Twitter users? Keep hand up if you use Twitter once/month or more.

(below average) Keep hand up if you use Twitter once/week or more.

(average) Keep hand up if you use Twitter once/day or more.

(above average) Keep hand up if you use Twitter once/hour or more.

(power user) Keep your hand up if you use Twitter more than

once/hour…


Key Twitter Facts

Twitter.com – free signup Founders are ex–Googlers Evan Williams and Biz Stone. Launched March 2006. Fastest growing community site on web. 1,382% growth in 12 months to Feb 09. The largest user group is 35-49 year olds. 50 million tweets a day being sent.

Source: Neilsen


Key Twitter Moments

Mumbai terrorist attacks. Oprah’s on-air tweet. Ashton Kutcher beats CNN to 1m followers. Plane ditches in Hudson River. Michael Jackson dies. Kanye West steals Taylor Swift’s limelight. Earthquakes / tsunamis in Samoa & Indonesia


Is Twitter Useful for Business?

Ok, so lots of celebrities are on Twitter and it’s great for breaking news.

But is it useful for business? Are NZ businesses actively using

Twitter?


Some NZ Brands on Twitter

Air New Zealand @flyairnz Telecom NZ @telecomNZ Best Blooms @bestblooms Spagalimis @spagalimis Epic Beer @epicbeer Mr Vintage @mrvintage Ponoko @ponoko Wine Vault @TheWineVault Hell Pizza @HellPizza666 Te Papa @Te_Papa

All Blacks @allblacksrugby NZ Rugby @NZRugby Vodafone @vodafonenz Book a Bach @bookabach Orcon @orcon Tourism NZ @PureNewZealand TV3 @tv3nz ASB Bank @ASBBank Google NZ @googledownunder NZ Herald @nzherald


NZ Personalities on Twitter

John Key @johnkeypm Rhys Darby @rhysiedarby John Campbell @johnjcampbell Paul Holmes @paul_holmes


Audience Question:

How many of you use Twitter for your business? (Survey)


Why Twitter is Good for Biz

Conversation is a powerful, persuasive business tool. Twitter is where the conversation is happening. People are already talking about your brand. Placing

your business on Twitter is like being at the water cooler, handing out the cups.

Twitter allows you to engage directly with customers and potential customers in real time in front of an impressionable public.

It’s fun! As an effective advertising tool, the dusty old Yellow Pages seems prehistoric in comparison.


How Do Businesses Use it?

Manage & contribute to your online reputation. Interact and engage with your customers. Help and offer solutions. Offer incentives to buy / sign up. Give your brand a personality. Virtual PR and marketing activities e.g. Vodafone Real time competitions e.g. *Find Ms Parker* Learn from your customers. Adapt accordingly.


Set Up Your Brand on Twitter

Reserve your Twitter name ASAP e.g. @Google Connect your account with a logical email address. Template your Twitter page to match your brand (e.g.) Assign a staff member to monitor /use the account daily. Create keyword alerts (TweetBeep / Google) and assign

someone to process and respond to them. Flesh out your Twitter profile for viewers. Set goals for your Twitter channel and review / revise

them regularly (# of followers, # of tweets, links posted). Design a dedicated Twitter landing page (e.g.)


<Back


Case Study – The Pizza Win

Silicon Valley pizza chain Tony & Alba @tonyalba_pizza Used keyword tracking & Twitter Search tool to monitor

conversations on Twitter for the keyword *pizza*. Noticed a local tweeting to his buddy suggesting their

families visit a particular pizza parlour. Tweeted to them suggesting Tony & Alba’s instead. Further away, but gave incentive of reserving table and

providing free soft drinks for the whole family. RESULT = future business from 2 families & those who

observed Twitter conversation.


Case Study – The Burrito Fail

Mexican restaurant chain Costa Vida @CostaVida Utah store sent a one-day-only offer for a free sweet pork

burrito to their 80 followers. Offer required electronic coupon sent to cell phone. Followers tweeted/txted offer to THEIR followers & so on. More than 2,500 people inundated Costa Vida’s Utah

restaurant looking for their free burrito. RESULT = demand outstripped supply and burritos were

gone in first hour. Costa Vida spent several days fulfilling promise to coupon holders. WIN or FAIL?


Is Twitter Used by Customers?

So there are plenty of Twitter users. But are they really interested in connecting

with businesses? How do end-users interact with brands on

Twitter? (Survey)


Why Twitter Works for Business

63% of poll respondents conversed with a company on Twitter.

Nearly half of those people had an issue to resolve with the company they contacted.

Represents huge potential for customer retention. Direct, instant feedback via tweets is cheaper and

more accurate than market research. Twitter account can replace or supplement help desk

and customer support lines. Size of business is irrelevant. It’s free advertising!


Twitter Business Etiquette

Tweet regularly! Don’t do this. Follow people, interact, offer incentives or guidance. Be polite and helpful. Take any heated conversations to DM. Refrain from sales speak and self promotion. Be human not corporate. Let personality shine through. Don’t push your brand, wait for people to pull it. Be careful using auto-tweet & auto-follow tools. Don’t use auto-responder tools. Non sequitur! (e.g.)


Tweet Regularity FAIL

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Auto Tweet Response FAIL


Case Study–Search Engine College

Main account @secollege, several accounts for specific course disciplines e.g. @learnseo, @learnppc etc.

TweetBeep.com alerts to monitor keywords and phrases e.g. “seo course”, “learn adwords”, “seo certification”.

Monitor alerts regularly via Gmail & filter them manually. Tweet @replies to those persons suggesting our courses as

alternative to offline training & competitors. (e.g.) Tweet lesson updates, competitions like #findMsParker. RESULT = Qualified leads produce more enrolments.

Interactivity creates sense of community for virtual campus.

Next>


Case Study–Search Engine College

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Human Tweet Response WIN


Human Tweet Response WIN

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Case Study – The Free Bouquet

Saw a special tweeted by Auckland florist @BestBlooms Placed order, received a call confirming same day delivery Bouquet arrived but wasn’t quite as expected. (e.g.) I let Best Blooms know via DM I was disappointed & they

apologised via public tweet. Case closed? Next day a replacement bouquet & box chocs arrived (e.g.) RESULT = Customer disappointment became customer

delight and earned a blog post, lots of Twitter RTs and personal recommendations. Customer service WIN.

Next>


Expectations Not Met

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Expectations Surpassed

“This was how it was supposed to look!

Our mistake.

Sincere apologies

Best Blooms”

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Case Study – The Wine Vault

Auckland’s own Wine Vault uses Twitter @TheWineVault Small brand successfully leveraging social media. Jayson cross-promotes WineVaultTV, his daily video blog

with special guests eg. John Campbell. Co creator of #TweetBunchNZ – live Twitter wine reviews. Tweets wine specials, competitions like #findthewine. 20%-25% of sales directly attributed to Twitter & Facebook. RESULT = Brand evangelism. Create a sense of fun

around your brand to win loyalty and lots of RT’s.Next>


Case Study – The Wine Vault

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Final Piece of Advice

THANK YOUTHANK YOU


Follow Me:

@kalena

@secollege

www.searchenginecollege.com

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