Twitter…It’s Not Just for the Birds

Presented by Paul Chaney

Internet Marketing Director, BizzukaAuthor, The Digital Handshake

Agenda• Twitter’s Explosive Growth• How Business is Using Twitter• What is Twitter?• How to Set Up an Account• Twitter Rules of the Road• Twitter Business Plan of Action• Resources

• Twitter growth = 1,460% since June 2008• 77 million visited Twitter in January 2010• Site attracts more people than Ticketmaster,

Wall Street Journal and LinkedIn• Latest craze? Cultural phenomenon? Tool for

business?

Twitter’s Explosive Growth

Yes!

Twitter’s Explosive Growth

Celebrity Adoption Fuels Growth

Business and Twitter• A recent survey said that 89% of Twitter users agree

that companies should engage their customers there.

• Over 80 percent indicated they also have a better impression of companies that use Twitter for customer service. http://tinyurl.com/twitterusersurvey

• Survey of 700 Twitter users, 56 % use Twitter for business purposes. http://bit.ly/JqChq

How Business is Using Twitter

• Majority of users age 35+• 18-24 y.o = 10.6%

Major Companies Using Twitter

Benefits to Using Twitter• Way to prospect using shared interests• Introduces you to new prospects• Let’s you know more about your prospects• Allows you to build a relationship before making

call• Provides way to find warm prospects or warm them

up before the call• Opens door to referrals• Can lead to more inbound leads & fewer cold calls

Twitter is the Front Door

The Big Three

You Already Have the Skills

• Meeting people• Building relationships• Asking questions• Answering questions• Building trust• Building a reputation

• Just do it online!

How Business is Using Twitter• Network with others in their industry or community• Stay connected to customers and prospects• Monitor what is being said about their company, products, services,

industry and competition• Gather valuable feedback about products or services• Raise awareness about the company, product or service• Find answers and get advice• Offer proactive customer service• Promote events, products and services• Drive traffic to the company website or blog• Incite word of mouth among customers and others• Share helpful content such as articles or blog posts• Generate leads

• Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that allows its users to send and read other users' updates (otherwise known as tweets), which are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twitter

• Presence application• Social instant messaging application• Search engine• Whatever you need it to be!

What is Twitter?

Twitter As Real-Time Search

Twitter As Real-Time Search

http://www.bing.com/twitter

Twitter Use is Commonplace

Setting Up Twitter Account

Setting Up Twitter Account

Setting Up Twitter Account

What does the community care about?What resources would they find valuable?

Five Things to Consider When Setting Up Your Account

• Username (@pchaney)

• Avatar

• Bio

• Link

• Custom Background

Custom Background Examples

Custom Background Examples

Custom Background Examples

Custom Background Guidelines

• No hard and fast rules• 2048 px by 1707 px• Safe with 1400 x 900• Left column should be about 200-225 pixels wide (leave left margin)• If using image to the right, start at around 700 px from the left

Customizing Twitter Backgrounds

• Photoshop (or other image editor)• Powerpoint (http://bit.ly/pptbackground)• Online Tools– Twitterbackgrounds.com– TwitterImage.com– TwitterPatterns.com– Twitbacks.com

• iStockPhoto.com

Common Twitter Shortcuts

• @username – Sends reply to individual, but in public timeline

• d username – Sends private, direct message to individual

• RT = Retweet – Forwarding someone else’s tweet

• # = hashtag – Used with Twitter search for keyword/topic (#hardigital)

• Other shortcuts – Refer to Twitter help

Twitter Rules of the Road

• You must win the right to be heard

• Don’t follow, if only to pitch• Provide value to the

community• It’s okay to mix business

with pleasure

Twitter Rules of the Road

Twitter Rules of the Road

• You must win the right to be heard• Don’t follow, if only to pitch• Provide value to the community

Twitter Rules of the Road

• You must win the right to be heard• Don’t follow, if only to pitch• Provide value to the community• It’s okay to mix business with pleasure

Twitter Business Plan of Action

• Listen• Follow• Engage

Listening is the New Marketing

Listening Posts

• Twitter (http://www.twitter.com)

• Tweetbeep (www.tweetbeep.com)

Follow Dos and Don’ts

• Do follow others, but not indiscriminately• Do keep the focus on relevance• Don’t mass follow (400 followers in one day syndrome)• Don’t use automated functions (Auto-follow; auto-dm)

Who Do You Follow?

• Think in terms of demographics and geography• Follow those you already know• Follow “influentials”• Follow keyword users• Follow hashtag users (#)• Follow those who follow you• Follow followers of followers• http://tinyurl.com/fifteenfollowtips

Twellow: Twitter Yellow Pages

Twellow By Category

Claim Your Listing

The Twellowhood

The Twellowhood

Engage

• Respond to what others are saying• Provide valuable info to your target

market• Engage in casual conversation with

followers• Answer questions people are asking• Don’t solicit; don’t pitch

(at least not at first)

Jump In! The Water’s Fine!

Resources

• Twitter Desktop Clients• Twitter Mobile Apps• Other Twitter Tools

Twitter Desktop Clients

TweetDeck (www.tweetdeck.com)

Twitter Desktop Clients for Mac• Twitterific• Tweetr• Tweetie

Twitter Mobile Apps• Tweetie (iPhone app)• Tweetdeck (iPhone app)• Twitterberry (Blackberry)• Tiny Twitter (Blackberry)

Other Tools

• MrTweet (http://mrtweet.net)• Twitter Grader (http://twitter.grader.com)• Nutshell Mail (http://nutshellmail.com)• Twitpic (http://twitpic.com)• Twitvid (http://www.twitvid.com)• Tweetshare (http://www.tweetshare.com)• TweetMixx (http://www.tweetmixx.com)

You have questions, I have answers.

Paul Chaney Internet Marketing Director Bizzuka, Inc. (www.bizzuka.com)

www.thesocialmediahandyman.comwww.thedigitalhandshake.comwww.facebook.com/thedigitalhandshakewww.twitter.com/pchaneypchaney@bizzuka.com