10 Rules for Corporate Twitter Activation

So everyone wants free media.  But twitter isn't free media, it's a tool/platform that can enable or enhance your marketing via earned relationships.  So what does it take to earn some relationship gold? 

What does it take to make your corporate twitter account a success?

1. Make your account as personable and useful as possible.
   
   • Connect your twitter lead with your customer support and corporate communications.  You will get a lot of random questions, networking internally will be key.
   • Consider putting a picture of a human face in place of/next to your brand logo.  People know how to talk to people. Nobody talks to a soda bottle.
   • Fill out your bio. Consider including an email address.
   • Do not set up a twitter broadcast account before you have set up an interactive twitter account.
   • Man your account regularly.  Disasters and opportunities present 24/7.
   • Get legal out of the way now.  If legal needs to approve every conversation, you will not be successful.
     
2. Commit to both (a) brand value and (b) flexibility.
   • The community will define how relevant your position is on Twitter.  Never forget who pays the bills.  You have two bosses - your brand and the community.  Ignore one or the other and you will fail.
3. Grow a thick skin and get over the negativity. 
   
   • These conversations happened before you joined and they will continue when you leave.  If anything, learn. 
   • Do not yell.  Nobody likes to stand next to a screaming maniac (unless that's part of your brand image).
4. Be very aware of personal space.  Don't be a close talker and don't look like a stalker.
   
   • Do not @message people who don't want to hear from you.
   • Do not follow more than 1/3rd more people than the total of those who follow you.  Uber-following makes you look like a spammer.
   • It is perfectly acceptable to follow people who aren't following you.
   • You don't have to follow everyone who is following you.
5. Don't jump into twitter without a guide to the community.
   • The twitter community is constantly refining their expectations.  Keep learning, optimizing, reading and rethinking.
6. Don't auto-reply.  Don't auto-anything (other than auto-following, maybe). 
7. Don't ask what twitter can do for you, ask what you can do for the community.
   • Give, give, give.
   • Don't forget to measure what twitter is doing for you. See point 9 below.
8. Don't worry about scale, think about relevance and influence.
   • So much to write, just read Greg Verdino's post here.
9. Establish your metrics for success. 
   
   • If you can't demonstrate ROI, you are nothing but a disposable test destined to be replaced by proven marketing channels that CAN demonstrate ROI.
10. Get some perspective.
    • The twitter community thinks they are the be-all and end-all.  They aren't.  They are important, but they are not necessarily representative of society at large.  Just don't tell them that.  And this doesn't mean that they shouldn't be treated with respect.
    • Utilize social intel solutions, or even search.twitter.com to alert you to brand relevance and positioning.
    • When appropriate, invite offline conversation continuity.  Take a brand advocate to lunch and pick their brain.  Ask questions to your community.
    photo credit here
    

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Inspired By:
How to Use Twitter as a Twool
Looking for Mr Goodtweet, How to Pick Up Followers on Twitter
Great Examples of Corporate Twitter Use (Jennifer Laycock)
Corporate Twitter Entities - Yay or Nay?

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