Don’t Let Twitter Leads Slip Through Your TweetDeck

Twitter just turned 4 on Sunday, and last month, hit 50 million tweets per day, proving just how powerful it can be. Over the past four years, it has emerged as one of the “must use” social media tools for businesses, but using it correctly takes some effort.

Today, it’s easy to see why a business should be on Twitter, but it’s much harder to actually get solid business leads from it. Here are some tips that we use everyday that can help you increase your Twitter leads:

Account Setup

When setting up your Twitter account, choose a username that fits your business — either the title of your business or a descriptive phrase. One of our clients is MyrtleBeachHotels.com, and we chose MBHotels as their Twitter handle — short and to the point.

Take advantage of the customizable background image on your Twitter account. Add in more photos and information about your business. This will give potential followers more information in a short amount of time.

Once your account is set up and ready for the public, begin to follow influential tweeters in your industry, but only a few each day. Don’t follow everyone who follows you, as Twitter spamming has increased and will make your account look less legitimate.

Another feature that can attract potential customers is Twitter lists. Make your account a go to reference by setting up lists that are interesting to your target audience.

Personality

Every business has a different personality, and that personality should be reflected in the Twitter account. Make the tweets conversational and relevant to your target audience. When interacting on Twitter, leave the sales pitch at the office.

Maintenance

Maintaining your Twitter account is the single most important thing you can do. Without content, there’s no incentive for people to follow an account. Post informative and interesting tweets two to four times a day, including weekends and evenings. Posting at different times during the day will allow you to reach a larger and more varied audience.

Monitor

Once the Twitter account is set up, it’s time to choose a Twitter application to monitor for keywords. There are many Twitter applications out there to choose from, including Tweetdeck and Hootsuite. When setting up keywords to monitor for potential customers, be creative; thinking outside of the box can help you capture leads your competitors don’t even see. Use the location of your business, industry keywords and competitor keywords. Research how people ask for information about your industry and what words are used most often.

Responses

Since social media moves so quickly, responding within 24 hours to tweets is a must, and within 12 hours is more desirable. When responding to these leads, remember to leave the sales pitch at home. Offer information, but with a conversational tone. No pressure and interesting tweets will get the best responses.

This process may seem overwhelming, but just get started and get in the habit of checking Twitter and responding to tweets daily, and the leads will start to come in!

What techniques have you successfully used to capture leads from Twitter?

Keeping a high profile online can pay off

Have a travel problem?

Just tweet about your troubles, and the airline, car rental company or hotel will fix it. At least that’s the conventional wisdom. And while it’s true that travel companies are spending a lot of time online listening to their customers, they’re not necessarily paying attention to all of us.

“Travel companies pick and choose who to respond to in social media,” says social media expert Ryan Goff. “You better believe that a Web celebrity with 100,000 Twitter followers is going to catch a company’s attention over the casual tweeter with only 10 friends.”

So, how to become a somebody?

Be interesting

Boring people don’t get a lot of followers.

“Be engaging,” says Lyn Mettler, the founder of Step Ahead, which manages social media campaigns. “Don’t just talk, talk, talk about yourself all day long. Read what other people are posting, and respond to them. Ask questions, answer questions. Truly interacting with people will help build your followers.”

Get a blog

One of the fastest ways to raise your online profile is to blog.

“If you blog, that helps tremendously,” says Tim Massie, an adjunct professor of communication at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.

It helps if the subject matter is travel-related, but anyone with access to a credible blog is likely to come to the attention of a travel company faster than someone who doesn’t. Massie says being an active participant in online forums can help, too.

Join the conversation

“Post and tweet frequently about your experiences,” says Rick Gardinier, the chief digital officer for the advertising agency Brunner. “This will increase your relevancy and authoritativeness, which in turn will boost your following.”

How often? I try to tweet and post a few times a day, but you should be able to keep a respectable profile by publishing something a few times a week.

Offer good information

Building trust — and followers — takes time and work, according to experts.

“Travelers can increase their social media influence by creating good content, consistently, for an extended amount of time,” says Chris Harrington, the technology director for the communications firm Luquire George Andrews.

He says he is likely to follow users who have positive things to say about the subject matter.

“Negative comments can hurt the traveler’s social capital as much or more than the company in question,” he says.

That way, when you do go negative, your followers will pay attention.

Make a personal connection

Travelers tend to follow people they can relate to.

“People trust contents from somebody they can identify with personally,” says Iis Tussyadiah, an assistant professor at Temple University’s school of tourism and hospitality management.

Often, it’s as simple as posting a picture and a brief biography on your blog or Facebook profile. People are more likely to read your tweets and posts when they feel they know you than when you’re a faceless, anonymous voice on the Internet.

Even if you only have a small number of followers, you can still make a difference.

“The squeaky Twitterer still gets the grease,” says Dallas Lawrence, chairman of the digital and social media practice group at Levick Strategic Communications. “Like most travel-related stories in the online space, companies have focused their efforts toward addressing critical commentary posted by dissatisfied customers …”

You’re probably wondering if these strategies can really work for you. They can. I’ve used them myself. (You can follow me on Twitter at elliottdotorg, Facebook, Google Buzz or on my blog.)

Next time you have a travel problem, you’ll be glad you did.

http://www.kansascity.com/2010/03/20/1819283/keeping-a-high-profile-online.html

Social Media Podcast – Social Media Tips for Entrepreneurs

It’s the third Wednesday of the month, and that means it’s time for another Social Media Means Business podcast. Today, Lyn welcomed Tiffany Odutoye, the author of “Now What Do I Do: An Entrepreneur’s Guide to the Next Step with Social Media”. Tiffany explained some of the newer social media tools and gave some great tips for small business owners who are looking to make social media a part of their marketing mix.

The podcast airs the 3rd Wednesday of every month at 11 a.m.

Listen here and let us know what you think.

Selling Out the Front Page

It’s no secret newspapers have fallen on tough times. With more people turning to the Internet for their news and a recession that put advertising sales in the tank, newspapers are struggling. But that’s no reason to comprise journalism ethics and values.

In the more than 10 years I spent in newsrooms across this country, there’s always been a distinct line between editorial and advertising – “separation of church and state” as it’s often called. Unfortunately, that line is blurring as newspapers look for any way they can to make up lost revenue.

A perfect example of this was splashed across the front page of the Los Angeles Times on March 5. The LA Times worked with The Walt Disney Co. to create a fake front page promoting Disney’s new “Alice in Wonderland” movie. A large photo of Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter covered a fake front page with the real front page pushed back to Page 2.

This incident makes my stomach churn. What it says to me is that advertising is more important than the news. It says news should take a back seat – in this case second page – to the almighty dollar.

I’m sure the PR professionals for Disney and the movie loved this concept. It was great exposure for the movie and the controversy surrounding it simply created more buzz about the film. But any self-respecting public relations professional – particularly those of us whose roots are in journalism – should value the sanctity of editorial content. There’s a reason you can’t buy coverage like a front page news story. At least that’s the way it used to be. This incident shows us apparently you can buy the front page.

Some may argue newspapers have to do what they can to survive.  Some may suggest that these sorts of promotions will keep more journalists from losing their jobs. That may be true, but at what cost? And do these journalists really want to work for a newspaper that values money over news? Newspapers should think twice before selling the front page – and PR folks should think twice before asking them to.

Seven secrets for getting attention online

Got a travel problem?

Just tweet about your troubles, and the airline, car rental company or hotel will fix it. At least that’s the conventional wisdom. And while it’s true that travel companies are spending a lot of time online listening to their customers, they’re not necessarily paying attention to all of us.

“Travel companies pick and choose who to respond to in social media,” says social media expert Ryan Goff of the advertising firm MGH Inc. “You better believe that a Web celebrity with 100,000 Twitter followers is going to catch a company’s attention over the casual tweeter with only 10 friends.”

Even online, some travelers are more equal than others. Question is, how to become a somebody?

You should care, because even today, as social networking applications like Twitter and Facebook have come of age, being online can be the most effective shortcut to getting great customer service.

I see it every day on Twitter, as customers with questions are sent to the front of the line (sometimes literally) because they had a respectable social-media profile. Online travel agencies such as Orbitz have an entire team of employees dedicated to monitoring online chatter and helping customers.

I asked several social media experts about how to boost your online profile. Here’s what they told me:

1. Be interesting. Boring people don’t get a lot of followers. “Be engaging,” says Lyn Mettler, the founder of Step Ahead Inc., which manages social media campaigns. “Don’t just talk, talk, talk about yourself all day long. Read what other people are posting and respond to them. Ask questions, answer questions. Truly interacting with people will help build your followers.”

2. Get a blog. Being an active participant in online forums can help too. “If you go the extra mile, posting photos, helping others understand the amenities of hotels, and providing insider information that a typical tourist would overlook, you will earn your reputation and be an influencer in the travel industry,” says Tim Massie, an adjunct professor of communication at Marist College.

3. Join the conversation. “Post and tweet frequently about your experiences,” says Rick Gardinier, the chief digital officer for the advertising agency Brunner. How often? I try to tweet and post a few times a day, but you should be able to keep a respectable profile by publishing something a few times a week.

4. Offer good information. Building trust — and followers — takes time and work. Chris Harrington, the technology director for the communications firm Luquire George Andrews, likes to follow users who have positive things to say. “Negative comments can hurt the traveler’s social capital as much or more than the company in question,” he says. That way, when you must go negative — when something happens that you need resolved — your followers will pay attention.

5. Check your motives. If people think you’re trying to sell something, they may be less likely to include you in the network. Being in it for all the right reasons is one way of building your online credibility.

6. Speak up. The best way to get noticed by any company is to openly discuss your experiences. Be sure to use proper shout-out etiquette by linking to the travel company’s blog (which is monitored by the company) or using their Twitter handle —@Jetblue or @Marriottintl — when you tweet about them.

7. Make a personal connection. Travelers tend to follow people they can relate to. Often, that’s as simple as posting a picture and a brief biography on your blog or Facebook profile.

Even if you only have a few followers, you can still make a difference. “The squeaky Twitterer still gets the grease,” says Dallas Lawrence, chair of the digital and social media practice group at Levick Strategic Communications.

These strategies really can work for you. I’ve used them myself. (You can follow me on Twitter at elliottdotorg, on Facebook, on Google Buzz or on my blog, elliott.org).

Along the way, I’ve made some terrific friends — people I’ve never actually met, but that’s beside the point — and had lots of interesting conversations.

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/lifestyle/columnists.nsf/travel/story/DF07B67D574F3DD8862576E2006D6F16?OpenDocument

March Social Media Star: Ken Hawkins

Social media has impacted how we gather and view news worldwide, and media outlets continue to struggle with a way to combine social media with traditional journalism to find a model that works. We think our March Social Media Star, Ken Hawkins, has the solution: TheDigitel.

TheDigitel, founded by Ken in 2008, is currently based in Charleston, S.C., but headed to other cities soon. It’s a site that connects readers to news from local media outlets and also produces its own stories, while integrating social media tools like Facebook and Twitter in a helpful way. They’ve also created an innovative ad model integrating real time social media content from their advertisers.

TheDigitel, which recently secured funding for expansion, has its finger on the pulse of news in the 21st Century. We once heard Ken say that citizens will become the gatherers of news and the journalist’s new role will be to provide context. We think he’s right!

Ken wears many hats at TheDigitel.com, acting as Web master, information designer, owner and editor in chief. To keep the site up to date, he spends four or more hours a day on social media sites, monitoring news and events.

Here’s what Ken had to say about social media:

What is your job/company/profession/title?
Web master/info designer/owner/editor in chief/guru for Giant Hawk Media — that’s TheDigitel, an online Web-optimized newspaper. There I more or less do information design and journalism.

What was the first social media technology you used?
First. Hrm. Would probably be Friendster or Flickr. The first I really used was MySpace and Twitter (I think my Twitter account goes way back into ’06.)

What is your favorite social media tool?
Most certainly Twitter.

How have you used social media for your business/company and how has it benefited?
While social media has been useful to us by offering more efficient communication channels with our readers and customers, it has been eminently useful to us in an information-gathering capacity. Twitter allows us the ability to gather real-time news reports and feedback from readers, while Facebook allows new ways for members and businesses of the community to pass along info about an upcoming band performance or restaurant opening.

Twitter has been doubly interesting, as advertisers that use our Dynamic Ads can both inform their followers and instantly update their advertisement message.

How much time would you say you spend a day engaging social media?
I’d say 1-2 hours actively corresponding, but perhaps 4+ hours monitoring news and events.

How do you incorporate it into your day so it’s not a time waster?
What’s your best tip for using social media for business?
I’ll lump these two together. I maintain one set of accounts for business identities and one for personal. It’s something professionals have done for ages with phones and desks, but many don’t do it for social media.

Is there a social media tool/technique that you think is underutilized that you would like people to know about?
Too many people use Twitter to hammer out a message or go onto bizarre sidetracks with their business accounts — more than anything Twitter is a chance to grow business relationships. Be social, but stay on topic.

And outdated blogs/Web sites with inadequate information drive us nuts as a local media company.

Where can people find you online and via social media?
http://www.twitter.com/TheDigitel
http://www.twitter.com/khawkins98
http://thedigitel.com
http://allaboutken.com/work

Anything else?
Thanks for featuring me. And, fun factoid, TheDigitel.com receives almost as much traffic from Twitter+Facebook as Google.

Magic Phone Lessons Learned

Last month, our team came up with what we thought would be a fun contest to help promote our client, Spirit Telecom, a telecommunications company based in Columbia, S.C. While you might not think of that as the most social media savvy of subjects, we’ve prided ourselves in our ability to come up with some really interesting ideas that have increased their visibility online.

For our latest promotion, we decided to take the idea of silly/fun hashtags (a way to categorize tweets on Twitter) that often pop up and turn that concept into a contest, as well. Since they’re a telecommunications company, we thought what if we asked people who they would call – past or present, living or dead – if they had a magic phone. We turned #magicphone into the hashtag.

A blog post on the company’s site noted that at two random times during a 24-hour period we would choose the person who had tweeted #magicphone closest to that time and award them a Kindle, thus, the contest.

Well, as you may or may not have seen, #magicphone really took off. However, after a staff post-mortem of the promotion and conversations with several Twitter buddies, we realize we may have created an unintended annoying side effect especially for locals in Charleston (where #magicphone got started): filling up your Twitter account with a lot of #magicphone posts.

So we wanted to issue a #magicphone apology on behalf of Step Ahead, Inc. We realize now that the way we chose to select the winner (by selecting a random time) encouraged people to spam #magicphone over and over in the hopes they would land on the right time. Creating a bunch of spammy repeating posts was certainly not our goal.

We wanted people, if they were interested, to tweet it once or twice, tag two others, and be done with it. But instead, lots of people just posted the same tweet over and over and over again. If you were following multiple people doing that, your Twitter account quickly filled up with #magicphone.

Sooo…. we’ve decided that for future promotions like this we’ll allow folks to enter once per day only via Twitter and hopefully reduce the spammy tweets so it’s a bit more manageable – and fun, like we intended. We’re all learning as we navigate the ever-changing world of social media and we feel like every time we do a promotion and tweak and refine, we’re helping our clients have the best social media presence they can have.

Overall, though, Magic Phone was a success, sending more than 4500 people to our client’s Web site and exposing them to their products. Heck, I even got Trista Sutter (oh come on, you know she was The Bachelorette!) to tweet it!

I hope that helps make up for our mistake, Charleston Twitterers. Please know we did not intend to be annoying and never want to aggravate our best Twitter buddies.

So if you see #magicphone again, don’t worry. Hopefully, you’ll only see it a couple of times and you can choose to participate or not without a disruption to your Twitter day.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

The New Social Media Guidelines