Social Marketing - Do I Need To Be On Twitter? Part III

For the past two days we've been answering the question, "Does my business need to be on Twitter?"

To recap, we've already uncovered two things to think about before we answer this question:

1) Is your audience there?
2) What do you want to achieve?

Now we look towards a more pragmatic issue, "Do you have the time to interact?"

3) Do you have the time to interact?

If you don’t have the time to answer a direct tweet, please get off Twitter (I’m sorry but this is something I feel very strongly about).  If you schedule tweets that offer nothing to your audience, please get off Twitter.  If you want to ignore a complaint on Twitter because you don’t want to ‘get into it,’ please get off Twitter.  If you want to shoot out twenty Tweets a day with no interaction, please get off Twitter.

There are no hard and fast rules on how much time you should spend tweeting.  Many Celebrities will Tweet once a week, sometimes less, and still achieve their goals.  There is however a general consensus that interaction should score high on your list of do’s and don’ts. Most of us are on Twitter to achieve openness, a better customer experience, to resolve issues. This takes time, effort and true interaction.

An example of why you should interact? It is all very well sending special offers out into the Twitterverse, but if you don’t answer a query regarding the offer then you’ve wasted your time.  This is not a one-way street - INTERACT! 

4) Are you prepared to listen to your audience?

If we don’t listen effectively then we can’t interact effectively.  Please remember - This is Social Media, not Tech Media.

People follow Brands on Twitter for personal gain e.g., for latest news, deals, to communicate their experiences and to voice their satisfaction/grievances.  As the voice of your company/brand on Twitter you better be ready to listen or your going to fail miserably.  Use the tools out there to monitor what people are saying about you and react accordingly.  If someone is complaining about your service make sure you try and resolve the issue and learn from it.  If you don’t show that you are listening then your customers are going to feel like they are talking to a brick wall.  This is not good and renders your time on Twitter worthless.  Listen - Learn - Adapt.