Whether it’s my personal account, my company’s account, or a client’s account, I’m on Twitter every day. I’ve grown increasingly frustrated with some practices that have become (appallingly) common. While some of these grievances certainly reflect my personal preferences, all of these poor practices can damage your professional credibility. The following is a list of particularly heinous Twitter practices that you should immediately discontinue. But never fear, for each action I tell you to stop doing, I will provide you with a better option, a la Women’s Health Magazine’s @EatThisNotThat.

Stop: Automatically direct messaging new followers. This seems to be irresistible to many corporate Twitter accounts. I’m sure you’ve seen those, “Thanks for the follow! Learn more about our services at CompanyX.com” direct messages. The reasoning appears to be that the account wants to show they care and that they appreciate you as an individual follower, but the fact that I have 36 of these sitting in my inbox on Twitter suggests otherwise.  In fact, it tells me that I’m probably one of thousands of followers who receive that same message. And, hello, your web address is more than likely listed on your Twitter page, should I feel the need to go to your site.

Do This Instead: Send a personalized tweet that starts a conversation. This may be more labor-intensive, but it’s a far better option if you want to welcome new followers. Just saying “@rightsource Thanks for the follow! What’s your favorite Company X product?” shows the follower that you’re ready to start a conversation. And, come on, you could mass customize those, right? Have a few responses ready to go and mix them up so you’re not constantly asking the same questions to new followers. While this may not be a feasible option for Twitter juggernauts, you can probably spare a few minutes each day to reach out to new followers in a way that actually shows them you care and appreciate them.

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If you haven’t already bought into the concept that content marketing is more important than ever, and that it impacts the entire marketing mix, this post is not for you. You can find the information you’re looking for in articles like B2B Magazine’s “Content marketing becoming vital” or Content Marketing Institute’s “2012 B2B Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends.”

For those of who are still reading, consider the following real scenario, with names redacted to protect the innocent. Company A believes in content marketing, and whether they know it by that name or call it something else, they invest tens of thousands of dollars per month in content marketing programs. Here’s a breakdown of who handles which pieces of content marketing in Company A:

• Small internal marketing team: Handles primarily lead generation and partner marketing programs. This team creates some content such as corporate website copy, but it’s difficult for the people managing the team and the process to also create content.
• Small employee blogger team:  Employees blog when they can, and often times post excellent thought leadership material. Blogging, however, is not a requirement, and therefore suffers in the face of higher priorities.
• Public relations agency: Creates press releases, media briefs, and bylined articles.
• Content marketing/social media firm: Manages all blog content and distribution, as well as social media content calendar.
• PPC/SEO Consultant: Creates PPC ads for search engine marketing campaigns, and handles some SEO copywriting and meta tag creation.
• Other consultants/internal staff: Others jump in when needed or hired for things like webinar, white paper or PowerPoint creation.

The good news is that these teams create lots of content. The even better news is that these teams create some impactful, high quality pieces of content. And yet the overarching complaint from those inside the company is that the core corporate message is non-existent at worst and inconsistent at best, throughout the content marketing effort.

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The following is a guest post from our friend and colleague, Michael Teitelbaum of BMore Integrated. This post was originally published on the BMore Integrated Blog.

The foundation of any integrated marketing campaign is developing a brand position. A thorough understanding of who you are, what you do, and why you’re in business is extremely important, as well as planning how to communicate that message to customers. Getting to a new brand platform is a process that takes time and careful consideration. The following is a process that we’ve used with lots of success.

Value Proposition

What is the value proposition that you offer customers? And more importantly, how is that different from what your competitors offer? The key to winning market share is brand differentiation. Sometimes the differences are apparent and significant. In other situations there are only small distinctions that need to be magnified in order to resonate with consumers.

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I’m a huge Ravens fan and I like all things Ravens.  Of course I have season tickets, and I also wear purple on Fridays, have Ravens license plates, listen to talk radio about the Ravens to and from work, have Ravens collars for my dogs, bought a string of purple lights for the porch for playoff season…need I go on?

I’m also passionate about helping companies find unique ways to engage their customers and prospects through digital media. It’s rewarding to assist our clients with a campaign and then to see the positive impact it had at the end of the month.

Two weeks ago these two worlds came together for me when I saw a tweet from the Ravens about their Ravens Week of Winning (WOW) promotion.  WOW, as I found out, was a very well thought-out digital media engagement promotion.

Background on the Ravens’ Digital Marketing Efforts

Before getting into this particular promotion, I have to say that the Ravens excel at interacting with fans on many different channels.  They are on Facebook and Twitter, they have a mobile app, provide an SMS feed, have several eNewsletters from which you may choose, and keep their website fresh with a wealth of information.  I knew about all of these channels, but found that I used some, like Facebook and Twitter, more than the others.

About the WOW Promotion

The WOW campaign pulled people like me, who primarily followed the Ravens in one or two places, into all of the Ravens’ marketing channels.  Each day the Ravens would send out a special code fans could use to enter a drawing.  The Ravens used a different digital media channel each day to reveal the code.  On Monday the code was sent in an SMS message; on Tuesday it was in a tweet; Wednesday, on Facebook; Thursday in an eNewsletter; and on Friday in a blog post or news story on their website.

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Social media catalyzed revolution in Egypt and basically stopped SOPA. But it’s also affecting the way politics and government work on an everyday basis, in states and neighborhoods throughout the world and the U.S.

Yesterday, I took part in a Government 2.0 experiment—the first tweetup organized by @governoromalley’s team at the State House in Annapolis. Here’s my take on how it went.

Social Media is Changing How We Work Together

While technology and new media is nowhere near as powerful as the human heart, O’Malley stated in his opening remarks, it has enabled humans to be more connected than ever. In his opinion, using this connection to improve our communities as tough times continue is critical.  While his opening remarks were general, his actions prove that he’s willing to put muscle behind this notion. I for one hope that this small tweetup is just the beginning of a flood of political leaders helping constituents play a larger role in policy conversations.

All organizations should take note—just as social media has the potential to transform politics, it is transforming the rest of our economy as well. If your organization isn’t thinking about how you can grow or adapt to take advantage of social media, it is missing a huge opportunity.

Turning the Tables

At the beginning of the tweetup, Jeremy Johnson (@tanlife) asked O’Malley what he thought of Baltimore @mayorsrb’s initiative to bring 10,000 families into Baltimore in 10 years. O’Malley gave his thoughts, fighting the assumption that we can do nothing about problems like crime and trash, but also turned the tables to ask Johnson what he thought would solve the problem. Johnson works with a nonprofit, Operation Oliver, which believes the answer to this question is putting “boots on the street”—getting started, picking up trash, and making things happen.

This particular issue aside, this exchange showed the power of new media to bring regular people into policy discussion. Because of this event, and the power that social media presents for the individual, Johnson and his organization had an opportunity to be heard.

Just as social media changes government, it can also change business and nonprofits. Are you asking your customers what new products they want to see? Are you asking your donors what they think the next priority for your non-profit should be? If not, start.

Answering Tough Questions

At one point in the event, I pushed Governor O’Malley on an issue that’s sure to be contentious this assembly—shifting some of the responsibility for teacher’s pensions to the counties without sacrificing classroom funding. I got an honest answer—we haven’t worked it out yet, and have to make some tough choices. O’Malley went into more detail, but fully admitted the complexity and risk of the situation.

Throughout the session, O’Malley confronted questions like mine honestly. This approach is vital in a world where word spreads about mistakes and inconsistencies faster than ever—attendees had fact checking capabilities at their fingertips and were live tweeting their thoughts and O’Malley’s answers.  If he had glossed over an issue, we would have called him out.

The same applies for companies and other organizations. If your company is dealing with a complicated issue, you can’t hide it just by not having a press conference about it. For example, 75,000 people have liked a Facebook page urging Mattel to create a bald Barbie to which children with cancer can relate. Mattel has released only vague statements in response, making their brand seem inflexible and old fashioned. Tackling hard issues quickly and truly responding to difficult questions is essential in a world of crowd-sourced, instant media.

Takeaways For Your Organization

New media is a fantastic marketing tool, but at yesterday’s event, it showed that it has the potential to be much more. O’Malley learned about the issues important to a group of his constituents, and I won’t be surprised if we see a few policy adjustments and programs arising out of yesterday’s conversation.

Here’s how your organization—political, commercial, nonprofit, or educational—can learn from and build on yesterday’s social media integrated event.

1. Hold real life tweetups. At least among the folks I talked to, the consensus on yesterday’s event was that it was cool, and should be repeated. Whether you’re a politician, CEO, President of a University or Executive Director of a non-profit, why not host an annual or quarterly tweetup? They’ll grow both your social media presence and your perspective on what matters to your audience.
2. Ask questions that matter. Don’t just use your Twitter handle to ask people what they think of the Ravens game or what their plans are for New Years. If you’re a politician, ask what people think about same sex marriage, or who should be paying teachers’ pensions. If you’re a school, ask students what their dream dorm would be like—and incorporate their answers next time you build one. If you’re a business, ask about what kinds of products or services your customers or clients would like to see next, and use their answers to form your plans. Asking questions that matter will get you answers that matter.
3. Hold a Twitter Town Hall. President Obama held a Twitter Town Hall back in July that allowed people from all over the country to ask questions that were answered live, shown on a streaming feed, and tweeted on the @whitehouse account. O’Malley and other politicians could do something similar to bring more voices into policy discussions. If your business or organization has a large enough online audience and a geographically disparate customer base or clientele, you could consider doing the same—whether it’s “Live Answers to Accounting Questions” or “Live Answers About Adopting a Pet.”
4. Hold Twitter “office hours.” Politicians—or someone from their office—could be available for a given number of hours every month so that citizens can ask questions and get an almost instant answer tweeted back. No live streaming video necessary—just guaranteed attention to a Twitter account and a commitment to answering tough questions. Your business or nonprofit could provide a subject matter expert to do the same, whether it’s a marketing expert or an on-the-ground medical aid worker in Haiti.

Did you follow the #mdgovtweetup? Is your organization doing anything similar? How do you see new media transforming politics, business, and the world? Please comment below—I’d love to continue the conversation.

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