Twitter Best Practices for Social Media Marketing (according to @stevelatham)

1.  Interesting and Engaging Content
While Tweeting is easy, it’s important that you do it right, starting with a solid content strategy.  Content recommendations include:

• Based on approved content guidelines, create Tweets that are engaging and relevant to target audiences.  It should be easy for potential followers to see that your tweets are valuable and worth reading.
• Write tweets that will be shared.  Rather than simply posting links, introduce links with compelling copy that encourage clicks.
• Allow time to pass between each tweet (at least 15 minutes) for several reasons: 1) no one likes to have their dashboard of tweets dominated by one account, 2) if someone is not watching they are likely to miss them, 3) spreading them out demonstrates consistency that yields brand benefits.
• Limit Tweets to 120 characters so they can be easily re-tweeted without exceeding the 140-character limit. See “120 is the new 140″ from @BrianSolis for more tips.
• Leverage real-time search by prominently including buzzwords that will picked up by Google, Bing and other search engines.
• For more on Content Marketing check out @juntajoe and his blog.

2. Remember! Engagement = Listening + Responding
Social media is about interacting, and you can’t do that if you’re not listening.  In addition to listening for your brand mentions, you need to keep an eyes on what your network is tweeting about and participate in the discussion.  Here are some tips:

• Use tools to track when your profile or brand is being mentioned on Twitter.  Tools include www.Search.Twitter.com as well as the SM monitoring tools mentioned previously.
• Use the native search feature in your Twitter management tool to follow topics that are of importance to you.  For example, I have a search column in Hootsuite for “Social Media Strategy“.  This is how I keep up to date on the latest tweets on this subject.
• When your brand is being mentioned in a positive way, RT the message, follow and recognize the person who tweeted about you.
• Acknowledge mentions.  Monitor when your Twitter account name is mentioned and RT to thank, and/or acknowledge those who are mentioning you.
• Build credibility and goodwill with your followers by re-tweeting (RT) posts that will be of interest to your audiences.  If you RT a follower’s post, they may acknowledge the RT to their followers, thereby promoting you in the process.

When your brand is being mentioned in a negative way, you can either 1) respond, or 2) ignore it.  If you choose to reply, consider the risks, given the nature of their tweet, their motives and their objectives. A confrontational response is rarely successful.  If you want to address a customer complaint, ask them follow you so you can then send a DM and take the conversation offline.  As mentioned above, ignoring the mention is often best.  You can inadvertently cause much greater damage if you engage in a public scuffle with a crazy person.

3. Building a network of followers
Without a network there is no reach, and without reach there is no ROI.  Contrary to most hopes and beliefs, networks do not build themselves; if you want followers, you have to work on it.  The good news is that with Twitter, the process is relatively easy.  When you follow someone, they will receive an email notification.  Currently, the normal etiquette is to respond by following the person who followed you.  Judicious tweeters will read your latest tweets to determine if your content is worth following.  If the content is good, most will follow you back – at least for a while.

• Start with your own employees, partners, vendors and community.  Announce your new Twitter account and ask employees to follow and share with others.
• Identify the top 50 influencers in your category on Twitter as these people can provide visibility and credibility for your brand among their networks of followers. Use www.TweepSearch.com, www.MrTweet.com and www.Twollow.com to find users with shared interests.  Look for those who have large numbers followers and are active in sharing their opinions with the masses (aka influencers).
• Follow people who follow your Influencers.
• Include a link to your twitter account in email, on your site, on all social networking sites and in all correspondence.
• Remember to maintain a favorable ratio of Following / Followers of +/- 1:1. While building your network, take time to check out who you are following that is not following you back at www.FriendorFollow.com.  For each person who is not following you, you can either: 1) stop following for good, or 2) unfollow and then re-follow.  If they do not respond on your 2^nd attempt to reach out, you may consider unfollowing them for good.
• Be careful with TwitterBots (AutoFollow) tools.  As you’ll quickly learn, building a network takes time.  If you are interested in using an network-building service, make sure  you use a credible tool or service that follows Twitter best practices. Failure to do so will result in suspension of your account.  While there are a lot of cheap bots that to avoid, there are some services that work (full disclosure: we offer one that works well).  Before you buy, do your homework and ask for references.

4. Managing Multiple Accounts
Many marketers maintain at least two types of Twitter accounts – one for their company and one for their personal tweets.   Twitter management tools (my favorite is HootSuite) allow you to manage multiple profiles.  Since many may follow your personal and work accounts, make sure you don’t tweet the same content at the same time.  Another common practice is to RT your company tweets from your personal account.  Remember that many will follow your brand and personal profiles, so make sure you space them out (no simultaneous tweeting!).

Common Twitter Mistakes to Avoid
Here are some common content mistakes many marketers make when Tweeting:

• It’s all about me!!!  Too many still use social media a megaphone vs. a telephone.  Success requires that you listen, engage and interact with others in the community.
• Using social media as a press release distribution platform.  While there are sites that are great for press releases, this should be the exception, not the norm.  As noted, conversations require an exchange of information.  If all you do it tell the world about your firm, audiences will grow tired of listening.
• Boring content.  You should always seek to include and introduce links to video, articles, audio and other media that will be interesting to audiences.
• Vague content. Doesn’t it bug you when someone posts a link with a cryptic introduction?  Make it easy for followers to see what you are presenting to them.  Introduce your links.
• Sharing information that is confidential, sensitive or not appropriate.  This is especially important if you work for a public company or in a regulated, hyper-competitive or litigious industry.
• Drawing unnecessary attention or being overly defensive when addressing negative comments.  Sometimes it’s best to ignore the haters.  If you respond, you may make something big out of a small issue, which may be exactly what they want you to do.

In Closing…
Again, this may not be all-encompassing, and I’m sure I’ve omitted a few important lessons.  That said, I hope these are helpful and that you find value in them.  If so, please COMMENT, SHARE and SUBSCRIBE to our blog.  Thank you for your feedback!

Steve Latham (follow me on Twitter)

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The online media landscape is in a constant state of change, and with the growing list of opportunities to use digital media as a marketing channel, the tools are evolving quickly.  Below is my New Media Toolkit – a list of online apps, services and vendors that I’ve found to be of great value.  It is by no means comprehensive, but if you need help today, these are great places to start!

Competitive Intelligence Tools

• Quantcast is an outstanding resource for assessing visitor demographics and user interests for your site and competitors’ sites.
• Compete.com is one of my favorites for analyzing comparative site traffic and levels of engagement over time.
• Alexa.com should be mentioned as well.  While I don’t trust the data for site traffic (see Can You Trust Competitive Site Data?), it is the only free estimate that shows the number of page views per visit.  Since Compete no longer offers this for free, Alexa is still useful.

Search Engine Marketing Tools

• Google Estimator allows you to forecast ad inventory, cost per click and projected media spend for a given set of keywords and geographic market.  While this is better than nothing, the results may vary significantly from reality for a variety of reasons.  Use with caution.
• Google Ad Preview allows you to see how search results appear in different parts of the World
• Search Status Toolbar from Quirk: one plug-in allows you to see keyword density, no-follow links, page rank, inbound links and other great tools (referred to me by Catfish Comstock)
• Google Trends and Google Insights are valuable tools for seeing trends in keyword searches. This is one of the best ways to measure changes in demand due to cyclical or seasonal factors.

Social Networking Sites

• Facebook: join me and 300 million of my extended friends. Just don’t freak out when your mother sends you a friend request (love you mom!)
• LinkedIn – if you are in business and you are not on LinkedIn, you are missing the boat. Seriously.
• Twitter - before you say no, take a test drive.  It’s a great way to promote your content and you may even have fun doing it.
• Slideshare – best described as “You Tube for Powerpoint” slideshare is the #1 place to post your presentations and demonstrate thought leadership.  It also happens to have some powerful Google juice; several of my presentations have top rankings (e.g. “Social Media Business Case“). To see how it works check out my Social Media Strategy preso.

Social Bookmarking and News Sites

• While there are many social bookmarking sites, I prefer Digg.com, Delicious, and Propeller.  Stumbleupon is also worth exploring. I tried using Newsvine but they suspended me for linking to my own blog (now that’s an interesting policy…).
• In terms of online marketing news, I like the eMarketer, Online Media Daily (MediaPost) and IAB SmartBrief newsletters
• There are many social media news sites, but if you have time for only one, subscribe to Mashable for the latest in social media news and other cool things of interest.

Social Media Tools
No media toolkit would be complete without recommending some tools to help you manage social media activities. Here are a few for your Tweeting and Posting pleasure:

• URL Shortening: http://bit.ly allows you to truncate links and track click-throughs
• Post / Tweet Aggregators:  Over the past 12 months I have used numerous post / tweet management tools including Ping.fm, Twitterrific, TweetDeck and TweetLater.  But I now use and recommend Hootsuite for several reasons: 1) ability to post to multiple profiles on Twitter, Facebook, Facebook Fan pages and LinkedIn, 2) scheduling capabilities, 3) great stats, 4) intuitive interface and 5) good iPhone app.  I also use Twitter Selective Status Facebook app as it allows you to selectively update Facebook status when tweeting old-school style (using Twitter.com) simply by adding #fb at the end of the tweet.
• Social Media Bookmark aggregator: Onlywire is a decent plug-in that allows you to share once and post across most social bookmarking sites.  If you have a blog you can use it for free (just add some code to your blog).  Or you have to pay $2.99 per month.
• Blog Monitoring: several vendors offer solid toolsets.  The more robust and comprehensive, the more expensive, ranging from SM2 and Addictomatic (both are free) to the not-so-free social media monitoring tools BuzzMetrics and Radian6.

Twitter Tools

• Search.Twitter.com is Twitter’s native search engine; use it to find out how much you or your competitors are being discussed on Twitter. Using tools like Hootsuite you can now access Search.Twitter through the dashboards.
• For charts showing how many users are following you (or your competitors) over time check out TwitterCounter.
• If you are trying to keep your ratio of Following to Followers in check, use FriendorFollow to find out which of those you are following are not returning the favor.
• If you are seeking to find influencers on Twitter (users with lots o’ followers), TweepSearch is a great place to start.
• MrTweet connects you with others on Twitter based on interests and industries
• Twitpic allows you to upload pics with your tweets (and we all like pictures!)
• Everythingtwitter is well… I guess the names says it all

Call Tracking Tools

Your web site should use dedicated numbers that allow you to track the source of inbound calls.  Two vendors we’ve used are Voice Star and Mongoose Metrics.  Both allow you to track the source and duration of inbound calls at a relatively low price.

Again, this is not intended to be the all-encompassing New Media Toolkit, and I’m sure there are many great tools that were overlooked.  That said, I hope these are helpful in becoming a more prolific online marketer.  Please feel free to COMMENT, SHARE with others and SUBSCRIBE to our blog. We look forward to your feedback!

Steve Latham (follow me on Twitter)

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Steps to Calculating Value

1. Determine the Value metric (Revenue, Margin, NPV) of a customer.
Some companies look at value of a transaction, annual revenue per customer or lifetime value (profit) of a customer.  Some assign higher values for new customers vs. a new sale to an existing customer. You need to determine what is best for your organization (hint: choose the metric that is most used by your executives).  For this example, let’s assume your average sale is $1,000 and that the lifetime value of a customer is $5,000.

2.  Assign conversion rates to approximate close rates.
Let’s assume 3% of site visitors request more information (inquiries) and that 30% of inquiries complete a purchase.  If you’ve done online campaigns before, you should have a basis for inquiry rates.  Hopefully your VP-Sales know how many leads convert to a transaction. If 3% of visitors become leads, and 30% of leads are closed, 0.9% of visitors will become customers.

3. Determine what your cost or investment will be.
Let’s assume you will spend $10,000 in online advertising (display, search, email, etc.) this month.

4. Do the math to calculate ROS and ROI:
Assuming your efforts drive 2,000 incremental visitors to your site (cost: $5 each) you should see 60 new leads (3% conversion rate) and 18 new customers (30% close rate) worth $18,000 in revenue or $1.80 direct ROS ($1.80 in revenue for every $1 spent).

The Net Present Value of the 18 customers is $90,000 ($5,000 each) yielding a Return On Investment of 900%.

If you present these types of results to your CFO, you’ll quickly find a lot of interest (and dollars) in online marketing.

Another Metric: Value per Engagement
Another way to measure results is calculating value per engagement (visit, inquiry, etc.).  In the example above, each visit is worth $9 in revenue ($18,000 divided by 2,000 visits), whereas each inquiry is worth $300 ($18k divided by 60), compared to a cost per visit of $5 and a cost per inquiry of $166.67.

Remember Your Margins
While revenue is an easy metric to measure, margins are much more important.  Assuming your gross margin is 60%, you are making profit as long as your cost per visit is less than $5.40 or cost per inquiry is less than $180.

Caveat Emptor!
Please use good judgment when applying these methodologies to your own business. Again, these are not a panacea for every situation.  But hopefully, they will give you some building blocks for quantifying the impact of your interactive marketing program.  If you have specific questions, please leave them here.  I can’t promise I’ll know the answer, but I’ll do my best to help you figure it out.  Happy number crunching!

Please feel free to COMMENT, SHARE with others and SUBSCRIBE to our blog. We look forward to your feedback!

Steve Latham (follow me on Twitter)

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