Ketchum ISG Twitter 101

Ketchum Interactive Strategies Group
@nancy_martira
@jonbellinger

Question: Is Twitter completely
revolutionizing the internet, or is it
just a passing fad?
Answer: Yes

Twitter is a social network where web users post
short blurbs about stuff

Some of these blurbs are fascinating and culturally
important:

Others are………….well...

Twitter has been the single most talked-about Web site
since Facebook, and grew 1,382% in the past year.

Source: “Twitter Now Growing at a Staggering 1,382 Percent” Mashable, March 16, 2009

And last month, something happened that caused Twitter
to grow another 43 percent in a matter of days…

People who never really used the internet very much before are
creating Twitter profiles

And the media is obsessed with the platform, building it into
its programming & structure

So who’s actually using Twitter?
Still a lot of media types, but it’s broadening quickly

Heavy users include
bloggers, reporters, celebrities, spammers, pyramid
schemers, brands and
consultants (in no particular order)

But are people staying with Twitter? Or is it just an
idle curiosity?

But wait…where did Twitter come from?

Twitter began as a broadcast medium…a way for groups of
friends to push each other real-time information about their
activities & whereabouts…

It’s founders envisioned that the primary user interface would
be the mobile handset…so that’s why you can only use 140
characters

Early adopters were mostly media types, and for a long time, not
too many people paid attention.

The site was buggy, and
crashed whenever too
many people logged in to
tweet (whenever there
was anything actually
worth tweeting about)

But then some interesting things started to happen…

First, Twitter’s early user base developed its own digital
vernacular, filling in holes to make a pure broadcast
medium into something more social...

It was a fascinating collective hack that began to change how
Twitter thought of itself

@reply
This is how you direct a comment to a single user, but in
a way that’s visible to everyone

And when people use @reply, it makes it easier to
search for mentions of specific users

DM
Short for “Direct Message,” this is how you communicate with
someone privately. It goes directly to your Twitter and personal
email inbox, and can’t be seen by anyone but you.

RT
“Retweeting” is how you share / repeat something that someone
else already posted

This one is important, because it’s how you give people
credit for good ideas / great finds on Twitter. It’s a good tool
for gaining visibility, and a prerequisite for playing nice.

URL Shortening
Most URLs are really long, and obviously won’t fit within 140
characters. So there are several services that allow you to shorten
a long URL into a Tweet-friendly format.

#Hashtags
These category tags are how people track conversations about
specific topics across the fast & furious mess that is Twitter.
They’re essential if you want to have an organized, trackable
discussion. You can use an existing one, or make up your own.

#SwineFlu

Then, after a few months, unexpected people started using
Twitter in new ways…

And users began organically developing things that made
Twitter way more social than its designers had imagined…

So what is it about this simple question that’s gotten so
many people so excited?

It’s easy to use
It’s low maintenance / easier than blogging
It’s voyeuristic
Famous people hang out there
Everyone says you have to use it RIGHT NOW
Twitter can be whatever you want (sort of)

And if you plan on Tweeting about anything work-
related, make sure you fully disclose your agency
affiliation

Step Two
Uh Oh…now what? This is as far as most people get.

• Don’t protect your updates
• Ignore Twitter’s question
• Talk before you follow
• Start by following people you
actually know and people you’ll
never know
• Just start writing…it will make
sense

Step Three
Decide what to write about

Step Four
Decide who you’d like to follow

How can you tell who’s “important enough” for you to
follow? At the moment, it’s an imprecise pseudoscience...

You can compare objective data, like
followers : updates, but like with long-form
blogs, influential users aren’t always the
most-followed…

So once you’ve got the rules down, there are a number
of ways to customize & interface with Twitter.

And almost all of these tools are free, and were created by
third parties using Twitter’s free & open API

Ok, so that’s all awesome information…but what
about brands?

Like other social media channels, most brands view Twitter
as a great new tool for broadcasting their messages…

And treat it like a gift from the Silicon Valley gods, with millions of users
eager to receive their marketing in a novel 140 character package…

But this ignores the fact that Twitter’s users have turned it from a
broadcast platform into something more social

As a result, Twitter is most often a programming
afterthought, treated as another place to regurgitate ad
slogans, post branded links and get bloggers to talk about your
products.

Despite the fact that internet users have dozens of tools like Twitter at
their fingertips, it’s not the tools or channels themselves that are people
like to use. It’s the conversations and stories the tools enable.

So before a brand jumps in to “experiment,” it needs to ask
itself a question…

Are you here because there are metrics to be earned?
Or are you here to win hearts and minds?

So what can brands do on Twitter?
A lot, in both the short & long terms
• Put a canary into the coal mine
• Offer customer service
• Answer questions
• Distribute product samples
• Communicate with media
• Have one-on-one conversations with consumers
• Drive traffic to URLs
• Build a more diversified brand identity
• Leverage ongoing conversations
• Whatever they want (sort of)

Your brand is not interesting enough to command a
Twitter feed. But your brand’s perspective on a topic of
interest might be…

And every brand has perspectives on multiple
topics within its industry that have a built-in
audience already using Twitter

Twitter is like a cocktail party. If you show up and only
talk about yourself, you’ll be ostracized. Maintain a
healthy 80 / 20 split.

Twitter isn’t a broadcast platform, it’s an engagement
vehicle. So give people more than just content. Give
them something to do.

Twitter is perhaps most valuable as a listening
platform. Rather than telling, listen, then answer. And
don’t plan too far ahead.

So how do we listen to the organic voice of Twitter?

Having “the conversation” with
your clients
• We can’t write your feeds for you
(either in the short or the long term)
– Clients must be prepared internally to
manage an active, healthy feed
• Know before you start what story you
want to tell / what POV you want to adopt
– Wait a second…is “the story” about your new
product or message map? If so, then we need
to find something bigger
• Is that story or POV already out there? If so,
how can you as a brand add unique value?
– Wait a second….CAN you add value? I mean, beyond words? Can you
put something on the table?
• Clients must be prepared to operationalize their communications
• Consult an interactive strategist early & often

@jonbellinger @nancy_martira
312.228.6894 646.935.4151

Ketchum ISG Twitter 101

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