Don’t tweet like a twit: leveraging Twitter

To all the PRs who are regurgitating client messaging on Twitter: STOP STOP STOP! This is NOT what Twitter is all about. Twitter is about being a PART of the conversation. Twitter is not about secretly stalking journalists.

Recently, I was lucky enough to attend MediaConnect’s Kickstart conference in Queensland. Kickstart brings together some of Australia’s most influential technology journalists to meet with technology vendors and their PRs.

I’d recommend the event to any vendor who’s interested in meeting face-to-face with journalists and who has an opinion to communicate about the technology industry that doesn’t involve flogging their own products (there was a lot of product pushing this year, which is never good when trying to cultivate relationships with journalists!).

Possibly the most interesting part of the entire conference was the last session of the event which focused on Twitter. Self-proclaimed Twitter gurus Alex Kidman, Anthony Caruana and Nick Broughall formed the panel of journalists discussing this new communication tool.

I’ve been ‘tweeting’ for roughly five months and it seems a pretty basic proposition to me: think of something quirky to say that makes you sound insightful, busy and fun and sum it up in 140 characters or less.

Easy enough? Clearly not.

Alex, Anthony and Nick gave feedback during the session that PRs need to be more willing to participate in Twitter discussions. No one is going to follow you if all you do is re-post client press releases and announcements.

I was a little surprised that PR colleagues would be doing this, but after doing a quick scan for PR tweets, it became fairly obvious that the journalists are right. Quite a few of us have ‘tweeted’ less than fifty times and the majority of our posts are about our clients. There are way too many PRs who don’t seem to understand that Twitter isn’t just a PR tool, it’s an ongoing conversation amongst colleagues.

I even spoke with a PR person from a local agency (who will remain unnamed) who suggested we develop a ‘statement’ to issue via Twitter in response to some negative tweets about a product. Clearly we’re not getting the Twitter picture!

Upon reflection, Twitter is the ‘technology-of-the-moment’ and will doubtfully last forever. Just as Facebook has left behind its niche audience following in favour of widespread adoption, Twitter will do the same. And, when it does, I venture to guess that our beloved technology journalists will move on to the ‘next new thing’. But, for now, Twitter is here to stay.

I’ve compiled a list of tips and tricks that will help you navigate the world of Twitter smoothly…

1. Engage with Twitter outside of your client work – i.e. tweet about what interests you, what you find meaningful and what you think might be of interest to others as well. Sharing links, articles and asking questions are great ways to get involved.

2. Reply to your followers/the people you are following – If you agree, disagree, don’t understand or want to know more, ask! Or, just drop people a line who you think have said something interesting.

3. If a journalist asks you a question – answer!

4. Use functions like Search.Twitter and TweetScan to find out about what journalists are saying about your client’s brand.

5. Interact with journalists, when appropriate – if you see your client or your client’s products being criticised by journalists, try to work out a way to offer them support or counsel to improve their experience. In this way you can target problems before they escalate and possibly even build brand advocates.

6. Don’t just post links to client press releases! If your client has written a blog/byline that you find particularly interesting, sure, go ahead and tweet about it. No one appreciates constant tweets about press releases and announcements.

7. Use Twitter to pitch stories in a short and concise way to journalists via Direct Message – don’t blast a pitch to your entire Twitter following, rather send it directly to the person who matters most, what a great way to get a quick reply!

8. Be careful what you say! Don’t post anything about clients, co-workers, friends, etc that you would not want them to see. These posts don’t go away people and you certainly don’t want to burn bridges!

Now get tweeting!