Insights and Ingenuity

Your Brand Bible Should Include Social Media Etiquette and Principles

I’ve posted previously about the adoption of Twitter by brands looking to reach, teach, and engage their consumer audiences.  I’ve also tried to shed some light on the oft-overlooked brand details to which your consumers are exposed.  I believe these two bunny trails intersect when the powerful force of authenticity enters the equation.

Officially Un-Following

I’ve chosen to focus the topic of authenticity as it relates to Twitter.  And while I’ve intended to talk about Twitter and authenticity since posting “Corporate Twitter:  Tweet This!” on November 11 (@BethHarte, here’s the follow-up!), the nudge to actually act on the intention came today when I finally acknowledged (Okay, so I talk to myself. Doesn’t everyone?) that someone I’ve been following (on Twitter) is truly annoying me.  Make that two someones.

Click My Junk, Please!

My annoyance goes beyond the wrinkled nose “Those tweets aren’t interesting” and supercedes the heavy sigh “Yeah, that news is a week old” and land smack in the middle of “Why is everything about him/her?  And all the exclamation points, emoticons, and text abbreviations in the world can’t disguise that once again, he/she’s pimping his stuff again!” (Yes, I’m completely aware that I just used an exclamation point myself.  I’d argue that I’m using in good taste and proper emphasis, unlike the objects of my rant, er, carefully crafted post.)

You see, I started following these two brands –and they are brands, albeit small business brands– because someone I trust and like @replied to them in Twitter.  That’s the way it works.  You follow people, you like their stuff, read the links they share, and discover new folks, some of which interest you.  I’ve been following them (called Jack and Jill out of sensitivity) for about a month now and am rather astonished at how most of their tweets are either RT (retweets, or repeating the tweets of others) or some variation of “What do you think of my new post/pic/design/survey/etc, comment willya?”

How Else Can I Generate Interest?

So you say, “Well isn’t that kinda the point?  To spread the word?  Get people interested?  Push out your messages?”  To which I’d respond, yes. And no.

A Brand Alone Cannot Gain Consumer Interest

In my opinion, these two brands are approaching Twitter, and likely other aspects of their social media strategy, all wrong.  They’re still using their “outside” voice, as moms call shouting, interruptive, and emphatic children.   Conversely, I’ve become great fans of a host of other smart, influential people who Twitter who use their “inside” voice.  Their “inside” voices are conversational, inclusive, intelligent and don’t overwhelm.  Sure, these people share their content or musings–that’s how I’ve come to know they’ll teach me something–but they make me want to join, not run away.  Jack and Jill, as referenced above, sound and feel like an endless commercial loop for their own stuff.  And while there’s likely to be gems in there, I’m willing to forego their nuggets because I can’t stand all the noise.

Re-Tool and Re-Position to Improve Authenticity

Can Jack and Jill salvage their rep?  Sure.  We all make mistakes, and those who can’t or don’t acknowledge that are the biggest losers.  Like I said, I think both Jack and Jill have something unique and valuable to offer–one of them a product, the other a service–if they’d both take some time to be introspective and then circumspect.

It’s likely they are exposed to some interesting people and events, have seen some interesting campaigns and marketing efforts.  I’d love to hear about what they learned, what they saw, and what their thoughts are (yes, please!) about these and any other ideas.

Now You’re Interesting

So I encourage you brands out there to be willing to open up and show what’s inside.  Make your Twitter presence personable and genuine (not everything deserves an exclamation point!  no one is that happy!), share good content that YOU stumble upon (not just RT, retweet), and please ask me a question about something I tweet sometime.  Now that could start a dialogue…one that I’d gladly share with others.

Tags: Twitter Authenticity Social Media Brand

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 16th, 2008 at 10:56 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.