If you think writing novels (or blog posts) is hard, try tweeting for a living.
In most forms of communication, the audience invites you to spin your story and enchant them over time. Even a 30 second TV commercial gives you half a minute to make your pitch.
But on Twitter, you only have milliseconds to capture someone’s attention as they scroll through a nonstop litany of links, promotions, inside jokes and regurgitated news stories, desperately in search of something interesting. If you’re not immediately captivating on Twitter, your boring tweets will be buried under an avalanche of similarly blah messaging in the blink of an eye.
So how do you manage to stay interesting on Twitter, day after day?
Here are 11 tips that we at Creative Concepts have developed internally on behalf of our clients to help them stay competitive in Twitter’s attention market:
Every tweet is a headline. For centuries, newspaper editors have been writing great headlines to draw attention to dense blocks of text that might otherwise go overlooked. Imagine that every tweet you send is going on the front page of The New York Times, and that you’re single-handedly responsible for increasing the paper’s circulation. (No pressure, right?)
Be useful. “Interesting” is always a matter of perspective, but “useful” actually provides a service. You may not be dazzled by the prose of a tweet, but if you want (or need) to know what it’s pitching, you’re far more likely to click.
Be direct. Addressing someone with the @ symbol in front of their Twitter handle ensures that they’ll see what you have to say. (Now, just don’t be spammy…)
Be brief. The shorter your tweet is, the easier it is for others to add their own commentary as they retweet you — and people love adding their own two cents to your discussion.
Solve a problem. We search Twitter to find out what kinds of problems our clients’ customers (and potential customers) may be having, and then we help our clients offer their customers solutions via links to products, blog posts, or just good old-fashioned advice.
Remove doubt. People like to know what works. By sharing the positive reviews and accolades that others have tweeted about your products and services, you’re letting potential customers know that your existing customers would recommend you — because they just did.
Say thank-you. When you see kudos about your brand, thank that person directly. They’ll appreciate knowing that their kind words helped make someone else’s day.
Become an information resource. What are the hot topics in your brand’s industry right now? What is everyone talking about? What is no one talking about? By sharing information about those topics great and small, your brand becomes your customers’ curator for a larger conversation about the field or the industry itself.
Be funny. Humor travels fast on Twitter, and while everyone’s sense of humor is different, a brand that can laugh at itself is a brand that others are more likely to take seriously.
Be positive. Twitter is occasionally a traffic jam of complaints and customer service debacles. Be the upside that cuts through the clutter and you’ll stand out simply for taking the high road.
Be yourself. What you say is important, but so is how you say it. No one stops to read a brochure, but they’ll linger to overhear a private conversation. Deliver your messages honestly and authentically — and in your own voice — and you’re less likely to be confused for an easily-ignored marketing robot.
Want to stay ahead of the attention curve? Follow us onFacebook andTwitter!
Here at Creative Concepts, we regularly re-evaluate our social media strategies based on what our metrics tell us is (and isn’t) working. You probably do, too. And yet, if you’re anything like us, while you’re busy tackling the big picture and the day-to-day details, certain “little” items keep slipping further and further down your to-do list until they’re completely out of sight.
So why not take a few minutes this week for a mental spring cleaning of your social media workflow?
Is your media contact list up-to-date?
To whom do you owe a quick thank-you note?
Can you articulate your own goals, and the goals of your clients?
Which of your tasks are taking too much time? (Can anyone help?)
Are your assets being cross-promoted across all of your social channels?
Do your websites have broken links or outdated information?
Are you happy with your hosting, email service, reports, accounting, etc.?
Which new tools do you keep meaning to check out, “when I have time”?
If you wait until spring to tie up all these loose ends, you’ll be too busy with new work to give them adequate time and they’ll just get delayed again… and again…
But if you make time for one or two of them this week, and two more next week, and so on, you’ll eventually be ahead of the curve. And then you’ll be ready to implement all those brand new ideas that spring is sure to bring!
Need help evaluating your social media efforts? We can help!
(That’s not our office in the photo, but thanks to Robert Francis for sharing!)
Part of it is the vast number of tools we have at our disposal. Since most of them (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, Flickr, etc.) are free, it’s easy to start using each of them… but that makes maintaining your ever-growing web of communications more difficult.
Part of it is the conflict between personal (customers, individuals, community) and business (corporations, marketing, sales). Social media tools are designed to facilitate the exchange of information between consenting parties, but the limitless kinds of information being exchanged further complicate our conversations.
And then there’s the ongoing debate about which social media metrics matter most. Is it the size of your audience, or the quality of your engagement? Is it inciting action or increasing awareness?
Our advice?
Shrink your focus.
First, re-examine your goals and your needs. (Maybe you need a new social media strategy?)
Then, instead of aiming too wide, narrow your attention to a handful of channels — maybe even one — and maximize the impact you can create there (or the feedback you can obtain). Then, once you have a true understanding of how your brand is perceived within that channel, start applying those lessons to other channels, if it makes sense for you.
There’s a presumption that companies have to be involved in social media. And while we here at Creative Concepts are sure that social media can benefit almost any company, charity or brand, we’d never advise anyone to bite off more than they can chew.
So don’t waste an opportunity to connect with your customers by spreading yourself too thin, or your valuable feedback will be reduced to a stream of white noise.
Need some help simplifying your social media efforts? Check out these tips from Mashable.
Before you dive headfirst into your lengthy list of New Year’s resolutions, we here at Creative Concepts would like to offer a word of advice about setting goals for this (or any) new year:
Focus on results, not on numbers.
With 52 weeks ahead of you, it can be tempting to set goals for yourself that involve all kinds of numerical feats, like…
Improving your web traffic
Boosting your search results
Increasing your inbound links, or your number of media mentions
Doubling your number of Facebook friends or Twitter followers
… and so on.
And while each of these occurrences would be a boost to both your business and your brand’s reputation, they’re also merely the measurable by-product of a more important goal: doing your job well.
As 2011 approaches, you already have some personal and business goals in mind that you’d like to work toward. But what about your social media goals? (You do have social media goals, right?)
First, identify the obvious problems that are hampering your social media efforts:
While recounting the top stories around the web can be instructive, inspirational or (oops) cautionary, don’t forget to look back through your own year of social media ups and downs. Ask yourself:
Where did we succeed at the individual and the campaign level?
Where did we exceed (or fall short of) expectations? Do we know why?
What did we learn?
Who did we meet?
What lessons can we apply to future endeavors?
Identifying the year’s high and low points, understanding what worked and what didn’t, and taking a wide view of your successes and failures can be critical in improving your results in the coming year. (Plus, in this era of nonstop media input, if you don’t occasionally take a moment to reflect on what just happened, you may not have another chance anytime soon!)
Here at Creative Concepts, 2010 has been an exciting and surprising year! In this year, we began working with the US division of Ecover, which has blossomed in ways the original RFP never foresaw. We continued our fruitful partnerships with longtime clients like Bigelow Tea and Ouidad, delved into the world of HD video, found several new and talented employees, and rebuilt our website — all while navigating new services like FourSquare and the ever-changing Facebook.
Thanks to our clients, our employees, our friends and families, and everyone who helped to make Creative Concepts successful in 2010. We couldn’t have done it without you! Here’s to a deep appreciation of everything we learned and had the pleasure of sharing during this past year, and an even more spectacular 2011.
One basic cornerstone of business growth is the need to cultivate new audiences for existing products.
As we’ve mentioned before, our client Ouidad is quite adept at creating hair care products that work wonders for those who otherwise struggle to tame their curls. And while her core customer base is adult women, Ouidad long ago realized that most of these women were also mothers whose children’s curly hair needed just as much TLC.
But what happens when those kids become teens? Does their attitude toward Ouidad as a brand begin to change?
To help navigate these waters, Ouidad highlighted yet another upside of her products: they don’t just provide a service; they solve problems.
Parents love Ouidad because her products allow them to style their childrens’ hair with no tears. But teens love Ouidad because her products allow them to style themselves — with confidence!
Teens are a tricky demographic. Marketing to teens is often like trying to hit a moving target that hasn’t yet made up its own mind about where it wants to go next. But Ouidad removes some of that uncertainty by solving a key problem: her products grant teens the power to feel better about themselves. Rather than viewing Ouidad as a trend or an option, they’re invited to embrace Ouidad as a solution.
Does your brand solve problems? If so, your customers want to view you as more than just a line item on their shopping list; they want to consider you their ally against life’s uncertainties. That’s a bond that even teens will remember well into adulthood — and it’s the kind of brand equity you can’t invent simply by positioning your products as a trend.
Picture the audience that you think is currently reading your tweets, streaming your videos and liking you on Facebook.
According to the 2010 US Census, your picture might need some tweaking.
As the census indicates, Hispanic and African-American audiences are the fastest-growing segments of the online population In fact, based on these statistics, eMarketer predicts that more than 60% of the US’s Hispanic population will be online by 2012. And that means the potential audience for every online brand is becoming more diverse by the day.
Since the dawn of the 2000s, social media has been trumpeted as “a conversation.” And as that conversation becomes more diverse, more multicultural, more nuanced and more open to interpretation, it creates a whole new set of opportunities and challenges.
Take a look at the way you’re currently using your social media channels. Now, ask yourself…
How broad is your existing customer base?
How diverse is your messaging?
Are your products and services appealing to multiple demographics?
Are you focusing (whether consciously or unconsciously) on too narrow of an audience segment?
Are you equipped to address concerns and answer questions from potential customers who fall outside your expected demographic?
This isn’t just a question of ethnicity or cultural diversity. This is a consideration of gender, age, region, income and education. It’s also a welcome reminder that the Internet allows you to connect with everyone… if you’re prepared to do so.
Yes, the people you expect to be in your audience are probably there… but so are lots of other people you might not expect to be there, and might not be prepared to engage and support. (Yet.)
So why not find ways to diversify your conversations now, before your competition does?
Mathematically, business is all about profit. And, subconsciously, we all understand this. But when the holidays roll around, people get so inundated with sales messages that they become desperate for an emotional life raft that can reconnect them with their own greater humanity.
Could that life raft be your brand?
Here at Creative Concepts, we’re huge proponents of humanizing your brand. We believe that people want to do business with (surprise!) other humans, and that any effort you can make to remind your customers that your company is still a group of people who are just like them will help them feel better about doing business with you.
So why not consider the holidays to be your opportunity to say “thank you”?
Whether you’re a small business or an international conglomerate, you’re still people. So instead of focusing on coupons, sweepstakes or clearance sales as your way of rewarding your team, why not send a holiday message that’s focused less on dollars and more on sense?
What if your company’s blog hosted a Thanksgiving message from your customers, detailing what they’re thankful for?
What if you asked your vendors for their New Year’s resolutions, and used them as a springboard for a larger conversation about goals and dreams on Facebook or Twitter?
What if your company’s Christmas or Hanukkah cards were hand-signed by all of your employees?
By incorporating the voices of the people who aren’t usually front-and-center in your messaging, you’ll remind your customers, your vendors and your employees just how much you respect, honor and value them — as people.
Today, if you’d like to, you can hop on a plane and fly from New York to San Francisco and back. The process of crisscrossing the country has become so automatic that it’s easy to take it all for granted.
But if you’ve read up on Lewis & Clark (or played the Oregon Trail), you know how daunting America’s westward expansion really was. In the 1800s, our maps were still being drawn by hand, and our railroads, highways and airports were but a distant dream.
Yet, every time another covered wagon arrived at the Pacific coastline, word was sent home: “It can be done!” And the more the pioneers succeeded, the more others wanted to follow in their footsteps — especially because doing so became both easier with experience and more cost-effective with demand.
Getting companies to buy into social media was an uphill battle. Concepts like transparency, connectivity and conversations with the public were seen as potential threats to financial stability, rather than assets that could actually improve business.
Today, as the social marketing field grows and matures, getting started is becoming ever easier. The maps have been drawn. The studies have been conducted. The pioneers’ wagons have crossed the rough terrain and now the towns they’ve built at the edge of the water are booming with great expectations.
If your company hasn’t explored the world of social media yet, now you can learn from the successes (and failures) of thousands of brands who’ve gone first. These pioneers have figured out what works and what hasn’t (yet), and many of them are selflessly sharing their own experiences to help others find their way.
Why?
Because those boom towns need new arrivals in order to keep growing.
If your competition is succeeding in social media, they need you to succeed alongside them. When an entire field or industry embraces new technologies, it increases general customer awareness while simultaneously driving down entry costs. And when everyone is on the same page, disruption becomes innovation and everybody wins.
Simply put, the better you do at social media, the better we all do at social media.
So here’s to you, and to your co-opetition. May you all keep redrawing your maps until you find the best, fastest, most scenic and most effective routes from where you are now to where you’d all like to be.
