Team Tweeting: The Tools and Tactics at TWTRCON SF

Twitter is fairly easy to master. Meeting objectives on Twitter is a different matter. That requires careful thinking and strategic planning. Throw multiple people into the equation of one Twitter account and you have to do some serious planning.

@PRNewswire is a serious effort by four dedicated individuals.

This coming Thursday, November 18, 2010, I’m going to be teaching a workshop at TWTRCON SF on the secrets of successful team micro-blogging. We’ll be discussing:

• Selecting the right people
• Assignments and roles
• Sharing responsibilities
• Establishing guidelines
• Elements of a team strategy
• Content strategy
• Balance of promotion
• Tools of the trade

If you’re going to be at TWTRCON, I certainly hope you will join me for this workshop scheduled for 11:20 – 11:55 AM.

See you there!

Dear Local Organization: You’re Following All The Wrong People on Twitter

The contents of this letter are real advice. The organization in question and its Twitter woes are very real. Their name has been left out to protect the innocent… plus I’m hoping they will follow me.

Dear local museum that I will not call-out by name (because I care about you):

I was very happy a couple of months ago to find you had launched a Twitter account! I have always been a big fan of yours. I love what you stand for and what you have achieved. I wish more people cared as much about preserving North Texas heritage and wildlife as you do. When you recently tried your best to fight bad legislation and protect part of that heritage, I signed the petition. (I found out about it because I was on your email list, by the way).

I smiled as I hit the “follow” button on Twitter. I was so proud. We were going to be good friends.

Fast forward. I looked at your Twitter account today. I was reminded of it because of said email list, not because of your engaging tweets (another subject to tackle later). You are following 764 people now. You have 439 followers.

My feelings were hurt.

I wasn’t one of the lucky 764.  So I decided to take a look at who you ‘do’ follow, those 764 very important influencers you chose. Yes, I admit jealousy of the 764.

I scrolled and I sighed.

My dear, following all those large, international organizations, and all those celebrities is not going to help you with any of your causes or get you any more attention than you already get. Why is there a dearth of local folks on your list? There are LOTS of very significant influencers on Twitter that live right here in North Texas. People that visit your museum and potentially appreciate you as much as I do.  You need to follow and engage twitterers who are significant to what you are doing and what you want to achieve. People who can truly be influencers for you.

@TheEllenShow and @FinancialTimes are very well followed Twitter accounts, but they are not likely to help you when you need another petition signed.

When I signed your last petition, I also posted it on my Facebook page and my Twitter account. I recommended it to people. Local people. I care about what is going on here in my county.  My North Texas. I care about you! I’m sure Ellen loves North Texas as much as the next person…in CALIFORNIA…but she isn’t likely to even notice you, and certainly isn’t going to go to any town-hall meeting for you. The town-hall meetings dear Ellen goes to are probably closer to home, in California.

You need local champions. You need North Texans who truly care and have a personal stake in what you are doing. Which, as I said before, is really important stuff.

Which brings me to that little “engagement” issue I previously mentioned. There is a character, right above the number 2 on your keyboard.

It looks like this: @

You should start 50% of your tweets with that little sign, followed by someone’s Twitter name. Example: @victoriaharres. You can and should substitute RTs (retweets) for some of  those @s. Follow me. Say ‘hi’ now and then. I in turn will remember you exist, will say ‘hi’ back so that my followers know I care about you, and I will retweet those informational tweets of yours about petitions and such. Other locals will do the same. Because I’m connected to a lot of locals on Twitter. I know their value.

I can assure you this will get you a lot more love and support than trying to broadcast to Ellen. She’s got too many people doing that already.

My dear friend, I hope you took this letter in the spirit it was intended, with lots of love and affection. I only get frustrated because I care about you and I want to see you succeed.

So go follow some local folks! You can use Twellow.com or Twitter.search.com to find them.

PS. I love you.

Warmest regards

@VictoriaHarres

2011 Ford Explorer Reveal Reveals Social Prowess

I am excited about the new, not-yet-available, 2011 Ford Explorer!

But why?

I drive a lovely little black, 2004 Saturn Ion with leather seats, sun roof, a six CD player and tinted windows, which I brag about all the time. It gets great gas mileage and looks very sexy. And, most important, it’s fun to drive! People tell me it’s a cute little car that perfectly fits my personality. And it doesn’t hurt that in the six years I’ve owned it I’ve only put 45,000 miles on it and the finish still looks perfectly shiny and new.

So why am I so darn excited about the new Ford Explorer!?

It really comes down to some savvy marketing. Ford played their hand very skillfully with a few simple, yet powerful tactics:

1) They skipped the auto shows: An auto show requires people going ‘to’ the product, limiting reach and really not being very  inclusive of the ultimate audience Ford wanted to reach. Auto shows are mostly for enthusiasts. The Ford Explorer is a family vehicle for the parents who don’t want to be seen driving the soccer mom minivan. I would dare say it would also make a great long road trip vehicle, and come in very handy in escorting around my frequent out-of-town guests when I’m giving them the tour of Dallas and Fort Worth.

2) Reveal on Facebook: Facebook is where a large percentage of consumers Ford wanted to reach can be found. So, Ford took their product ‘to’ the consumer. They have been rewarded with nearly 57,000 ‘likes’ on their page so far. Personally, I love reading the questions and suggestions people are leaving on the Facebook wall. And I especially love that Ford is monitoring and joining that conversation. It makes me feel included in behind the scenes development of the product, since they are still testing the Explorer in different terrains and conditions, and planning what might be future versions or variations. The 2011 Explorer won’t be available until winter.

3) Execs on the road: Ford did some grassroots outreach by sending their execs on the road to talk to local dealers, media, bloggers, and local social media influencers in person. Here in Dallas we had: Sue Cischke, Group VP, Sustainability, Environment and Safety Engineering; Ken Czubay, VP, U.S. Marketing, Sales and Service; and Craig Patterson, Marketing Manager for Ford Explorer. I had the pleasure of spending some time with Craig who not only shared a wealth of information, but who spoke about the product and the company with such passion that I couldn’t help but get excited with him. I’ve personally owned two Explorers in my adult life and it was interesting to hear Craig talk about the ‘typical’ Explorer customer…yes, he described me to a tee! I was the mom who didn’t want to be a mini-van mom. I wanted to be hip and cool.

4) Reach beyond traditional media: Ford held in person “reveals” in several cities, inviting local Ford dealers and the media. But they also went a step further and did a bit of research to find out who had some social clout. Here in Dallas they contacted one of the leaders, Mary Anne Schweers, of our very active Social Media Club (the average monthly meetings attracts around 150 people). She in turn sent invitations to members who had good social reach. I was very pleased to be included. I must admit, it was super cool to sit with the Star-Telegram’s Bob Cox as he interviewed Craig Patterson, and was very patient in letting me join in that conversation. I love watching a pro at work.

5) Series of press releases: I can’t skip mentioning that to make all the above work, Ford did put out a series of press releases leading up to the reveal.

So in the end, Ford won me over because they came to me. They didn’t ask me to come to them. And they made themselves available, something Scott Monty got Ford started on and continues to lead them well in. You can talk to Ford on Facebook and you can talk to them on Twitter.

And by the way, I was mainly looking at the marketing strategies here, but I should also state that the features Ford showed us in the all new 2011 Ford Explorer are pretty darn exciting. That doesn’t hurt them a bit.

How to launch a freelance writing career via Twitter (Case Study)

(This was originally published in Old Media New Tricks blog on Dec. 22, 2009. I was honored to be a guest blogger)

Andrew Keys, a landscape designer and blogger, didn’t sign-up for Twitter with the intention of launching a writing career. In the spring of 2009 Andrew hesitantly created his  @oakleafgreen Twitter account after a bit of coercion from a friend who told him it would be a great place for him to promote his landscape design firm.

So Andrew set out trying to find the value of Twitter for his business. What he found were people in his industry talking shop and learning from each other.

Intuitively, Andrew made smart connections. He followed people in his industry, including editors at gardening magazines. He stayed engaged, nurtured relationships as they developed and subsequently his investment of time resulted in an invitation to contribute to a national gardening magazine.

Three articles later and Andrew has added “freelance writer” to his resume.

I asked Andrew if he could offer some advice to other writers who would like to use Twitter to network and perhaps even pitch a story. He quickly recommended starting with research.

“Months before I created my Twitter account, I found a long list from a reputable blogger in my industry of her favorite Twitterers,” he says. “When I signed up, I went back to that list, followed everyone on it, joined the conversation and made some good connections.”

Even more connections followed from those initial relationships.

When I asked Andrew if there was one thing he’d done that really stands out as having helped him in his Twitter endeavors, he says, “I was real. That, to me is the crux of Twitter at its best.”

I agree.

“Don’t pigeonhole yourself,” he suggests. “All work and no play makes Andy a dull Twitterer! Keep in mind that Twitter is about being real, and it’s about entertainment…the more well-rounded you are in the discussion you generate, the larger a following you’re likely to gather.”

“In the end, I think that [earnest contribution to discussions] went a lot further in those editors’ minds than if I’d pitched them when we first met,” Andrew says. “And it went a lot further in my mind because I felt I actually came to know them and the rest of my community as people. That’s as valuable as any published article, if not more.”

Here are some final bits of wisdom Andrew shared:

• Learn and obey the rules of Twittiquette {basically, be polite}
• Post a photo of your actual face as your avatar
• Nurture valuable relationships
• Contribute intelligently to conversations
• Self-promotion has a place on Twitter, but know when to stop
• Be yourself and enjoy talking to people