Twitter for executives November 30, 2009

Delphine Remy-Boutang Digital Director Worldwide

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Think

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Twitter for Executives

§  By entering the Twitterverse, You are becoming part of IBM’s customer’s brand experience

§  Stepping out from behind the curtain exposes both you and IBM brand to intimate scrutiny

§  It’s bigger than you think: Ashton Kutcher and Ellen Degeneres have more Twitter followers than the entire populations of Ireland, Norway and Panama.

§  Social media represents a fundamental shift in the way we communicate and make decisions

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A strategic approach to Twitter

STRATEGY FOLLOW CREATE ENGAGE Customer Relations

Your customers and potential customers

Content relevant to your customers: tips, company info, etc.

Answer questions, respond to comments about your brand

Crisis Management

Your brand, products and relevant issues

Direct to additional resources, updated info, explanation

Answer questions, respond to comments, raise issues, provide info

Corporate Reputation Management

Industry leaders, similar interest groups, news/media

Insight, expertise, become a thought leader

Jump in the conversation. Be transparent and add value

Event Coverage Those interested or attending event, media

Event information, updates, behind the scenes coverage

Set up Tweet-ups, talk to attendees, ask and answer questions

Product Promotion & Sales

Current and potential customers, those interested in similar products

Links to online promos, insider info on upcoming sales, discount codes

Check replies and DM’s, answer questions, provide info when needed

Issue Advocacy Those interested in your cause, industry leaders, news

Added values: health tips, disaster alerts, fundraising info

Know your followers, thank them for support, get them involved

Source: Ogilvy

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5 good habits for Executives using Twitter

5 truths about how a CEO or any leader should speak when they step into the Twitter spotlight

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1/ You are IBM’s brand’s conscience

§  For most consumers, an ideal CEO is someone who uses their power to make sure a brand keeps its promises.

§  As a business leader, Twitter should be your platform. §  What people sense in an effective company executive on Twitter is not the

echo of marketing, but the principles by which they lead the company behind it, and their passion for the job.

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2/ Don’t sell – Do share

§  Twitter isn’t advertising, it’s a conversation.

§  Great executive tweeters don’t try to sell to their followers, they try to engage them in a personal way. (add value to the community before thinking of selling to it)

§  Share things about IBM’s corporate culture, our IBM values at work

§  Help your followers with problems

§  Make business competition personal, and sometimes even fun

§  Each tweet should be a window into the life of IBM

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3/ Be a real human being §  On Twitter, what you talk about is who you are.

§  Every Twitter user’s update history paints a true portrait of their character and what matters to them. So, the best executive tweeters are real people and sound like real people — always.

§  Know the responsibility to IBM values at work - and know that the great dinner you had at your favourite place last night are the things that make you human. In moderation, share some of those things, too.

§  People will be able to relate to you on a personal level and as a result, they will like and trust you more.

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4/ Write well

§  Bad grammar, punctuation, or hasty abbreviations to get the character count down to 140, are just a little too humanizing.

§  Great leaders are characteristically great communicators, and it’s no different on Twitter. Informality is fine, charming even, but confident prose is one way people recognize leadership in this forum.

§  Nobody wants to do business with a sixteen-year-old CEO, and the best executive tweeters don’t write like one.

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5/ Commit §  The best executive tweeters are people who have decided to join the

party.

§  Tweet a few times a day, and do so at least a few days a week

§  Build a community and become familiar with your followers

§  Establish relationships, running jokes, and a personality that defines you.

§  Corporate leaders on Twitter that don’t tweet often can seem distant, or worse, when they do. “We don’t feel like they’ve joined the party. We just feel like they walked into the room to make an announcement, and then left.”

§  You almost shouldn’t be a Twitter user if you’re not prepared to commit

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Conclusion

§  Joining the Twitter community as a leader makes your voice inseparable from IBM’s brand

§  What effective CEO tweeters understand, though, is that this doesn’t mean you are the brand. (“In IBM, the brand is the employee”- Adam C)

§  People will follow you, initially at least, because they’re curious to understand who your company is in a deeper way than traditional media allow.

§  But they’ll stay with you only if they like, respect and trust what they discover. Which, as any leader will tell you, is what leadership is all about.

Source: brandcowboy.com , @brandcowboy.

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Finding executives on Twitter

§  Though it is actually a marketing vehicle for Microsoft, ExecTweets is a great resource for finding executives on Twitter. The site categorizes executives who use Twitter and lets users vote on their favorite tweets from those corporate leaders.

§  The WeFollow ( ) directory is another good resource, just search for tags like “CEO” and “executive” to locate executive tweeters.

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IBM Social Computing Guidelines

ü Be who you are ü Speak in the first person ü Use a disclaimer ü Respect your audience ü  Add value ü Don't pick fights ü Be the first to respond to your own mistakes. ü Use your best judgment. ü Don't forget your day job.

http://www.ibm.com/blogs/zz/en/guidelines.html

IBM supports open dialogue and the exchange of ideas Responsible engagement in innovation and dialogue

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“You have two choices. You can continue to lock yourself behind facile corporate words and happy talk brochures. Or you can join the conversation.”

Delphine Remy-Boutang WW Digital Director @delphineRB

Questions?

Thank You!

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Resources and back up slides

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Click here to visit IBM SWG Social Media Marketing Wiki

Follow me on Twitter: www.twitter/delphrb

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" Twitter Tip: Register your Twitter name without the use of spaces or underscores

" Lock up your full name if it’s available and not too long and too complicated

" My UNIQUE branded username uniquely available on ALL social networks is: @delphrb

" People want to network with people

" Twitter usernames will become valuable real estate just like Web sites were back in the 90‘s. So “ lock em up! “

" When you join first Twitter, put a picture up immediately—before following anyone

How to get started on

Go to : www.twitter.com

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Twitter dictionary §  Twitterverse or Twittersphere - the universe/world sphere of Twitter (cf. blogosphere)

§  Tweet - an update on Twitter, comprising a message of up to 140 characters, sometimes containing a link, sometimes containing a picture or video. Also a verb: to tweet, tweeting.

§  Reply or @Reply - a message from one user to another, visible to anyone following the user who is giving the reply. Also visible to the entire world (and search engines) in your Twitter profile page.

§  Direct message or DM - a message from one user to another in private (not visible to other users, the internet or search engines).

§  Re-tweet or RT - repeating a message from another user for the benefit of your followers and in recognition of its value (the Twitter equivalent of forwarding an email)

§  Micro-blogging - the term given to the practice of posting short status updates via sites like Twitter (there are others, but none as big)

§  “Follower” someone who has subscribed to read your tweets §  “Following" people that you decide to follow §  “Friend" Someone who you follow that also follows you

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Useful Twitter tools

§ Search twitter : Complete an advanced search around key phrases, within specific dates, and from specific handles. (Often broken, Google search is the best back up!)

§ TweetDeck: A desktop app that lets you organize your followers into specific categories (i.e. industry leaders, customers, potential customers, etc.)

§ TwitPic: Provides a bridge from your camera phone to Twitter. Pictures can either post to the Twitter public timeline from phone via email or through the site.

§ TweetLater and CoTweet: Allow you time your Tweets to be created now and published later.

Seesmic: A desktop client to manage your lifestream from Facebook & multiple Twitter accounts.Create groups and searches and view them any way you like Mixero: Twitter client helps in controlling the flow and noise of information – Great to monitor groups and channels

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Useful Twitter tools

• HootSuite: A shared Twitter platform allowing multiple users, pre-scheduled tweets, and click statistics including charts and your most popular tweets. • TweetVolume: Find out what keywords to use based on their popularity and conversation volume on twitter. • TweetBeep: The Google Alerts for Twitter, allows you to monitor conversations that mention you, your brand, related/competitor products, and links to your website/blog. Alerted as keywords appear, reducing the need for a manual search. • Twitterholic: Find out who has the most followers and who can be an influential asset to your campaign. • ExecTweets: Find and follow top executives on Twitter.

• Twollow: Put in key words and automatically add you to people with those words in there profile. • Mr Tweet: Your personal Twitter assistant suggests which influencers and followers…………….

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Useful Twitter tools

• TwitterGrader: Measures the relative power and authority of a Twitter user by calculating number of followers, power of network of followers, pace of updates and completeness of a user’s profile. • Twhirl: Centrally manages activity, messaging and updating for Twitter and platforms (FriendFeed, Identi.ca and Seesmic).

• TwitScoop: Tells you “What’s hot right now?”, presenting trend comparisons and volume of conversation. • Twitterberry and Twitterfox: Downloadable Blackberry app and Firefox plugin for Twitter.

• Go to Tweepler to see who to follow and who not to follow.

• Go to Trendistic to view the volume of conversation about your brand, products…

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References §  5 Habits of Successful Executives on Twitter

§  IBM Social computing guidelines §  http://www.ibm.com/blogs/zz/en/guidelines.html §  Recent trends in the global blogosphere? §  §  social media directory

§  How do I make time to do social media ?!

§  List of agencies who can help you in your social media campaign execution

§  The Impact of Corporate Culture on Social Media

§  The social media experiment is over. Now it's time to extract value.

§  IBM SWG Social Media Marketing wiki

§  Gina Poole, IBM goes to work, Gina Poole’s video

Get Marketing, Get Social IBM's social media marketing campaign hits the target! Exclusive Social Media event in IBM’s Virtual Forbidden City Play your imperial part in IBM’s Virtual Forbidden City (VFC) SOA Tour 5 reasons to twitter Jon Iwata's interview on You Tube Tap into the interconnected world and earn the rewards !