Saturday, March 3, 2012

5 Things I've Learned From My First 100 Tweets

Sending out this blog post will mark my 100th tweet and so I thought I would take a moment to share 5 things I have learned from my twitter experience so far...

1) Follow Quality over Quantity
  • Maybe I am not using the "Lists" well enough but there is a massive amount of content shared via twitter and finding a way to navigate through the noise is difficult.  The more people you follow the more difficult it is to keep tabs on things you really care about so choose who you follow wisely!
2) Every tweet should end with #IN and/or #FB
  • All I ever hear about is "integrated marketing" and I have seen very few true cases on integrated marketing be successful because the reality is that the audiences between Direct Mail, Telemarketing, Email and Social Media don't have enough overlap.  Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn have tremendous overlap and its an easy way to share great content.
3) You can Tweet too Much
  • What is too much?  I have no idea, and it may depend on the day and my mood but you can tweet too much. My first 100 tweets can in just over 100 days...I have not tweeted once a day but more in spurts when I was really motivated to contribute.  I think the key here is relevance...if you have something good to say I will probably keep following you but know it is hard to have something good to say that often.
4) Don't Be Afraid to "RT"
  • I struggled with this concept at the outset but I may be more of a "re-tweeter" than I am a "tweeter"...sharing something GREAT that someone else wrote is of high value to me when others do it.  It expands the people I follow and great ideas expand my mind and it's a nice way to acknowledge someone who said something great in hopes they will keep it up knowing someone is listening.
5) Automated Messages Still Suck
  • Acknowledgement mailings, emails, etc in fundraising all suck...we always ask for money...again (because it works) but it just never feels sincere.  If I follow you and I get your automated "thanks for following me" that is strike 1!  The better etiquette I have learned is tweeting a thank you to new followers...it gets their names out to your followers and its a nice way to show everyone there is someone real at the keyboard.
I may be a late adapter (a trend in many cases with me) but I see high value in Twitter and am always looking for ways to make it better.

I am hopeful this post will generate some response because I know I still have a long way to go!