The Social Media Blog - Methodical Madness

Merry Christmas to you and yours!

We'd like to take this moment to thank all of our readers, clients, friends and family for helping us make 2009 a great year. Below you'll find the agency's 2009 Christmas card which tells you the tale of how Santa became the man he is today – from a Roman god to a jolly fat guy in a series of ads. We hope you enjoy it and that you have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

The Best Twitter Apps of 2009

 
Welcome to Twitter Tuesday. Every Tuesday we will post about Twitter. Stop by for advice and how to's for marketing professionals. Every other week we will post our AppQuest Edition featuring a review of Twitter applications.

For the last three months, we’ve been reviewing various online Twitter applications. We’ve covered five different subjects so far. Now that 2009 is coming to an end, I thought it would be a good idea to go back and look at our picks. Were we correct with our picks? Did they deliver the way we expected? Have we changed our minds from our original picks? In some cases, the sites worked better than expected and in other cases, we ended up using one of the other sites.

Back in September, we kicked off Twitter Tuesday: AppQuest Edition with a look at Twitter scheduling tools. What was our verdict?

Twitter Scheduling Apps

THEN: Overall, Twaitter came closest to my wish list. It did almost everything I wanted it to do. First and foremost, it’s very easy to use and understand. While it does a lot, it doesn’t overwhelm you. The designers really thought through the issues and how to solve them. But in the final analysis, I will go with Tweet-U-Later for one reason: It is the only app I found that makes it easy to have recurring tweets on the same day. When working with followers in different time zones this is essential for me. Coming in at the bottom of the list is Dynamic Tweets. Too many of the options that they want you to pay for can be found on other sites for free. Social Oomph needs to rethink their site design. It’s too cluttered and every link feels like it takes you to a sales page for the pay version. There’s a great looking user interface on Twit Robot, it’s just too bad programming glitches prevent you from using them.

NOW: Twaitter has become my first choice to schedule tweets. It’s easy to use and allows you to schedule Tweets at any time across any time zone. They disabled the ability to do recurring tweets due to Twitter concerns about spamming. These are valid concerns, but that doesn’t mean you can’t schedule recurring posts individually. In leu of a recurring tweet option, it would be nice to see a way to duplicate a tweet you want to repost. The RSS feed manager is still coming soon, but there is no word on when that will be implemented. 

Twitter Follower Management Apps

THEN: Refollow and Tweepular were the hands-down winners. Refollow slightly edged out Tweepular due to the variety of filtering options and the ability to tag and comment on user accounts. This is a great site for beginners as well as super users. Tweepular’s colorful design, broad functionality and suggested user tab make it a strong runner up. This is still a wide open field as the top two sites are miles ahead of the rest. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were more contenders in this arena soon that offer even more features.

NOW: After trying Refollow for a few days, I found that it didn’t work as well as I thought it did. When I went to look at the number of people that weren’t following me back, the list of people was never as big as I would find on other sites. This leads me to believe that it doesn’t pull in all your followers so you can manage them properly. Instead, I’ve turned more and more to Tweepular. It doesn’t have as many features, but I know it works like it should.

Twitter Profile Analyzing App

THEN: While TweetStats and Twitalyzer both had very useful analytics, neither came close to the depth and variety of Twitter Analyzer. Twitalyzer’s benchmarking tool is a great way to set goals for yourself. Combined with Twitter Analyzer, you have all the software you need to mount a Twitter campaign and measure its success. Because the analytics are live, you can make course adjustments on the fly to optimize your Tweeting.

NOW: Twitter Analyzer is still the best Twitter profile analyzer out there. It shows amazing amounts of analytics and information. They sometimes lose data, but some of that could depend on the whims of Twitter. They are still going to release two sections – Trends and Fun – but there’s no mention of what they will contain. I’m not complaining, though. For a free app, it’s one of the best available. In fact, it’s my favorite free Twitter app of 2009.

Twitter Polling Apps

THEN: While there were some sites that were easy-to-use, one trick ponies, it became clear it was worth putting a little extra effort into polls with the sites that offer more functionality. Twtpoll edged out Twttrstrm as it provided nearly all the features we wanted, while still being simple to use and visually appealing.

NOW: There is no comparison here – Twtpoll is hands down the best. The simple fact that it allows you to create 17 types of polls puts it in a class by itself. We’ve used it twice ourselves to poll our followers, and it didn’t disappoint. Check out this Twtpoll on the best ad agency blogs (which we just happened to have won). 

Twitter File Sharing Apps

THEN: TwitFS and FileTweet did the best, with TwitFS ultimately having the best features. It’s simple to use, accepts the largest files and allows you to share the file across multiple networks. Best of all, it works without any problems. FileTweet is good for a quick send if you don’t care about sending the file again or being able to delete it from the site’s servers. FileSocial is also recommended for its ability to view the files without having to download them. 

NOW: TwitFS is still really great. The shear amount of features is still pretty amazing, like the ability to email from the page, view the shared content online, download, html code to post your shared item on Twitter, blogs, Facebook, MySpace and message boards along with a page url and on-page embedding code. Next to Twitter Analyzer, it’s my favorite free Twitter app of 2009.

Looking into the new year, what are some free Twitter apps you would like us to review?

We wish you a social Christmas!

Our 5 favorite social media creations of the holiday season

As you’ve probably noticed, people are more reluctant than ever to send Christmas cards, whether it be for their wallets or the environment. But social media is picking up the slack to keep the holiday cheer running strong. Here are my five favorite ways to use social media to either send Christmas greetings, or just to inject some fun into the holiday season when it starts to wear thin.

Santa Yourself
I had nearly given up on finding something interesting among the hundreds of uninspired Facebook Christmas applications, but this one stole my heart. Mostly because you can make Santa look really creepy while going right to town in his dance number. It’s not Christmas until Santa makes children cry.

Redneck Christmas gifts
For the distinguished Southern gentleman or lady, here we have an exclusive selection of gifts for their refined tastes. Make their holiday season special with a ginger bread trailer home or a decorated outhouse.

Santa shoot-em-up

If an evaporating bank account and endless family gatherings are making you feel the need to shoot something, take out your stress with a Christmas flash game. My favorite is Deep Freeze – how can you go wrong with a heavily armed Santa and lots of cannon fodder?

Find out what list you’re on
Worried you’ve been too naughty to get any presents this year? Just ask Santa to check your tweets and he’ll let you know. He’ll send you a tweet with the verdict and what punishment/reward you get, all the while swaying drunkenly to some jovial music

Christmas cocktails
Speaking of swaying drunkenly, this iPhone app is ready to serve up a tasty holiday drink recipe whenever the occasion demands. Search by ingredient or give it a shake for a random suggestion. Just try not to embarrass yourself too badly in front of the in-laws.

Those were my favorites. Did I miss yours?

Jason Ross is a copywriter for The Duffy Agency. He loves working on both traditional and social media projects and speculating on the future of the ad industry. 

The year of the Tweet

Welcome to Twitter Tuesday. Every Tuesday we will post about Twitter. Stop by for advice and how to's for marketing professionals. Every other week we will post our AppQuest Edition featuring a review of twitter applications. 

5 reasons 2009 was Twitter’s breakout year 

As 2009 opened, Twitter was nothing new. It had been around since 2006, steadily growing its following, but the wave hadn’t had quite broken over the masses yet. That would soon change. A social network needs a certain critical mass of users to make a splash, and the events of 2009 would see Twitter eclipse that mark. According to Compete.com, Twitter had 3.4 million visitors in November 2008 and by November of this year, they had over 22 millions visitors. That’s a 676% growth from year to year. 

This was largely due to a natural ramp up of followers, but some big events helped vault it ahead. Its mass media status was confirmed when Taylor Swift thanked her Twitter followers in an acceptance speech at the MTV Video awards. David Letterman did a bit with Kevin Spacey about Twitter. Even CSI has used Twitter to help solve crimes. That’s about as much an official declaration of going mainstream as you can get. 

Also, Twitter was Google’s fastest rising search term in 2009 and “What is Twitter?” was Ask.com’s fourth most asked question (right after “How do I get pregnant?). 

So why was 2009 Twitter’s big year? Here are 5 ways Twitter made the transition to new media powerhouse in the past 12 months.

5. Twitter helped people find (and lose) jobs more efficiently 
As the recession deepened and unemployment spread, people looked to find a job any way they could. Twitter quickly proved its networking ability could be focused to find HR managers and info on available jobs. It also allowed people to get to know companies they were interested in in-depth by following its employees – an invaluable tool when applying for a job. For many people who didn’t know or care about Twitter, they suddenly had a compelling reason to try it out. 

But Twitter also made headlines for helping people lose their jobs. People learned to be wary of declaring their boss hatred on blogs and Facebook a long time ago, but most are still getting their heads around Twitter, and don’t realize they can get sacked in one incomplete sentence as their tweets spread beyond their followers. Cautionary tales have been around since before 2009, but the folks getting themselves into trouble expanded and got more high profile this year, as when NFL player Larry Johnson got himself cut form the Kansas City Chiefs for getting into an offensive bickering match with a fan. The crossover from private amusement to professional liability put Twitter in headlines in both traditional and new media, and tipped off bosses around the world on a new way to keep tabs on employees. So don’t say anything about your boss on Twitter you wouldn’t say on the 6 o’clock news. Seems a few people still haven’t caught on.  

4. People congregated on Twitter en masse to mourn the death of an icon
Almost immediately after the news broke that Michael Jackson had died, Twitter exploded with updates about his passing. Millions of people began sharing their grief and nostalgia for the singer, or simply tweeting “RIP MJ.”  This wasn’t surprising, as coming together to mourn is a basic human need. But the scale of the outburst was pretty surprising – conservative estimates claim that tweets about Jackson accounted for 30% of all activity on Twitter in the hours following his death, blowing talk of the Iranian election and the swine flu out of the water. The event turned Twitter into a platform for mass grieving and consolation, and showed how many people turn to Twitter first to share and comment on big news. It also revealed how Twitter is ideal for people to use in making themselves feel important, as publicly commenting on a huge event makes them feel involved. This is a large part of social media’s appeal, and something Twitter has taken to the next level. 

3. Twitter helped Iranians achieve freedom of speech
With communication channels being blocked left and right in Iran after the controversial election, Twitter became the primary medium of getting info out of the country to rest of the world. You know when the US State Department asks you to delay scheduled site maintenance in the interest of preserving freedom of speech, you’ve got a pretty powerful communication tool. The incident displayed Twitter’s ability to subvert government censorship and spread on-the-ground happenings in real time to a global audience. With talk of Twitter’s role being broadcast on CNN and TIME, many more people discovered the site and began to understand just how much potential it had to change how we receive information. 

2. H1N1 demonstrated Twitter’s efficiency of fear-mongering
The swine flu pandemic showcased Twitter’s power for both good and evil. Worried people around the world logged in to find the facts on the mysterious virus. Many regular folks and official organizations like the CDC obliged with good information. But they were largely overshadowed by the misinformation and irrational panic. That’s the thing about crowds – they have a way of taking fears, developing their own momentum and getting carried away. The Twitter community was no exception. Though Twitter offers a lightning fast tool to inform the public from a decentralized platform, the incident highlighted the dangers that come with it. It’s bound to draw flocks of people who feel the need to tell everyone that the end is nigh at the first sign of trouble and spread rumors as proof to thousands of unwary followers. If you think it’s crazy people trust Wikipedia for information, Twitter will probably make your head explode. But again, this is Twitter facilitating a basic human need to connect and share in troubled times, so it’s not surprising it took off so quickly, nor is it likely to slow down. Brace yourself.

1. Twitter officially declared the word of the year
To cap off the Year of the Tweet, Twitter was named the word of the year by the Global Language Monitor, topping the likes of “Obama,” “H1N1” and “vampire.” The list was compiled by tracking which words garnered the most attention across the Internet. Political events that shook the world, a panic inducing global pandemic and the death of the world’s biggest pop star could not top Twitter. If there was any doubt Twitter was a new media force to be reckoned with, it was washed away. 

Despite its rocketing success in 2009, Twitter is still sinking into our collective mind. Most people are still trying to get their heads around what it’s for and why they should care, much like they did in YouTube’s early days. It remains to be seen whether Twitter will become part of our permanent Internet furniture collection as YouTube has, but it’s certainly headed in that direction, and shows no sign of slowing down going into 2010. 

Jason Ross is a copywriter for The Duffy Agency. He loves working on both traditional and social media projects and speculating on the future of the ad industry. 

Is social media making any difference in Copenhagen?

Taking a look at what the slew of social media initiatives have, and haven’t, accomplished for climate change.

The world’s most powerful leaders have convened in Copenhagen to reach an agreement that will help save our planet from rising seas and violent hurricanes. But millions of people around the world are doing some convening of their own. Social media initiatives in support of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP15) have exploded, inspiring tens of millions of regular people to do their part with just a few mouse clicks. But how big an impact can a few mouse clicks really have? Quite a lot, but it depends how you use them.

There are dozens of sites dedicated to getting people to demand an agreement be reached at the conference, but a few big ones are leading the way. Hopenhagen is one of the simpler efforts, asking people to digitally sign a petition by telling the world what gives them hope for the future. More than 1.7 million people have contributed so far.

Another 440,000 people have signed a similar petition on Seal the Deal’s site, an initiative run by the UN. In true social media fashion, the efforts are not being confined to websites – Kofi Annan’s Tck Tck Tck organization has a successful Twitter, Facebook and YouTube campaign to go along with the more than 10 million people who have pledged support through their website. Most of the other organizations can also boast multi-platform efforts.

YouTube itself is running a joint campaign with CNN called Raise Your Voice. It’s aimed at raising awareness by having people submit call to action videos and questions that will be answered during a debate broadcast live from the conference center. More than 4 million people have visited the YouTube channel.

ActiveBE is also using a video campaign to raise awareness of the climate change issue, which is noteworthy because they are using the COP15 hype to highlight the little know fact that the leading producer of CO2 isn’t transportation or industry, but buildings. Hundreds have signed the petition to shed more light on this issue and thousands visited the site to learn more.

The number of supporters is unquestionably impressive – all told it’s in the tens of millions. In terms of spreading knowledge, awareness and enthusiasm, the social media initiatives have been a resounding success, and those things are instrumental in garnering support on a global scale. But whether these efforts are having any impact on the proceedings in Copenhagen is another matter. Barack Obama officially stated a month ago that no binding agreement will be reached in Copenhagen, but rather they hope to reach an agreement that shows strong “intent.” The social media campaigns all state that they exist to unite people in demanding leaders come to a binding agreement with specific targets. It’s unlikely that particular goal will be met, and there is no mention of what will be done with these signatures and followers after the conference. Generating actual change has been a recurring problem with social media drives, as when Twitter helped Iranians subvert government censorship, but ultimately didn’t change anything.

That isn’t to say the climate change efforts have gone to waste. Pushing for an agreement is only part of the goal – creating widespread awareness of the problem and enthusiasm to do something is just as a big a part of these campaigns. Millions of people have taken an active interest where they would have otherwise been passive observers, if they had noticed the conference at all. But the potential impact of these communities has been far from reached. With a different focus, they could be petitioning local politicians with concrete demands, raising money for renewable energy research or organizing more demonstrations like the UK’s Wave project recently did. Without real world action, social media initiatives simply make people feel like they’ve done their part without actually accomplishing anything.

The most telling question will ultimately be: what will these communities do if world leaders fail to come through? If the answer is nothing, their level of success will be limited to a brief awareness campaign in connection to the conference. But if they continue to mobilize people and affect real change, then Copenhagen could go down as the launching pad of something much bigger, even if the politicians themselves accomplish nothing.

How effectively do you think social media has been used at COP15?

Jason Ross is a copywriter for The Duffy Agency. He loves working on both traditional and social media projects and speculating on the future of the ad industry.

Thank you everybody

Michael Gass over at Fuel Lines blog included Methodical Madness in his monthly Blog of the Month  poll for November. We were one of fifty-eight blogs nominated. Not only did we win, but we’re also the first blog to win from outside of the US. We want to thank everyone for voting for us. We were just honored to be included in such a great list of blogs. Thank you Michael for including us in your poll and a special thank you to everyone that helped make us #1.

6 iPhone apps for mobile tweeting

 
Welcome to Twitter Tuesday. Every Tuesday we will post about Twitter. Stop by for advice and how to's for marketing professionals. Every other week we will post our AppQuest Edition featuring a review of Twitter applications.

What are the best Twitter iPhone clients?

Modern life is becoming increasingly mobile. To keep up with our on-the-go lifestyle, being able to call people is now only one entry on a long list of mobile functions that come with cell phones. Which is great because our escalating involvement in social networking sites makes it nearly impossible to be in front of a computer often enough to keep pace with the flow of conversation. But there are so many apps for mobile tweeting, it can be a bit of a headache to find the right one. We decided to figure out which Twitter apps for the iPhone were really worth our while. 

I sat down with my co-workers and created a wish-list of qualities that we as marketing people want in an iPhone Twitter app. As usual, all the apps have to be free. Beyond that, we wanted to be able to:

• have an easy-to-use interface
• get the hang of it quickly
• manage multiple accounts
• have a search function
• save searches
• retweet/reply/favorite
• see mentions/direct messages
• update location with map
• tweet pictures
• tweet videos
• shorten URLs
• have other fun features


The evaluation method was simple. I download every app to my phone, added my Twitter account details and took a screenshot. I played around with each app for 20 minutes. This time, it was more than enough to determine if the app was worth the download or not. Then, I compared it against my list and rated it.

 

 

TweetDeck is my personal favorite of the applications. It has one of the best user interfaces – instead of just using one column, it emulates the desktop version by having multiple columns. If you use TweetDeck on your desktop, the iPhone app is perfect for you. You can actually sync your desktop groups to your phone, but only up to six due to 3G connection issues. So if you’re used to the desktop interface, there’s basically no learning curve for the iPhone version. And if you want to manage multiple accounts from an iPhone, this is the right application.

PROS: Simple interface, syncs with the desktop version, status updates with your location, can tweet pictures and video, shortens URLs, quick follow and easy to manage replies, DMs and RTs

CONS: Need to manually create new columns for mentions, direct messages etc. for each account, no automatic landscape function

RATING:

Twitterrific one of the most popular mobile Twitter clients, but to me the interface is needlessly confusing. It’s not clear what the icons mean and the navigation is not intuitive. It took me a while to figure out how it works, but when I did it worked very well. It also has some cute quirks like flicking through profiles or double tapping to change views.

Quick search, view trends and nearby searches, change text size, multiple account management, easy to reply, caches tweets so you can read them even if you lose wireless connection

PROS: Quick search, view trends and nearby searches, change text size, multiple account management, easy to reply, caches tweets so you can read them even if you lose wireless connection

CONS: Free version has ads, interface is confusing, premium version far too expensive, everything on timeline so there’s no digging back

RESULTS:

The free version of TwitBird tries to differentiate itself from the other Twitter apps by using a main page layout that looks similar to the iPhone’s regular interface. The layout is nice, but the user interface makes you go back far too often. It’s useful to see the tweet and response in one frame, but it also means you have to do a lot more scrolling to read through recent tweets. TwitBird features nearby tweets, Twitter search, Twitpic support and the ability to create groups. One feature I really loved: Tweet what you are listening now, which tweets the song you listened to most recently or are listening to right then.

PROS: Clean design, takes a bit of time to learn, can tweet video and photos, use maps, shorten urls, use hashtags, cool extra features

CONS: Doesn’t support multiple accounts, impractical navigation



RESULTS:

This is the app version of the Twittervision website. It only has basic Twitter features, but it’s cool to watch the tweets pop up from across the globe. If you use your Twitter account in a more “serious” way, Twittervision isn’t something of practical use, but it’s good for entertainment value.

PROS: A fun, cool way to visualize tweets from around the world

CONS: Lacking a lot of Twitter functionality, plus my app crashed every time I tried to login with my Twitter details



RESULTS:




 

SimplyTweet Lite  has a bare bones interface, which is good as it makes the tweets easy to read. Tweets are displayed as little speech bubbles, which makes sense given the app’s focus on following conversations. If one of your followers replies to a tweet, you can easily see the entire conversation timeline with two quick taps. But it’s annoying that you have to scroll to the top of your Twitter feed to hit the refresh button.

PROS: Map, photo/video, nearby search, trends, clean design

CONS: Does not support multiple accounts, can’t save searches, impractical navigation



RESULTS:
 

Echofon (free) is the simplest and easiest to use app I tried out. It’s perfect for beginners. Navigation is a snap and the icons are all labelled, so there’s never any confusion about what they do, but it doesn’t stack up well against TweetDeck or Twitterrific. It uses a bright color scheme and new tweets are highlighted in an ugly blue/green. It’s easy to tweet, RT and send direct messages, but ultimately too basic compared to other Twitter apps to be something you’ll want to use in the long run.

PROS: Clean and easy, map, photo/video, easy to write replies



CONS: No extra features, no group searches, doesn’t support multiple accounts, ugly design



RESULTS:
 

CONCLUSION: There are some great free apps that give you the functionality you need, but you can’t get the really comprehensive stuff like Tweetelator Pro or Tweetie without paying. Among those that are free, many offer cool features, but aren’t practically useful. TweetDeck gets my pick as the best of the free apps because I’m a big fan of the TweetDeck desktop application, I can easily sync it with the mobile version and I can manage different accounts in a very organized way. 

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Is Facebook wearing out its welcome?

Musings on whether the good in Facebook will keep me coming back or the bad will annoy me away

As I’m sure you’ve all heard by now, Facebook has hit 350 million users. That’s well over the entire population of America. Not bad for something created 5 years ago in a dorm room.

This monumental success got me thinking about the great things Facebook has given us, and the not so great stuff that has tagged along with it. I’ve found myself growing out of Facebook recently because the annoying things are so persistent. But the good things that have hooked me, and hundreds of millions of others, keep me returning. For the time being, at least. I’m very curious to see if the increasing tedium of the social networking site won’t start to push those huge numbers back down in 2010, or at least slow its growth as users turn elsewhere.

Here are five reasons I keep visiting the world’s 2nd most visited website, and 5 things I could definitely live without.

I come to Facebook to …

Keep up with friends in other countries
As an expat, Facebook has been a godsend in making it easy to stay up to date on my friends’ lives from across the Atlantic, even salvaging some sense of the intimacy that was lost when I moved.

Share my internet finds
At the moment, Facebook is the most effective way to share funny/interesting videos or articles I find with all my friends at once. I don't want them to miss out on gems like the literal version of Under the Bridge, after all.

Check out and share photos
Photo tagging is a great idea. Not only can I share photos with friends and family, I can see all the ones I’m in and the ones my friends are in. It lets me look into their lives with minimal time and effort. The upcoming photo tag search will make this even better. 

Easily organize events
Right now Facebook provides the easiest way for me to organize a party, as trying to get each and every person on the phone individually is always a chore. Things like this are what Facebook should be all about - making people’s lives easier by connecting them in a useful way.

Remember people’s birthdays
I used to forget everyone’s birthday, but Facebook tells me every day whose is coming up next. It’s a little thing, but a big help for someone as forgetful as me.

And leave because of the …

Unchecked narcissism
This comes in many forms, from picture after picture of someone showing off their muscles (or muscle cars), to constant updates about every little thing someone does, to shameless self promotion. Many, many people can’t resist shouting LOOK AT ME every five seconds when they’re given an audience, and Facebook provides them with an audience around the clock. This is undoubtably why millions of people are clamoring for an “unlike” button.

Mafia Wars and other irritating apps
I actually kind of miss seeing inane updates from friends in my mini feed, because now it’s full of ‘accomplishments’ they’ve achieved in digital farming or pretend mafia warfare. Moreover, the novelty of seeing what people are up to has worn off and I hardly read updates at all anymore. Even more annoying, Mafia Wars has spilled over to Twitter as well with people tweeting their accomplishments and sending DM’s requesting I join. Please, give it a rest. I don’t care and I never will.

Utterly pointless content
I’m sure glad to know my friend Stefan is a fan of grilled cheese sandwiches and Carlos is a fan of the cold side of the pillow. I get that these are more gags than anything, but my tolerance for such a large amount of fluff content is decreasing as social media platforms become more refined and focused.

But it does look all melty and yummy...

Too-much-information status updates
This is another reason I hardly look at the mini feed anymore. There’s so much info in there that I don’t need, or want, to know. But on the plus side, TMI updates have given us facebookfails.com.

Reads best in valley girl voice

Overbearing dominance
Like it or not, you’re pretty much forced to be on Facebook to stay in the loop. Even my most stalwart friends who resisted for ages have given in and created profiles. Hell, my grandmother even has one. Somehow the fun and novelty of the whole experience is lost when it nears mandatory status.

It seems hard to believe right now that Facebook will just fade away, but it’s happened before (I’m looking at you, MySpace) and it could happen again if Facebook isn’t careful. I used to think life without Facebook would suck, but now I’m feeling ready for something new to come along. But maybe it’s just me. Do you see yourself still visiting Facebook every day a couple years from now?

Jason Ross is a copywriter for The Duffy Agency. He loves working on both traditional and social media projects and speculating on the future of the ad industry. 

10 tips for taking your business into the Twittersphere in 2010

I feel compelled to say right off the bat that if you aren’t interested in genuinely engaging with your customers (spamming with links to your website or special offers does not equal engagement), don’t use Twitter for your business. But if you are ready to start a conversation about your company, it can be a powerful tool to develop your brand and add many loyal customers to your following.

These days if you aren’t using social media, you’re doing something wrong. Don’t believe me? Here is a list of companies using Twitter. The good news is you don’t have to have deep pockets like Starbucks, Coca Cola or American Airlines to successfully use Twitter. And up until a few months ago, it was enough to just be on Twitter. But these days you need to know how you're going to use it before entering the fray. To ensure you see a return on your efforts and that you get the most out of your energy, we recommend following these 10 tips for taking your business into the Twittersphere. Pretty soon you may just find yourself on lists like this.

1. Create a strategy. Ask yourself exactly what it is you want to get out of Twitter and what you're willing to give. Then put it down on paper. There are hundreds of ways to use Twitter: A listening tool to gauge sentiment about your brand or competitors; A tool to engage and converse; A podium to express your ideas and build a reputation as a thought leader; A forum to instigate debate; A medium to share news about your company or industry; A place to address customer service issues. There are many more, but only a few are probably right for you. Choose wisely.
2. Tune in to the conversation. You should start using Twitter Search right away to see what people are saying about you, your competitors and your industry. It’s free, invaluable consumer insight and it allows you to respond to complaints or compliments about your company. Listening closely will also help you get a feel for Twitter and its dos and don’ts.

   
3. Show that you’re human. Don’t be afraid to add your personality and opinions to the conversation or share things you find interesting that are related to what you do. Your tweets should sound like they’re coming from a person, not a marketing machine. By no means should you put your account on auto-Tweet and walk away or auto DM your followers. They really don’t appreciate it.

4. Have more than one tweeter. This will give your tweets extra character and will keep you covered in case someone falls ill or goes on vacation - it’s important to keep the feed going. But this brings up the issue of consistency. Make sure you have written Twitter tactical guidelines specifying the content and tone of your stream as well as your behavior on Twitter - this will ensure consistency and that you are always contributing to your strategy. 

5. Help solve people’s problems. Don’t just push your own interests and goals. Figure out what your followers need, and try to help them get it. This could be links to useful information, solving problems they have with your service or keeping them up-to-date on general industry news. 

6. Use 3rd party software to manage your account. There’s a lot of great software out there to help you refine info from Twitter into something easily manageable and highly effective. TweetDeck  is our personal favorite as it lets us organize followers, @’s, keyword searches and more into individual columns that can be taken in at a glance. Check out our previous post for more info on apps that help you manage followers. 

7. Make it useful when you do talk about yourself. You should use most of your tweets not talking about yourself, but when you do, don’t just push your name and offer out there. Give people useful advice, links, blog posts or cool pictures to make your message worth your followers’ while to listen to.

8. Follow people involved with or interested in your industry. Quantity does not equal success on Twitter. Creating a balanced ecosystem of following/followers that are all relevant to your industry and goals will give you the most back from Twitter. You’ll get valuable information and opinions and will be talking to the right people. 

9. Respond to people who @ you. This is fundamental for making your Twitter use a conversation and not just a stream of words flowing over your followers. Other tweeters out there are likely to @ you with questions about your brand or complain if they’ve had a negative experience. Make yourself more sympathetic and helpful by engaging with them.

10. Ask your followers questions. Racking your brain to figure out what new solutions your customers need? Just ask them. It can’t replace proper market research, but it can give you a quick, honest answer to what your targeted group of followers want from you. Why guess when it’s so easy to ask? See our earlier post about polling your followers to find the right polling tool.

Take your time getting to know Twitter and how it can fit into your business. Being patient in the beginning is better than immediately following hundreds of people just to try and boost your own following, and then pummeling them with loads of tweets. Finding the right people and the right, natural flow of conversation is the key to meaningful Twitter use and strengthening your brand.

Jason Ross is a copywriter for The Duffy Agency. He loves working on both traditional and social media projects and speculating on the future of the ad industry.