Step Away From the Twitter or I’ll Shoot

Stop it. Just…stop it.

I’m talking to you, Mr. Business Owner. I see you creating a Twitter account over there. Step away from the Twitter or I’ll shoot.

Who told you Twitter was a good idea?

Oh, that’s right. I did. We did (we, the social media enthusiasts). The newspapers did. Oprah did.

You don’t need a Twitter account. Not yet. What’s the game plan here — Tweet about yourself all the time, rack up a ton of Twitter followers, tell them to buy your stuff?

Meh. Boring.

I get it: Sales are down. It’s a recession — we’re all suffering. But blitzing people with “come try me” messages is a bad idea, even if you use the shiny new tool to do it.

It didn’t work when you dabbled in cable TV ads for a month.
It didn’t work when you tried it via email.
It didn’t work at the Chamber of Commerce when you talked about yourself all night.

So, I’ll say it again: Step away from the Twitter…or I’ll shoot.

Go read Amy Mengel’s post Five Reasons Corporations Are Failing at Social Media (hint: Corporations aren’t the only ones screwing the pooch).

Next, complete these exercises:

• Write down three things you want to accomplish with social media. Now, crumple up your list. Throw it out. Next, write down 10 things your customers want to accomplish with social media. How are you helping them achieve those goals?
• Answer this: If you didn’t exist — I mean, plain ol’ didn’t exist — what would your customers care about? (The “if you didn’t exist” routine is designed to help you stop thinking you’re what customers care about. You’re not. I promise.)
• Describe your content strategy in 30 words are less. Content strategy? You do realize there needs to a be a topic of conversation, right? What will your audience talk about? Are you creating content? Sharing someone else’s content? Is it text? Video? Photos? Links?
• At the next staff meeting, ask employees how many have blogs. Ask how many are on Facebook. Ask if any of them use Twitter personally. Now ask yourself why you didn’t seek their ideas when you hatched your social media plan.

I’m being a little glib here (what would a blog be without complaining, after all?), but you get my point. “Fire, ready, aim” is a desperate approach.

You want to boost business, and that’s cool. But please, have a plan. Have a sustainable plan. Invite your customers to a conversation they want to be a part of. Let’s talk and see if we can come up a plan, okay?

Then you can have your Twitter back.

Did you enjoy this post? Why not leave a comment or subscribe to my feed and get articles like this delivered automatically each day to your feed reader.