Building My Brand: Twitter

I have two Twitter accounts. @mandyboyle is my personal/professional account. @Cactus_Mandy is my Solid Cactus Twitter account.

On @mandyboyle, I’ll post personal updates, conversational tweets, photos, blog post links, and references to material that I find interesting. Subject covered can rage from recipes and comics to public relations and marketing. It’s a lot like my blog: a patchwork of topics. This account has allowed for me to connect and build upon my relationships with other NEPA bloggers, friends, colleagues, and industry professionals.

On @Cactus_Mandy, it’s mostly SEO and internet marketing tweets. My @Cactus_Mandy account is used for work, so this is an account that has connected me with e-commerce merchants, colleagues in the industry, and current SC clients. I also don’t update this as much, so from a branding perspective, this isn’t always the best reflection of me.

For the sake of this post, we’ll take a closer look at @mandyboyle since it’s the one that I use the most. I usually update this a few times a day, sometimes missing a day and not posting very much on the weekends. I like to unplug somewhat on the weekend, so if I use Twitter, it’s usually from my phone or late in the evening when I have some down time.

Being Human

There’s no magic number of tweets to send per day. Some people have built a successful personal brand on tweeting 100 times per day. Others get the same impact from tweeting 19 times per day. In my case, I only post when I feel like I have something to share – even if it’s just what I ate for lunch today. Tara Hunt wrote an AWESOME post about minding the gap between business and personal and I have to agree with her. Seemingly boring posts can actually reveal a lot about ourselves, so keep that in mind the next time you’re following or making an update. What you eat, what movie you saw, or where you just were can give you an opportunity to connect with someone over a common interest just as much as a blog post you wrote. When I tell you about where I was, what I ate, or what I wore, I’m letting you know that I’m human. I’m not just a blog post tweeting machine who only cares about marketing and SEO. I also like Star Wars. And cooking.

Twitter in a Crisis

Subject matter in tweets is important, so I always make sure to proof a post before update. Like I said in my previous post, all it takes is a few seconds to ruin a reputation. There are countless case studies and examples of what not to tweet about. Remember Kenneth Cole and the Cairo tweet? Yeah, not good. But then again, there’s also the case of the American Red Cross and #gettngslizzerd. I guess the biggest take away from comparing these two cases is to consider what you post and if you make a mistake, deal with it in a way that doesn’t ruin your rep. Sometimes, that means an apology. Other times, it means laughing something off and just moving on. You’ll have to use your judgement in those cases.

On Content

Content is also a big part of personal branding on Twitter, so I try to post a variety of things. Most of my updates are links to things I find interesting, but I also offer up some thoughts here and there too. I’m from Northeastern Pennsylvania so often times, you’ll notice that I’m tweeting about a local event I’m attending or looking forward to. Here are some of my thoughts on tweeting topics:

• If you build your personal brand around a business, be transparent. Show off your good work and let people know what you do, but don’t turn your stream into an endless plug.
• If you’re local, tweet about local events. It gives you a way to connect with people nearby, which can be just as cool as connecting with people who live in another part of the world.
• Don’t be annoying – and don’t try to constantly sell people crap. Just doesn’t work.
• Be mindful of your reputation. Just like Facebook, Twitter can be indexed by search engines and found by employers. And yes, Twitter can get you fired.
• Use hashtags. It’s a great way to start or participate in larger scale conversations. Plus, it’s fun to be part of the crowd from time to time.

The most important thing to remember about content is to be true to who you are. If you find something interesting, share it. If you don’t, don’t. It’s really that simple. By only sharing what you find valuable, you’re using social media the right way. There are far too many people out there who just RT a post for the sake of joining the crowd without ever bothering to read it.

Conversations Make It

Speaking of crowds, Twitter isn’t about the number of followers you have. It’s more so about the conversations you can have with people. Chris Brogan recently wrote about how he went back to zero after trying to keep up with thousands of people. It’s difficult. No, it’s impossible. There is no way for you to be able to catch every tweet and respond to every message when you’re working with a crowd that large. Instead, my advice is to follow people you feel you can connect with or get value from. Right now, I’m pretty comfortable with the amount of people I follow. I have lists that make it easy for me to sort through the din and I can jump into streams of conversation whenever I feel like it. That’s the really fun part.

Conversations are what makes Twitter for me. I’ve been able to get feedback, ask questions, have a few laughs, and even meet people. Like any other social network, people make it truly worthwhile. It’s not about how many times you update, what you post about, or how cool your background looks. It’s about the people that you get to share and interact with.

10 Twitter Confessions

1. I’ve been on Twitter since 2008. Originally, my username was @mlb217, which wasn’t a great branding move for me. After people getting confused about who I was and thinking I was a baseball fan, I switched over to my name instead. Since that switch, it’s been easier for people to find me and trust that I’m a real person. Most spammers tend to use random numbers and letters in their usernames so at first glance, my original approach looked like spam. I’m glad I switched.
2. My user picture is an actual picture of me. I’ve found that in my travels across Twitter, I can spot a spam account based on the stock photo – or lack of any photo for that matter. Putting a real picture up can build some trust. Plus, people want to know what you look like.
3. I’ve made about 5,098 tweets since starting my account. It’s a lot, but there are times when I wish I would have made more. But I have to remember that social media is very instantaneous and that there will always be more opportunities to share.
4. I have about 1,900 followers. Most of these people have never met me in real life. A fair chunk is probably spam, but hey, that’s unavoidable. I follow most of these people back because they’ve connected with me for a reason. They either know me personally, have something in common with me, or can offer me value. As for etiquette on following, it’s all up for negotiation. Some people say follow everyone, other say follow only people you know. I follow companies as well as individuals. I say it’s pretty much the same thing as your Facebook: follow what you find interesting. 
5. My bio is pretty short and sweet: “SEO Manager for @solidcactus. Freelance Writer. Marywood Grad. Cupcake enthusiast. Resident Nice Girl. In Love with Communicating. From NEPA.” I have a really hard time writing about myself. I think bios are probably the most difficult things to write, so if you have any tips or feedback for me, I’d love to hear it! As for what to do with your Twitter bio, fill it out with something. It’s essentially your elevator pitch for any possible connection.
6. I have a personalized background. You can get fancy with something branded or  you can keep it simple. The key thing to remember is that your background says something about your personality.
7. I participate in Twitter chats from time to time, namely, the #PRStudChat. It’s a public relations chat that connects students, professors, and industry professionals. If you’re new to Twitter and are looking to build some new connections, Twitter chats can be a great way to do that. Plus, it’s an awesome way to show that you know your stuff, which connects directly back to your personal brand.
8. I don’t pay a lot of attention to Klout. I’ve seen Klout, Kred, and other social currency platforms debated back and forth. In my mind, I think it’s unfair and a little subjective to assign someone a number that represents how influential they are. I think if you know your community, you should be able to tell that right off the bat. Plus, numbers like these can always be incorrect or changed. Why should a number indicate whether or not someone is worthy to connect with? That, to me, isn’t what Twitter should be about.
9. I use URL shorteners when I post links. It makes my posts RT-friendly and easier to digest. I’d recommend bit.ly or t.co, but Hootsuite’s built-in shorteners (ow.ly and ht.ly) are great too, especially if you want analytics to go along with your shortened links.
10. If someone says they’re a guru, expert, maven, or otherwise, I probably won’t follow him or her. In my experience, 99% of those people aren’t actually experts – they just like to think they are. Plus, nobody likes it when you’re social media douchebag.

Twitter Takeaways:

• Be human.
• Be transparent.
• Tweet when you have something to say – not just for the sake of tweeting.
• Don’t be spammy.
• Proof your posts before you hit update.
• Made a mistake? Apologize and laugh it off if you can. The point is to keep moving forward and do right by your followers.
• Follow what you find interesting.
• Participate in the conversation.
• People make it all worthwhile.

 

Additional Reading

Personal branding on Twitter is a big deal and there are other bloggers and writers who have covered the subject much better than I ever could. Here are some great posts with additional info:

• HOW TO: Build Your Personal Brand on Twitter on Mashable
• 20 Personal Branding Tips for Twitter on Career Rocketeer
• How to Effectively Tell Your Brand’s Story on Twitter on Fast Company
• Brand You: Personal Branding via SlideShare