I’ll be honest. having just read Trust Agents and a couple of other books about social media, I was hesitant to dive into yet another one. However, Twitterville: How Businesses can Thrive in the New Global Neighborhoods by Shel Israel was different than expected. It’s less of a “how to tweet” and more about the evolution of the era of microblogging.
Why would anyone tweet?
From the forward by Charlene Li:
“Twitter is made for my mom. That’s because she’s always infinitely interested in what I am doing and thinking, no matter how mundane–or inane.” Then Li goes on to say that is probably the reason for skepticism about Twitter. However, in her mind, “Twitter is less about what you are doing and more about what you are paying attention to and willing to share.”
I fall under the latter camp. For me, Twitter has always been the nonstop cocktail party where you can pop into conversations and learn what people are thinking, reading, learning and laughing about. I want to know what the experts are focused on and share the highlights with my followers.
In general, I think everyone should have a Tweeting strategy–if you follow me at http://twitter.com/downtownwoman, you’ll read a lot about what the Downtown Women’s Club is up to, what’s going on with social media and women networking, what books I’m reading/reviewing and, of course, whatever article of clothing or numerous bizarre items my 90-lb Bernese Mountain Dog has eaten, buried and/or thrown up on.
Israel’s book doesn’t tell readers how to build their own strategy, but he covers some of the famous Twitter incidents that have caused people and companies to start paying attention. These include:
- The arrest tweeted around the world. James Buck’s tweet “Arrested” sent from Egypt rapidly made its way around Twitterville and played a large role in his ability to later tweet the word “Free.”
- The Motrin Moms getting an ad canceled. Despite not having an opinion one way or the other about baby slings, I had a personal attachment to this one, as one of our Downtown Women’s Club bloggers at the time was part of the vocal group.
- The Pepsi suicide ad. This was a story I hadn’t heard much about, and Israel points out that Pepsi acted quickly via Twitter, made its apologies sincere and even put a personal face on the apology–an employee whose sibling had committed suicide and who was disturbed by an ad Pepsi ran mocking suicide. (Note that as I wrote this Pepsi had another incidence of poor taste with its Pepsi Amp iPhone app encouraging men to keep score of the women they picked up . . . which then led to another Twitter apology.)
Some lessons beyond Twitter
However, the book wasn’t limited to stories unfolding on Twitter. Israel covers how Twitter came into being, including its origin as an internal tool used to locate a virtual work force. In these sections, I found some interesting business advice that went beyond Twitterville, including:
Ev Williams, one of the founders of Twitter, said that he learned two things from his tenure at Google, where he worked for a year and a half, 2003 to 2004:
- Get the product right and make users happy before you worry about making money.
- Focus is everything. Every company has to choose between what it can do and what it should do.
Twitter as a business strategy
Israel outlines a wide variety of strategic uses of Twitter.
- Dell Outlet–used Twitter to employ an old retail tactic: coupons.
- Dell Inc. had a different strategy–trolling for mentions of Dell and hoping to resolve problems by jumping into conversations.
Like Dell, Israel comes down on the side of corporations letting individuals tweet with their own pictures/name. Other tips from the Dell section of the book: Per Bob Pearson, who at the time was the highest-ranking member of Dell’s social media team: “Social media becomes even more important during tough financial times because it is not that expensive and it gets you closer to the customer.”
Recently there’s been a lot written about the push back from corporations against social media. Most of that is due to the fact that it’s harder to measure ROI. However, Israel gives some solid examples of ROI, such as JetBlue adding new flights to get to the SXSW conference after reading on Twitter about the lack of flights.
“The internet has been flattening corporate structures for some time now. Social media has accelerated the process, and the recession has speeded up the process still further.”
Back to corporate examples:
- Best Buy has a smart strategy. “It may be one of the companies that realizes it is not in control of its destiny. Their customers are in control. Their future depends on how close they can get to their customers, and how fast they can learn what their customers want from them in terms of both goods and services.”
- Ford Motor Co. found out that Twitter is crucial in solving PR crises. In the old days you might have a week to resolve a crisis; today you have mere hours.
- H&R Block is using Twitter to find new business. The company realized that its core client–folks who frequented strip malls–weren’t going to replenish themselves. H&R Block sent employees online to Twitterville to learn how they might implement an online strategy and cultivate a new client base.
- Zappos makes it part of the customer service culture.
Twitter and Customer Service
This last example is just as important as all the marketing examples because Twitter is a curious blend of marketing and customer service. People don’t call customer support to complain anymore; they get on Twitter and rail about it.
In fact, I recently blogged about a great customer service experience I had with a vendor on Twitter. And I have a few other examples of companies that have responded to tweets that led to me doing business (iRobot), keeping my business (Eventbrite, Comcast) and, in one case, stopping me from lambasting the company (Charter Communications. In this case, I had complained through Charter’s website, by e-mail, by phone, by instant chat, etc. Nothing resolved the issue until I tweeted about it and heard from the eRep., who seems to have resolved the issue.)
Israel is a big proponent of putting a personal face on corporate and disagrees with Whole Foods’ strategy of not putting faces to its tweeters. While the Whole Foods reps have a fairly successful strategy and put forth some good reasons for not having humanized tweeters, I’m still with Israel on the human bit–it makes a company more transparent and authentic.
Twitter and PR
Twitter has also changed the way PR functions. To quote a PR professional from the book:
“Today I send a press release out on Business Wire . . . I also send it to media and bloggers using e-mail. Then I post it on PitchEngine.com as a social media release; post it on our company website; tweet about it; cross-post to Facebook; and if it involves a commercial, post it on YouTube. Things have sure changed.”
Random notes of interest
Throughout the book, Israel includes random tweets. Some I found just plain odd, others made me wish I had more info. I bookmarked one because it stated something I’d been thinking about recently with regard to social media:
@TomTravel2: Think about it, none of us follow the exact same people so we all see a unique set of Tweets no one else sees. Twowflakes of a sort.
When it comes to reading newsfeeds, whether on Twitter or Facebook, everyone is seeing something different. And this is what defines a social media user’s experience. But it’s bigger than that. We all used to read the same newspaper and see the same ads. How do we market in a world where everyone customizes and personalizes the information that they see? Certainly not by trying to blast traditional marketing messages at them via social networks.
If there’s one takeaway from this book, it’s that what worked before in another medium is not likely to work here. Think back to radio and TV. What might work well on radio–a catchy jingle–does not transfer to television unless you add some visuals.
Top Shelf Must Read Pick for 2009. If you don’t get Twitter and are in any way connected to your company’s management, marketing or customer support, you need to read this book. If you are already tweeting but without much of a strategy, you also need to read this book. There are plenty examples of large and small B2C and B2B companies using Twitter throughout. If you finish the book and still see Twitter as something your company can live without, please write me, because I’d love to hear the other side.
