To Tweet, Or Not To Tweet? That Is The Question

http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/outside-voices-careers/2014/09/03/10-ways-twitter-can-help-or-hurt-your-business 

Businesses are beginning to see the value in social media campaigns. Many companies are turning to microblogging sites such as Twitter in order to gain a larger customer following. Chapter 5 talks about how social media can help and potentially hurt businesses and their reputations. This article gives ten ways that a company can either be successful using Twitter, or can alienate potential customers if the wrong steps are taken. The author gives the following ten recommendations:

1) Position yourself as a thought leader (position yourself as an industry expert)

2) Create a clear and consistent brand

3) Remember the 80/20 rule (only 20% of a business’s content should be about promoting products or services)

4) Follow before engaging (follow a business prospect before trying to do business with them)

5) Add value to others (respond to questions, retweet, etc.)

6) Share your personality with discretion (mix professional and personal thoughts, but be mindful of what you say)

7) Understand what’s best to retweet ( tweets should be relevant to your brand)

8) Be careful what you “favorite” (do not favorite anything controversial or political)

9) Use direct messages sparingly

10) Take the conversation offline (make initial connections on Twitter, but grow those relationships offline)

Social media has the power to grow a business immensely, but can also ruin a business’s reputation because the internet never forgets. While social media and microblogging sites such as Twitter can increase brand awareness and sales, companies should have a plan in place in order to successfully use these valuable tools.

Questions:

1) What do you think is the most important rule listed in the article for companies to follow? Why?

2) What are some examples of good social media and bad social media campaigns? Did the campaign change your thoughts or feelings about the company at all/would you stop buying items from a company if you did agree with their online presence?

3) Is a social media presence necessary for companies in today’s world or is TV, print, and other advertising enough?