Twitter Final

Twitter: Hype vs. Reality August 15th, 2009 Questions? [email_address] Twitter: #dfans Paid for by Democracy for America, www.democracyforamerica.com, and not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee. … live @

Tonight’s Trainers Matt Blizek Night School Host @dfatraining Jen Nedau Air America www.jennedeau.com @humanfolly Adam Green PCCC www.boldprogressives.com @adamgreenonline Questions? nightschool@democracyforamerica.com 2

What is Social Media

What does Social Media Offer?

Organizational efficiencies

Reduced transaction costs

Free advertising

Owning the brand on multiple platforms

Engaging new consumers

Two-way conversation

Social Media is relevant because:

Social Media is great for getting out the message

Reaches people where they are at

Interest based vs. friend based

A new way to communicate

Questions? nightschool@democracyforamerica.com 3

Social Media Stats Check out Marta Kagan’s: What the F**K is Social Media: One Year Later Questions? nightschool@democracyforamerica.com 4

Connecting to the Viral Loop of Information Visual Content Image credit: Brian Solis & @Jess3 Questions? nightschool@democracyforamerica.com 5

et al. – et alias “and others” i.e. – id est “that is” e.g. – exempli gratia “for example” Twitter is a natural extension of the way we speak. Questions? nightschool@democracyforamerica.com 6

Tweeting Basics

Tweet: The result of posting to Twitter

RT: The result of reposting someone else’s tweet

H/T: Hat-tip, give credit where it’s due

@ Message: A response or a message to a specific handle. When used at the beginning, it can be found under the replies tab (a sort of public “inbox”)

DM: Direct Message, can send only to those following you (goes into your private Direct Message “inbox”)

Hashtag: The # sign is used to denote a major topic (like tagging/categorizing on a blog)

Popular progressive hashtags: #p2 #topprog #rebelleft #woc #fem2

“ Hi, my name is Jen. And I’m addicted to Twitter.” What about you? Questions? nightschool@democracyforamerica.com 8

Questions?

Email:

[email_address]

Twitter: #dfans

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Personal vs. Professional

Know thyself.

Know thy brand.

The personal is professional.

my passion my job my interest Questions? nightschool@democracyforamerica.com 10

Set Up A Profile. What’s Missing?

Twitter Checklist:

Short, interesting bio

Icon & background image

Link out to your website

Use @Replies

Use Bitly.com to track clicks

Follow people back

Use a real name

Slowly making progress… Denial Surprise Acceptance Addiction It takes about three months to get someone on 100% board Got Questions? nightschool@democracyforamerica.com 12

Measuring Your Brand Questions? nightschool@democracyforamerica.com 13

www.search.twitter.com Or use search on Tweetdeck  Questions? nightschool@democracyforamerica.com 14

How do I FIND Followers? Photo credit: Caroline Middlebrook How do I get people to follow me? Questions? nightschool@democracyforamerica.com 15

Online Tools for Twitter

Tweetdeck ( http:// www.tweetdeck.com )

Twhirl ( http:// www.twhirl.org / )

Digsby ( http:// www.digsby.com / )

Questions?

Email:

[email_address]

Twitter: #dfans

17

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TWITTER AS AN ORGANIZING TOOL What’s it good for? Adam Green Twitter: @AdamGreenOnline

Getting people to take action?

PCCC/DFA: Vote for our target

Twitter goes wild

Twitter Impact

330 clicks

25 sign ups

7.5% conversion

Blog Impact

CROOKS AND LIARS

2300 clicks

1141 sign-ups

49% conversion

OPEN LEFT

135 clicks

46 sign-ups

24% conversion

FLASHBACK: Twitter: 330 clicks, 25 sign ups, 7.5% conversion

Forrest The Fellow’s Impact

Posted voting link in comment sections of Daily Kos, FireDogLake, and CrooksAndLiars

84 clicks

34 sign-ups

40% conversion

Auto-Email’s Impact

1355 clicks

312 actions

23% conversion

Conversion analysis

Twitter: 7.5% conversion

Crooks and Liars blog: 49% conversion

OpenLeft blog: 24% conversion

Forrest’s blog comments: 40% conversion

Auto-email: 23% conversion

Initial DFA email: 65% conversion

Initial PCCC email: 73% conversion

WHY?

My guess: Theory of change

SO…WHAT’S TWITTER GOOD FOR?

Conference Communication

Sharing Links – No Other Action

Huffington Post:

Twitter is 1 of their top 5 link referrals.

Communicating with reporters who follow you

POLITICO REPORTER:

“I use Twitter to gather info -- polling numbers, breaking news, links to smart analysis... That info comes from all sorts of folks, in politics full-time or just intense observers.”

Communicating with reporters who follow you

JAKE TAPPER, ABC:

“I get interesting stuff from following some interesting thinkers on the L and R on twitter”

Communicating DIRECTLY with reporters

POLITICO REPORTER:

“ My suggestion would be to @ a journo when u see or hear something they may not know. Be civil. Don't demand. But say: "hey 'reporter's name' did u see this new poll in the va gov race?"  Often, we haven't. So it's a great way to highlight info and get it directly to reporters.”

JAKE TAPPER, ABC:

“ People send me stuff at @jaketapper…Sharing stories, studies, and thoughtful critiques is in my view infinitely more constructive for political advocates of any stripe than using twitter/the internet as a way to vent and insult.”

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ABC:

“Regularly I tweet out my guests, ask for questions. Get several interesting ones back.”

AMY SCHATZ, WSJ:

“I use Twitter to provide links to my stories but also to answer reader questions. I only check it a few times a day so it’s not a great way to get in touch if its urgent, but I do try to respond to folks who ask questions.”

Reporters may find you

AMY SCHATZ, WSJ:

“ I use Tweetdeck so I can keyword search stuff I cover (like FCC and "broadband stimulus") and I've found sources that way. I've also found its been a useful tool to let me see what people are doing or saying about the stuff I cover.”

EXPERIMENTATION Twitter Petitions

Twitter Petitions