A guide to being not-boring
on Part 1: Tweeting 9 to 5 Created by Kate Miltner, Social Media Manager at

What is Twitter? • Tweets
= 160 character messages (20 characters for username, 140 characters for message text) • An “ambient awareness” tool: keep track of the people, celebrities, brands, news outlets and companies who you are “following” via many pieces of bite-size information • An informational tool: provide information to others via tweets • A conversational tool: Respond to other people’s tweets, engage in dialogue

What’s the Point? • The
point of Twitter changes depending on who’s tweeting. • Why companies should tweet: – Reveal the “human” side of the company, give it a personality – Provide useful information that people won’t get anywhere else (or at least, as quickly) – Respond to comments, requests, feedback, complaints in real time – Have a platform for announcing news – New Business leads

Getting Started Before any tweet,
ask yourself these questions: • Why am I tweeting? • Who is my intended audience? • How can I make this more interesting? • Would I enjoy reading this if someone else wrote it? The 140 character limit is not an excuse for being boring. It’s an opportunity to be really interesting.

Tweeting From The Office What
you should tweet: • Insightful comments about current events in business, and/or articles. • Thoughtful and relevant responses to thought leaders • Interesting news from the company: projects launched, events being held, awards won, new hires (and, if applicable, special offers)

Tweeting From The Office: Commentary
Bad Tweet: FlightpathNY: Chris Anderson was great on The Daily Show last night Good Tweet: FlightpathNY: Enjoyed @chrisanderson’s funny explanation of Freeconomics on @The_Daily_Show: http://bit.ly/MJQU

Tweeting From The Office: Articles
Bad Tweet: FlightpathNY: Reading an awesome article in Wall Street Journal about broadband Good Tweet: FlightpathNY: Great article in @WSJ discusses implications of TWC’s tiered broadband pricing test: http://bit.ly/MJQU

Tweeting From The Office: Response
Bad Tweet: FlightpathNY: @chrisbrogan Why would you say that? Good Tweet: FlightpathNY: @chrisbrogan I disagree, I do think that Twitter will be the leader in natural language search.

Tweeting From The Office: Company
News Bad Tweet: FlightpathNY: Come to our social media roundtable on June 4th! Good Tweet: FlightpathNY: Join us at our roundtable discussion of SM and Non-Profits during Internet Week. More info and RSVP here: http://bit.ly/MJQU #internetweek

Key Practices: From The Office
• Figure out if the person/entity you’re referencing has a Twitter account. If so, use that as the identifier. • Informs your readers that people/properties you find interesting are on Twitter • Informs those people/properties that you’re talking about them, gets their attention • Provide context as to what you’re talking about • Always provide a reference link if you can • Hashtags! Use them.

Tweeting From Events Why Should
You Tweet From Events? • Note taking! Information to reference later • Providing key takeaways for people who are not at the event • Joining in the conversation about the event • Making new contacts and gaining new followers • Demonstrating that you are keeping up with the latest thought leadership

Tweeting From Events Three Types
of Tweets: The Key Takeaway Tweet • A succinct nugget of information from the speaker/panelist The Conversational Tweet • Responding/engaging with others at the event The Question Tweet • Can be either a reaction, or a submission when the panel is taking questions from Twitter

Tweeting From Events: Takeaway Bad
Tweet: FlightpathNY: Guy Kawasaki says that not all brands should be on Twitter Good Tweet: FlightpathNY: @guykawasaki says that brands who are prepared for transparency and honesty will do well on Twitter #sxsw #keynote

Tweeting From Events: Conversational Bad
Tweet: FlightpathNY: Hey Joshua, what did you think of the keynote? Want to grab a drink next door? Good Tweet: FlightpathNY: @joshuablair agree with you that ghost tweeters defeat the purpose of being on Twitter. Great tweets from the keynote! #sxsw #keynote

Tweeting From Events: Question Bad
Tweet: FlightpathNY: What is the next big thing in social media? Good Tweet: FlightpathNY: @jeffpulver What do you think is the most important SM tool for non profits? #soccomm

Key Practices: From Events •
HASHTAGS, HASHTAGS, HASHTAGS. HASHTAGS! • Before you start tweeting from an event, always announce what event you’re at, who’s speaking, and what the hashtags are. •Focus on quality over quantity, especially when it comes to takeaways • Do not carry on personal conversations from the company account.

The End Contact: www.flightpath.com Twitter:
@flightpathny and @katemiltner