Using Twitter to Connect with Audiences

Tweet Your Way
to Success:
2009 PRSA Digital Impact Conference

Corinne Weisgerber, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Communication
St. Edward’s University, Austin, Texas

corinnew@stedwards.edu
http://socialmediaprclass.blogspot.com
Thursday, April 30, 2009

?
What is
Twitter

Getting started:


Getting started:
• Should reﬂect brand personality


Getting started:
• Fill out bio & choose avatar ‐ personal touch


Getting started:
• Fill out bio & choose avatar ‐ personal touch
• Register to protect against Twittersquatting


Claim it before you need it


Claim it before you need it

Created 2
days after
video ﬁrst
surfaced

Twitter search results for
“dominos” after dpzinfo
had been created

(04/15/09 @ 4:40 pm CST)


• Began crisis management with no established followers.
• Would have been nice to have established community to RT ﬁrst tweet:


Tweet ?
Who should


Tweet ?
Who should
Unidentiﬁed Individual(s)
- agreed upon tone of voice
- different tone of voice

DC O
RAN
B


Tweet ? Who should
Unidentified Individual(s)
- agreed upon tone of voice
- different tone of voice

DC O
RAN
B

Identified Individual(s)
- personal profile
- corporate handle with
signed tweets


Fictional Character
Product
i.e. Henry VIII
i.e. NASA Rover


It’s all about

People are talking about 
how the lander has its 
own personality because 
we talk about everything 
in the ﬁrst person. 
‐ Rhea Borja, Media Relations Oﬃcer, 
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory


The Retweet
• Good content will spread
• RTs add dedicated followers
• RT as a metric:
• Stamp of approval/praise
• Authenticity: can’t ask for it - just happens
• Tweetmeme & Retweetradar track most popular links


The Retweet
• RT as a metric:

Example:
jkrums: http://twitpic.com/135xa - There’s a plane in the
Hudson. I’m on the ferry going to pick up the people. Crazy.


The Retweet
• RT as a metric:

Example:
jkrums: http://twitpic.com/135xa - There’s a plane in the

RT @jkrums: http://twitpic.com/135xa - There’s a plane in the

#hashtag


#hashtag
• User‐deﬁned keywords
• Make it easier to follow a topic

Can be used strategically:
To drive traﬃc to a site
• #LRNY:                                         
‐ by promoting tag
• #stopthecap:                             
‐ by naming site after tag         
‐ by using site’s name as tag


Levels of Engagement


Levels of Engagement Listening/
Monitoring


Monitoring

Broadcasting


Monitoring

Broadcasting

Responding


Monitoring

Broadcasting

Responding

Building
Community


Monitoring
Reputation Management • Market Research

Tools: TwitterSearch • Trending Topics • Hashtags.org


Reputation Management


Market


Market

We can now tap into a constant stream
of incredible insights by observing
consumers’ daily vocabulary of words,
pictures and videos that they use to
express themselves.
– Joel Rubinson, Chief Research Ofﬁcer of The Ad. Research Foundation


Product Promotion • Event Management • Live-Tweeting

Initiated internally
Goal (short-term): Buzz
Tools: Tweet • ReTweet


Color of Love


Color of Love

• all 1‐way
• doesn’t follow
• brief time span: 
01/16‐02/15/08
• little activity since


Product
Launches 


Product
Launches 
DiGiorno Flatbread Pizza:
• Recruit inﬂuential tweeters
• Deliver pizzas to tweetups


Product
Launches 
Land Rover 2010 Models:
DiGiorno Flatbread Pizza:
• Advertise #LRNY
• Recruit inﬂuential tweeters
• “Follow conversation on 
• Deliver pizzas to tweetups
Twitter from the New York 
Auto Show”
• Pay tweeters to advertise 
on their proﬁle page


Authenticity


?
Authenticity


A more
Interactive


A more
Interactive

Mixture of:
• Broadcasting
• Direct interaction

• Following only 21
• DigitalNomads: 2,400
• Over $1 million in sales


Crisis Management • Customer Relations

Initiated externally
Tools: @<twitterhandle> • DM<twitterhandle>


Crisis


Crisis

Crisis Scenarios


Crisis
Played out on Twitter:

Put out on Twitter:

Crisis Scenarios


Crisis
Importance of Monitoring
- AmazonFail
- Motringate

Put out on Twitter:

Crisis Scenarios


Crisis
Importance of Monitoring
- AmazonFail
- Motringate

Put out on Twitter:
Importance of Responding

- Dominos
- Dell, Comcast
Crisis Scenarios (retroactively)


Twitter
Trending Topics and #hashtag


Customer Relations


Building
Media/Blogger Relations • Customer Evangelism •
Internal Relations

Two-way symmetrical communication
Goal (long-term): Relationship
Tools: follow, share valuable content, tweetups


Media/Blogger


Media/Blogger

News

News dissemination tool


Media/Blogger

&
News

News dissemination tool Community to connect
with reporters


Media/Blogger

&
News

News dissemination tool Community to connect
with reporters

Find & follow them:
• MediaOnTwitter: www.trackvia.com/misc/media-database.htm
• twitteringjournalists.pbwiki.com
• Muckrack.com
Interact/share before pitching
Can’t DM unless they follow you

Customer


Customer

• Half a million followers
• Almost following as many
• Sample week (04/17‐23):
• average of 14 tweets
• range: 1‐38
Valuable content
Drive traﬃc to other sites


Customer

• Half a million followers
• Almost following as many
• Sample week (04/17‐23):
• average of 14 tweets
• range: 1‐38
Valuable content
Drive traﬃc to other sites

People evangelize, criticize & 
just plain talk about us pretty 
frequently, even without our 
encouragement. Our main 
objective is to encourage people 
to communicate with us directly
‐ Winnie Hsia

Internal


Internal
• 434 employees on Twitter
• Helps build company culture
• Helps new hires adapt
• Increases social awareness
• Captures org. memory


Internal
• 434 employees on Twitter
• Helps build company culture
• Helps new hires adapt
• Increases social awareness
• Captures org. memory

We don’t really view it as a 
marketing channel as much as a 
way to connect on a more 
personal level, whether it’s with 
our employees or our existing 
customers
‐ Tony Hsieh


Remember:


Remember:
1. Claim your handle


Remember:
2. Set up your proﬁle


Remember:
3. Decide on an engagement level:
Listening/Monitoring • Broadcasting
Responding • Building Community


Remember:
3. Decide on an engagement level:
Listening/Monitoring • Broadcasting
Responding • Building Community

4. Remain authentic

Corinne Weisgerber, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Communication
St. Edward’s University, Austin, Texas

Email: corinnew@stedwards.edu
Blog: http://socialmediaprclass.blogspot.com
Twitter: @corinnew


Using Twitter to Connect with Audiences

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