This document provides guidance on using Twitter to promote a scientific journal. It recommends posting links to recent publications and journal content while emphasizing free access. It also suggests engaging in brand monitoring, audience building through following and retweeting others, and using Twitter as a communication channel to answer questions and promote the association. While initial follower numbers may be low, Twitter can draw new web traffic and contribute to scientific discussions by making the journal's content searchable. Analytics tools can measure the impact over time.

1. Bob Sumner
Marketing Manager
AACC

2. WHAT IS TWITTER?
Genuine source of unfiltered information from
verified sources
Instant popular analysis of on-the-spot events
A collection of dialogue from all disciplines of
language
The most efficient manner to consume
information
An instant, sharable connection to
sources
BUT NONE OF THAT MATTERS TO YOU

3. Social Network
(where people comment about stuff)
Distribution Network
(where people get stuff)

4. Source: http://networkedblogs.com/nFjYa

5. WHAT SHOULD YOU BE DOING
Posting links to most-recent publications
(PAP papers, journal TOCs, latest journal content)

6. Basics for tweeting material
g
• Tweet titles of journal papers
with link to abstract or full-text
pdf
– If title + link exceeds 140 character
limit, use abbreviations or running
title
titl
• Emphasize free content in tweets

7. BEYOND BROADCASTING
• Using Twitter for Brand Monitoring
• Using Twitter for Audience Building
• Using Twitter as a Communication
Arm
All serve to enhance your presence
(and increase your followers)

8. Brand Monitoring with Twitter
Search

9. RT
• Retweeting, or reposting material
someone you follow posts is basic
y p
Twitter protocol
• Reveals source information
• Displays endorsements for your
content
• Connects you with original
tweeter
t t
YOU WANT PEOPLE RETWEETING
YOU, THEREFORE, RETWEET THEM

10. Audience Building
• ‘Active’ form of marketing
Active
• Your journal is participating in the
conversation
• Following and Retweeting your
audience alerts th
di l t them t your
to
journal, encourages a follow back

11. Scientists on Twitter
• Network of thousands
• All eager to share data,
information
• Willing to collaborate
• Looking to expand on Twitter’s
possibilities

12. Source: http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2011/07/twitter‐library‐field‐work‐combined.html

13. Establish a network of
scientists by following th
i ti t b f ll i them
• Provides access to the valuable
opinions of scientists
• Following will alert these scientists
of your feed’s existence, encourages
existence
a follow back
• The people you follow become a
source of content when you have
exhausted all resources
• M
Many of your j
f journal’s authors and
l’ th d
contributors are on Twitter, be sure
to add them to this network

17. Twitter as a
Communications Arm
C i ti A
• Answer questions posed by
followers
• Assist network with information
from your journal
• U i
Using network t promote other
t k to t th
association items

18. I bet you’re all wondering, what sorts of
answers did I get for the questions I
answers did I get for the questions I
tweeted above? How many people
inundated me with answers, echoing out
inundated me with answers, echoing out
across the Twitterverse? Well, I’ll tell you:
Zero.
http://www.benchfly.com/blog/science‐in‐the‐twitterverse/

19. “We the people don’t want promotions in social
media. It s not as if we signed up for social
media. It’s not as if we signed up for social
media sites so that we could hang out with
software companies and hotel chains and T‐
shirt purveyors and ham merchants. We signed
up to connect with each other, not with
ih h h ih
commerce.”
‐Jay Baer
y
http://www.convinceandconvert.com/social‐media‐research‐2/new‐research‐
americans‐hate‐social‐media‐promotions/

20. Even if the rest of pro sports hasn't realized it
p p
yet, this is what's next. The team injects itself
into fans' mornings and afternoons and
evenings and off‐days with small blasts of
evenings and off days with small blasts of
personality. (The Kings, for example, have gone
from less than 800 Twitter mentions a day to
over 6,000.) )
Source: http://deadspin.com/5910962/the
Source: http://deadspin.com/5910962/the‐
spunky‐genius‐of‐twitters‐lakings‐the‐
second+biggest‐surprise‐of‐the‐playoffs

21. ClinChem’s Method
Emphasizing free content
Reposting material from
members
Posting material relevant to
journal readers

22. Don’t be discouraged by low
numbers
b
• You are drawing web traffic that
you were not drawing before the
venture
• You are contributing to the
scientific dialogue
• Your journal’s content is now
searchable for all of T itt ’
h bl f ll f Twitter’s
users

23. Utilize free
analytical
tools to
measure
your impact
Hootsuite.com

24. Good luck!
• bsumner@aacc.org
• 202-420-6115
• @SumnerBob
@S B b
• @Clin_Chem_AACC