How to start using Twitter

 Keep in mind branding
 Personal name vs. Company name
 CharlesAtDell or DellSales
 Following stays with name
 Be careful of length – the shorter the better
 Retweetability – the “My Number” rule

 Branding
 Recognizability
 Do not change lightly
 Determines first impression

 Branding
 Be careful of width
 Second impression
 Be innovative,
impressive, creative

 Others use this to decide if you are worth their
time
 About 160 character limit
 Remember that the bio is searched for relevant
terms when people are looking for various
services

 A URL shortener takes
what may be a very long
URL (web address) and
shortens it so you have
more room out of the 140
characters allowed in a
tweet to give your
message.
 One of the better URL
shorteners is
Http://bit.ly. The reason
for this is that if you have
an account with bit.ly it
also tracks the number of
clicks on each link and
more.

 RSS (Really Simple Syndication) can be used to
automatically tweet new information from
designated sources, such as the Einstein news
feed.
 You can use any of a number of tools to
facilitate this. Just a few are:
 Twitterfeed
 Feedburner
 Yahoo pipes

 Search is a powerful way to find out what is
going on about the institution on twitter or on
the internet.
 Just a few powerful search tools are:
 Search.twitter.com
 Google blog search
 Tweepsearch
 Tweetalerts
 Geo search

 As with anything, backup is essential. But
backing up something that exists primarily on
the internet can be a problem. Luckily there are
at least 2 tools that will help.
 Tweecious (tweecious.com)
 This solution backs up up all your tweets which
contain internet links.
 You must also have a delicious.com account (social
bookmarking site)
 Backupify (backupify.com)
 This backs up everything in your twitter account. If
you go beyond the free version you can backup
other online entities.

 TweetEffect (tweeteffect.com) shows which tweets were followed by
follower jumps up or down
 Tweetree (tweetree.com) displays your tweets in a conversation format
 TweepML (tweepML.com) lets you create lists of tweeters (twitter is
currently rolling out it’s own list feature)
 Twittercounter (twittercounter.com) shows your twitter followers statistics
 Klout (klout.com) gives you a “klout” score and categorizes your tweets
 Twtbg.me (twtbg.me) is a site that lets you check your twitter background
in various screen resolutions and even gives you a template to help correct
errors
 Twitter grader (twitter.grader.com) generates a grade out of 100 for your
account and notifies you of any problems
 Twit Analyzer (twitanalyzer.com) analyzes your profile for Influence,
Signal, Generosity, velocity, and clout.
 TweetStats (tweetstats.com) creates a graphical representation of your
tweets – bar graphs and cloud graphs

There are many different types of twitter clients
and the one you use depends on a couple of
things.
 The way in which the organization has decided
to use twitter
 Who is going to be tweeting
 How the tweeting will be done
 Time investment

The client used by many businesses
is Cotweet (cotweet.com).
 CoTweet is a web client –
which means you must have a
web browser opened to use it.
 Best for use if more than one
person is tweeting on the same
account.
 This client can schedule tweets
ahead of time for convenience
 Cotweet uses “CoTags” which
identify the person tweeting
(^TZ)
 Cotweet can also integrate the
bit.ly URL shortener
 Can have multiple twitter
accounts as well

Tweetdeck is a desktop client (stand alone
application).
 Like CoTweet TD can have multiple accounts.
 You cannot schedule tweets with TD
 Although you can manage multiple accounts it
does not lend itself to multiple users

Like TweetDeck, Seesmic
Desktop is a desktop
client.
 SD manages multiple
accounts
 SD does not lend itself to
multiple users
 Seesmic is more
multimedia friendly
 There is a version of
Seesmic on the web called
Seesmic Web

 This is the way a majority of tweeters use
twitter.
 You must be in a browser to access the site.
 There are fewer capabilities than the stand
alone apps such as tweedeck and seesmic
desktop.
 While stand alones access Twitter through the
site’s API – which will work many times when
the site itself isn’t working, if you are using the
website it must be working for you to do
anything

 PeopleBrowser can be either a stand alone or a
web app.
 PB does many of the things that the other apps
do. It does not measure up in many ways
though.

Knowem.com is a site that lists ~120 popular
social media sites. Use this site to check that
your brand is not being used/stolen/spoofed
by someone else.

1. Determine your message
What are you trying to say? Do you have more than
one message? Develop a short paragraph that
encapsulates what you want to say and continually
reference it as you work on social media tools.
Source: http://notesfornonprofits.blogspot.com/2009/03/top-ten-things-nonprofit-should-do.html

2. Determine who the audience is
Who is your audience? Are they tech savvy? Creating
a plan to enter the social media arena is irrelevant if
none of your audience will follow you there. Consider
surveying your donors to determine how they want to
hear from you.

3. Develop goals
What do you want to achieve from social media?
Donations? Awareness? Determine your goals and
remember to keep them handy as you progress.

4. Determine the exact ROI expected
This goes hand in hand with #3. Get specific about the
return on investment you are expecting. If you want
donations, what's the amount? If you are looking for
new supporters, how many?

5. Research and determine which social media
tools work for you
There are multiple social media tools out there. It's
important to determine which ones work for you.
Signing up for everything isn't going to be the best use
of your time.

6. Create a strategy
Developing a strategy for your social media activity is
extremely important. You need to determine what
content you want to create and where you want to put
it.

7. Create the analysis method
What's your method for analysis? It's important to
track what you do on social media tools so you can
examine whether you are achieving the ROI that you
want.

8. Determine the main contributor as well as the
sub contributors
Who's writing the content for your social media sites?
Is it the same person who's posting them? Are there
more than one person contributing? Hashing this out
ahead of time will make the process flow much
smoother.

9. Develop content ahead of time
Create some of the content you need ahead of time so
you aren't scrambling to find something to post/write
about everyday.

10. Develop response procedure
What's your procedure if you recieve
a negative comment from someone?
Or even a positive one? Determine
how you handle questions and
comments from your audience.

The 5 Rules of Social Media
For Non Profits (and everyone else)

1. Listen. Social Media is not
about you. It’s about people’s
relationships with you. Listen
before you speak.

Use the H.E.A.R. method of listening:
H
E
A
R
EAR
MPATHIZE
NALYZE
ESPOND
Listen carefully to what is being said
Put yourself in the speakers “shoes”
Determine what the goals of the speaker are and if
there is any underlying meaning
Reply with a meaningful, constructive, thought
out response

2. Get involved. Social Media is
about conversations and building
relationships. It takes effort.
Don’t just talk about
yourself. Ask questions,
engage people and link,
Most of all be inspiring.

3. Give up control. You can’t
control the conversation. If
you want people to spread
your message, you have to
trust them.
Listen. Inspire.
Engage. Let go.

4. Be honest. You can’t spin
the truth with Social Media. Be
open, honest and authentic in
everything you say and do.

5. Think long term. Don’t
expect immediate, easily
measurable results. It takes
time to build trust and make
connections.

Source: http://technmarketing.com/web/11-things-to-avoid-when-using-twitter/

 Don’t use the following words in your bio, no
matter how much you think they will attract
followers:
 Social Media Expert
 Guru
 Make Money online
 Affiliate Marketing
 Increase your Followers
http://technmarketing.com/web/11-things-to-avoid-when-using-twitter/

There are 2 distinct ways to measure the effect of
Social Media
 Qualitative
 Quantitative
“Not everything that can be counted counts, and
not everything that counts can be counted.”
(Sign hanging in Albert Einstein’s Princeton office)

 We are building better relationships with constituents by learning
more about them to fine-tune Einstein’s focus and programs.
 Messages delivered to the community are being shared member-
to-member and with the outside world.
 Blog posts are building momentum in the number of quality
comments that give insight into supporters’ opinions.
 Members are using the community to actively trade knowledge
and insights and are meaningfully supporting fellow constituents’
concerns, passions and goals.
Source: Bob Cramer:
http://www.nonprofitmarketingblog.com/comments/what_are_the_metrics_of_success_for_your_online_community/
Measuring Qualitative success by the
relationships to members

Measuring Qualitative success by the
relationships to members
Such indicators reveal how well we are communicating
with our members, and how well they are
communicating back to us – and with each other.
Again, all this points back to more engaged and
passionate supporters, something essential to meeting
fundraising goals.
Source: Bob Cramer:

 Increases in the number of people joining the community.
 Increases in page views on our website, and in the average
duration of site visits.
 Conversion rates of member to member-donor.
 Number of days from community registration to first
donation.
 Increases in donation averages, or in members who donate
multiple times.
Source: Bob Cramer:
Measuring Quantitative success, some
possible metrics:

Social media networking is the process of interacting with other individuals through the
specific social media tool or community. For example, you could talk to people
with similar interests in a forum or communicate with them through a more
fragmented platform like Twitter.
Whatever method you choose, there are usually four main goals:
http://www.doshdosh.com/social-media-networking-and-roi/
1.Increased brand awareness.
2.Improved reputation.
3.Personal Development.
4.Relationships with benefits.

You’re interacting with others on the social media
channel in order to build awareness for your
personal and business brand. You’re increasing
your visibility in the right areas and trying to
stick in the minds of others through active
interaction on many different levels. From this
perspective, networking also works to drive
traffic back to your website.

You want to improve how others think about
your website so you hang out in forums or
networking sites, in order to respond to
feedback. You want to keep the communication
channels open on all social media fronts. You
may also want to improve your reputation as
an expert by being consistently involved in
discussions on topics that are relevant to your
business or website.

Networking with the right people will keep you
in the loop on industry happenings and will
also improve your knowledge levels. A big part
of networking is observation. Seeing how
others reflect or participate in conversations is
a great way to improve your own experience in
the field.

One can network with others with the aim of
extracting future benefits such as testimonials,
links or recommendations. Others are more
likely to provide you with a benefit when
you’ve taken the effort to interact with them.
Networking is a way to build relationships that
can be mutually beneficial.

 Aaron Stiner (November 6, 2008). Nonprofit 2.0 http://aaronstinerdrb.blogspot.com/2008/11/nonprofit-20-
how-nonprofits-can-use.html
 ComScore Inc. http://www.comscore.com
 Convio, Sea Change Strategies and Edge Research (March 24, 2008). The Wired Wealthy: Using the
Internet to Connect with Your Middle and Major Donors. http://my.convio.com/?elqPURLPage=104
 Hubspot (December 2008). State of the Twittersphere: Q4 2008.
http://cdnqa.hubteam.com/State_of_the_Twittersphere_by_HubSpot_Q4-2008.pdf
 Pew Internet & American Life Project (January 14, 2009). Adults and Social Networks Report.
http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/272/report_display.asp
 Universal McCann (March 2008). Power To The People - Wave3 Study on Social Media Trends.
www.universalmccann.com/Assets/wave_3_20080403093750.pdf
 YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/nonprofits
 Nielsen Social Media QuickTake for May 2009
 Bob Kramer:
http://www.nonprofitmarketingblog.com/comments/what_are_the_metrics_of_success_for_your_online_comm
unity/
 Lindsey Patten, Notes for Non-Profits, http://notesfornonprofits.blogspot.com/2009/03/top-ten-
things-nonprofit-should-do.html
 Nonprofit Social Network Survey Report http://nonprofitsocialnetworksurvey.com
 Some images from Google image search
 Blog post at Tech N’ Marketing – 11 things to avoid when using twitter

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