I just read Media companies and Twitter—still mostly doing it wrong on GigaOm, and while I’m not in a media company, we do promote ourselves TO the media–including using social media channels such as Twitter.
The most telling point is this: “Unfortunately, it also shows that the main thing most of [the major media outlets] do with those accounts — and the main thing most of their reporters also do — is simply broadcast links to their own content all day long. By doing so, unfortunately, they are missing out on many of the things that can make social media a powerful tool for journalism.”
I’d like to substitute “brands” for “journalism.” My policy in the social media world has long been the 2/3rds rule: Talk about other people 2/3rds of the time, and ourselves 1/3rd of the time.
It may seem counter-intuitive, but if you’ve ever been involved in a conversation where one person’s doing all the talking and that talking is about that person only, those hours you can never get back are the same soul-sucking waste on social media. Except it’s easier there for people to escape, and you may never even notice they’re gone. Until your ROI numbers tank, of course.
My job is to make sure my audience doesn’t want to escape. That involves being an actual human being behind the logo, engaging with our followers, and finding out what they want through comments, questions and other kinds of interaction, just to name a few things we social media specialists/connoisseurs/evangelists do all day.
More resources:
“Social media technology advances are nothing new and no less significant than Morse code, the telegraph or kinescopes. What’s different is they have become mainstream and ubiquitous so quickly and have become powerful tools for consumers and businesses.” – from Social media no longer an option for businesses
“Social media is designed in a way that encourages companies to communicate–-through stories–who they are, what they stand for, and where they want to go. It’s a narrative that is a multi-way process, inviting participation from the management, employees and consumers.” – from Building Businesses on Social Media
“When a person writes on your fan page or tweets at your company (whether positive or negative) you should always respond.” – from Boo! Social Media Tactics That May Scare Away Business
Author Becky Benishek 