NOTE: This is a joint post by Matt Batt and Heidi Sullivan. It is cross-posted on Story Assistant and CisionBlog.

Cision’s Director of Media Research Heidi Sullivan) and I did a free Cision Social Media Webinar earlier this month titled Twitter 101, and we received more great questions than we could answer about engaging in Twitter on behalf of a company, organization or brand. In an occasional series of posts, we’ll be answering some of those questions over the coming weeks. Here are some questions and answers about Twitter Account Set-up and Twitter Handles.

Twitter Account Set-up

Emily: If you are tweeting for a non-profit that really needs to get their brand out there, do you still think it is better to use a photo or is it better to use the logo?

Matt: Logic (and others) might tell you to use your logo for branding purposes but the reality is that on Twitter and in life, people like talking with people. For this reason, I would suggest that you use a photo of the individual representing your non-profit on Twitter. If there are multiple people managing the profile, I would try and customize your background (see next question) to reflect the pictures and individual profile names for each and/or I would switch out the photo each time someone new is managing the profile. Ironically, here is a great example of this from Cision.

Tim, Megan, Mark, Amy, Sara: Do you have any tips on making compelling Twitter backgrounds?

Heidi: The best practices in social media apply to creating your Twitter background as well. Your Twitter page provides a snapshot of you so it should reflect your brand (personal or professional) and your personality. A customized background will draw more attention than the blue-skies-and-clouds Twitter default. ZMogo has a nice post that lists the 10 best sites that offer free Twitter backgrounds and templates. I recommend scanning through the comments as well – lots of readers offer additional tips and sites to get started.

Abbey: On your setting panel should you protect your updates?

Matt: Quite simply, never protect your updates. In the spirit of social media which includes transparency, interaction and conversation…hiding behind protected updates just doesn’t make any sense. I have heard of organizations that do this for media purposes (i.e., they release embargoed news to a select group of journalists) but honestly, I don’t think it makes sense. I use the same logic when I look at companies using the Facebook Group (vs. Fan) page and restricting members. I understand the need for privacy…but take it off social media then.

Twitter Handles

Taylor: I heard a rumor that most Twitter usernames with numbers are spammers, is that true?

Heidi: Most of the spammers that start following me do have numbers after their names, but I have also noticed that a lot of ‘legit’ followers have started the practice as well. As Twitter has grown in popularity, more and more handles are already taken and adding a number to the end of your name can seem like the easiest way out. However, I have heard the same rumor about spammers, so if you’re creating your Twitter account for the first time, it’s best to avoid the numbers game so that others don’t think you’re a spammer. Don Reisinger wrote a post about creating your handle on CNET and argues that adding numbers after your name is “so 1999.”

Beth, Nelda, Taylor: My blog name/last name/company name is too long for a twitter username, suggestions?

Matt: This is where years of trying to guess the license plates during long road trips come in handy! Seriously, you have to get creative. You can always elaborate on your bio to spell out all of the details. One of the most important things is to create some consistency with your brand across all of your social media platforms.  Liz Hover had a guest blog post about this subject earlier this year.

Amanda, Jeanne: So if I didn’t take Twitter seriously + need to change my name, do I cancel and start again?

Heidi: If you aren’t happy with the handle you created because you didn’t realize you’d be using your SexyEyez875 account to interact with clients and the media, there’s good news for you: you can change your handle and keep your followers. Go to Settings > Account > Username to change your handle. Just remember to let your key followers know that your handle has changed so that you don’t miss important tweets. It’s probably also a good idea to set up Tweet alerts (we recommend the RSS function in Twitter Search or TweetLater) for your old handle to catch any residual tweets that you receive.

Shawn: By using my first and last name as a profile name am I detracting from my personal and professional brand?

Matt: Similar to my answer above, you have to determine what your personal brand is on Twitter and across all social media platforms. Take myself for example, it would have made all the sense in the world to have used @MattBatt for my profile name especially since my name is so catchy or I could have used my business name @PipelineMR (Pipeline Media Relations). Instead I decided to brand myself as @StoryAssistant because I didn’t want to seem at all self serving with my agency but also wanted to build a relevant brand vs. my name.

I hope we answered some questions here with this post! Please chime in if you have alternative and/or complimentary advice. Remember, we’re all learning here!

Our next post will be focused on “Multiple Tweeters & Following People on Twitter.”

One thing is for sure, the Twitter train has left the station for businesses…are you on?! I’ve been doing a lot of Social Media Boot Camps for businesses recently and I’m consistently asked the question – is this really worth it for business (both B2B and B2C companies)? Then I’m reading USA Today on Friday as Jon Swartz pens a story entitled, “Businesses get cheap help from a little birdie.” The story of course about how businesses such as Comcast, Dell, JetBlue and Starbucks are benefiting from Twitter’s “popular communications technology.”

I think it’s important to stress that I’ve created the following list looking at 5 reasons businesses should CONSIDER Twitter. The reality is if your targeted audiences aren’t participating on Twitter…neither should you or your business. The one caveat to this argument is that someone who isn’t your “targeted audience” might still benefit or add value to your business…always true. Personally I wouldn’t advocate for a business to launch a Twitter strategy if they don’t have a major (influential) audience already actively participating in conversation on Twitter.

So, here goes my 5 Reasons Businesses Should Consider Twitter:

1 – Monitor Your Brand: If you decide that Twitter isn’t write for you to allocate time or budget towards a solid strategy for your business, at least consider monitoring what others are saying about your company.  Here is a great story from Robert Scoble in Fast Company earlier this year on this subject;

2 – Join The Conversation: To the USA Today story, many businesses are successfully creating brand champions as well as mitigating major customer service issues through engaging with their customers on Twitter. Don’t just push out your information…add some value and respond directly to your customers;

3 – Its Free: Okay, so time = money…and it certainly takes time to execute an effective Twitter strategy for your business.  But, with the right time management tips and tools you can optimize your time on Twitter while still effectively delivering on your set strategy;

4 – Supplements Traditional Marketing Program: One of the main reasons I like and recommend Twitter to so many businesses and organizations is that it does a really great job of leveraging many of the traditional marketing tactics you are already implementing.  For example, when your company appears in the New York Times you should leverage your audience on Twitter to share the story;

5 – Innovate or Die: Okay, so maybe not so extreme, but the reality is most brand leaders have leveraged Twitter and social media to their advantage – just look at the Blog Council members as a case in point.  Perhaps Bill Gates said it best, “Never before in history has innovation offered promise of so much to so many in so short a time.”

I’d love to hear your additions or edits to this list…thanks!

I’ve been doing a number of different workshops around helping businesses understand the importance of developing a strategy around their social media efforts. As I continue to tell others, I am not an “expert” but just an advocate like many of us practicing in this space. 

One of the platforms that I believe makes sense for ANY business is a corporate blog. I’m amazed at the amount of useful information and guidance there is for anyone looking to create such a blog for their organization. Last week, I received a great list of tips from A Brand New Way who was sponsoring the BlogPotomac in Falls Church, VA. They provided a list of “5 Tips for Corporate Blogging” which did a wonderful job summarizing some quick tips.

Whenever I’m referring to blogs, I like to share our “4 L’s of Blogging”:

• Lead the conversation – This is a place to start the conversation but you do need to show your expertise when doing so;
• Link, link, link – Like any good traditional media story, a blog post should have multiple links (sources) to further establish you views and topic as credible;
• Less is always more – People don’t want to read a book as they are often reading multiple blogs in addition to many other news items.  You should limit your blog post to 350-500 words and always try and list or bullet out your points;
• Let others contribute – You should let and encourage others to contribute to your blog and conversation. Without such dialog, your blog is just a bulletin board.

What advice would you give to others looking to jump into corporate blogging? As always, I’m anxious to continue the conversation!

Scott Monty is head of social media for Ford Motor Company – here is his blog. 

Notes from session with Scott Monty at BlogPotomac (mainly direct quotes from Scott):

There is no greater crisis than for the auto industry at this time (how about that for a conversation starter…). Any good crisis is about taking a negative and turning it into a positive. 

What’s going on with Ford? – EX: last december – Ford was here in DC last December to show that we are all interconnected – “I was doing some serious digital hand-to-hand combating” – trying to add value on my end (Ford).  This really wasn’t any way to support our initiatives.  About 10 days after – www.therangerstation.com (a user site) – said that Ford was suing this site…$5,000 and hand over URL. Scott sent off emails internally to help gain an understanding – “I always turn to Twitter to pulse the first line of response” – just after the Motrin moms incident.

We obtained the facts and used a number of different tools and platforms to communicate these “facts” – I sent an email to the owner of the fan forum (www.therangerstation.com) – had a 20 minute conversation with him to make sure we understood our individual needs.

Lesson 1 – you have to monitor these platforms. Not every brand has this issue, but it is very important.

Lesson 2 – you MUST respond and invite them into the process to come to a conclusion with you – leverage this community.

Lesson 3 – have a digital hub where you can quickly post updates…and link to as many of the platforms as possible to help spread these updates.

What we did in early December we developed www.thefordstory.com. Constantly evolving and always under construction – this is our social media hub. A combination of Ford produced content and others content. What people are saying about you and your brand is so important.

Never before have such conversations been public. We know that people are going to go to other sites vs. ours (i.e., via Google). We want to make sure and capture others comments.

[Scott provided a great example of this with the Fiesta Movement example.]

I’m one person at Ford – finally hiring #2, we’ll see how that works out. 

The tools are irrelevant – they will always change – give people guidelines and a process to let people get out there and speak on behalf of the organization.

We have an online communications policy – our ethics statement: I will tell the truth, write accurately, correct mistakes promptly, never delete posts, stay on topic, disclose topics of interest, keep issues private…that are private (I’m sure I missed some of this…but you get it).

The goal – humanize Ford & our brand – we are trying to put faces to the blue oval and connect people with Ford employees and others with our initiatives.

Q&A Summary (Highlights):

Without senior-level support…any SM program will fail. It’s been an easy sell at Ford. I was used to doing the up sell but they were incredibly open to allowing me to do my thing. I’m within Corporate Communications but it shouldn’t sit there. You should apply this across all organizations, departments, geographic areas, etc. Show them how it is done & do it.

Become the world’s leading social media brand in auto – accomplished. Now our goal is to become the world’s leading social media brand…period.

I’ve often referred people to GM, Toyota, etc. It’s about providing value – not to sell cars.

Story: the desk was placed in the middle of the workplace for everyone to see whenever others were using this new technology (this was from the 1930’s and was the telephone). POINT: corporations have been resistent to change (technology change) since the telephone – email – Internet – and now social media.

Follow the stream of conversation about Scott and his session from Twitter here & here. Enjoy & please join this conversation!

Shel is kicking of BlogPotomachere in Falls Church, VA – the unconference (i.e., no PPT, etc.).

The following are notes from Shel’s session:

We’re talking about “social media policies” – is it right to manage control around your company’s SM.  Those who are giving flexibility to their teams seem to be doing the strongest on this front.

Who owns SM? The leadership teams within should be driving the strategy and allowing all divisions to contribute where appropriate. Shel provided @zappos as a great example of a company using SM very well…across the organization.

Heard a quote from someone at a recent conference – “We need to drop the whole ROI and move to SOI – Spirit Of Influence” – good idea but we need to still be able to execute with the C-levels so this doesn’t really fly in the board room.

Summary: Shel had a whopping 10 minutes to talk here so he was really focused on the barriers of entry within SM – session title “Integration Challenges.”

Cultural barriers are a real challenge within the organization – especially with something so new as SM. Internal communications need to be about understanding the business’ communications strategy and how your employees can effectively share with their audiences.

Interesting question – “isn’t blogging ineffective since there are so many people doing it?” – Shel: “No” – most of what he reads comes from Twitter and he believes that every company should have at least one blog because of RAPID RESPONSE.

Here is a good stream on Shel’s presentation via Twitter.

I was recently asked to participate in a webinar with a leader in the media services (directories) space – CISION . I was tasked with talking to their almost 2,000 registered participants about Twitter 101 arming them with some of the basic knowledge and understanding to make them mildly dangerous as business professionals on Twitter:).

I would encourage you to listen to the webinar yourself via this replay or you can register for our next webinar on Thursday, June 18 at 10 a.m. CT. Better yet, I thought I’d provide you with the PowerPoint presentation and list out the links to the various tools we recommended during this workshop:

http://www.tweetdeck.com/ (downloadable desktop application)

http://desktop.seesmic.com/  (downloadable desktop application)

http://www.twitpic.com/

http://www.tweetlater.com/

http://www.twellow.com/

http://www.mrtweet.net/

http://www.bit.ly/

Enjoy and I’d welcome any feedback or tips you might have to share!

Cheers!