Use Twitter to Listen, Not Talk
Which is best: An active approach or a passive approach?
When it comes to Twitter, if you ask around almost every brand you talk to will say that an active approach is best for all social media, especially Twitter. Because it moves at such a fast pace (the more people you follow the faster your feed fills up) Twitter is one social channel where it pays to be in the eye of your public lest you risk being forgotten in the stream of updates.
And yet, there is merit in remaining (mostly) silent. If an active approach is not paying off in the way that you’d like it to, why not consider sitting back and watching the conversation happen as opposed to trying to be in the middle of it all the time?
Different ways to listen in on the Twitter stream
Twitter users have access to a variety of free and premium apps that are capable of monitoring tweets and conversations; imagine being able to receive an alert whenever some mentions your brand! Twitter also offers an internal monitoring and alert system which though not as sophisticated or customisable as some third-party apps is still capable of helping you get your feet wet in the listening side of the pool.
If you are using Twitter passively in order to track trends and the actions of your target audience, set up your monitoring and alerts to reflect important keywords in your industry and then track trending topics as they occur.
When you set an alert for your brand name or Twitter handle you will receive a notice whenever someone mentions you – this is a golden opportunity to join the conversation. Sometimes you will be able to say thank you to a satisfied customer, and other times you will need to diffuse a situation involving an unhappy customer and do your best to bring them over to the satisfied side of the line. All of this is possible with the use of monitoring and alert tools and an active and courteous staff!
Which approach is right for your brand?
The answer to this question is not an easy one – an active approach to Twitter is ideal for some brands, and a more passive approach is the best way to go for other brands. The approach you choose should be based on engagement figures; try being active first and see how it works out for your brand. If after a few weeks of consistent activity you aren’t seeing any real results, take the next few weeks and experiment with a more passive approach.
It is never advisable to completely cease any activity on a social channel; the last thing people want to do is follow a brand that isn’t really saying anything new or interesting. So if you are taking the passive route, still make an effort to tweet once a day or a few times a week at least to show that your brand is still in the game even if your goal for now is to do more listening than talking.
Comments:
Which approach does your brand take? Passive or Active?
