1

Public Affairs in 140 Characters or Less: Develop Your Twitter Strategy

Molly Nichelson

American College of Cardiology2400 N Street, NW

Washington, D.C. 20037Email: mnichels@acc.orgPhone: (202) 375-6470Twitter: @Cardiology

DM# 361101

Items of Discussion• What is Twitter• Creating Your Account• Finding People on Twitter• How to Message on Twitter• Twitter Applications• Twitter Terminology• Reading up on Twitter• Best Practices and Advice• How the ACC uses Twitter

2

3

What is Twitter?twitter.com

• Web-based SMS message system– Think text messaging– 140 characters

• Public / Private message setting

• People ‘follow’ your tweets / messages– And you can ‘follow’ their tweets / messages

4

Signing Up for Twitter

5

Setting Up Your Twitter Account

• Pick a user name– Short & concise

• Fill out your biography– Include your / your company’s name– Contact information

• Make sure you upload a photo

6

Setting Up Your Twitter Account

7

Finding People on Twitter

• Use the Twitter “Find People” tab• Search by name of person/organization

• Search via your Google, Yahoo and/or AOL email account

• Invite them to join via email with your Twitter account

• Twitter suggested users

8

Finding People on Twitter: Email

9

Twitter – Personal Page

10

Finding People on Twitter

• Poach other people’s followers– Best way– Read their tweets before you follow

• Search what people are tweeting (words & hashtags) & follow them– http://search.twitter.com

11

Twitter – Followers twitter.com/cardiology

12

Twitter Applications

• Sending Your Tweets:– Computer

• Tweetdeck: http://tweetdeck.com/beta/ • Seesmic: http://desktop.seesmic.com/ • Hootsuite: http://www.hootsuite.com

– Blackberry • Twitterberry: http://

www.orangatame.com/products/twitterberry/

– iPhone• Tweetie: http://www.atebits.com/tweetie-iphone/

13

Twitter Applications

• Feeding your RSS feeds to Your Twitter Account:

– Ping.fm – http://ping.fm – Tweetlater – http://tweetlater.com– Hootsuite -- http://hootsuite.com

14

Twitter Search http://search.twitter.com

15

Twitter Terminology: @ Replies

• An @reply is a public message from one person to another, using the person’s Twitter username

• A person doesn’t need to follow you (or vice versa) in order to send you an @reply

• The @replies can be found at your username on the right side

16

Twitter Terminology: @Replies

17

Twitter Terminology: RT (Retweets)

• RT is short for ‘re-tweet’. It’s a way a follower reposting your tweet.

• A person will put RT in front of the tweet

• Another way of RTing, is to complete the message, and say (via @username)

18

Twitter Terminology: RTs

19

Twitter Terminology: Hashtag

• Use a hashtag (#) before a word in a post allows you to tag that post for that word

• This allows your word to be more readily searched

• Can help bring you new followers and help you find more followers

20

Example -- #Healthreformhttp://search.twitter.com

21

Example -- #Healthreformhttp://www.hashtweeps.com

Reading Up on Twitter

• Social Media Websites

• http://mashable.com/• http://www.smartbrief.com/• http://www.twitip.com/• http://www.readwriteweb.com/• http://www.chrisbrogan.com/• http://social-media-university-global.org/• http://beth.typepad.com/ (for non-profits)

22

Reading Up on Twitter

• ePolitics Websites

• http://techpresident.com/• http://personaldemocracy.com/• http://tweetcongress.org• http://twitterroom.thehill.com/• http://www.epolitics.com/• http://www.nextgov.com/

23

Reading Up on Twitter

• Companies & Organizations

• Southwest Airlines @southwestair• Mayo Clinic @mayoclinic• Comcast @comcastcares• Zappos @zappos

24

25

Best Practices & Advice

• Test out Twitter with your own account before doing one for work– Make it private if you have to– Test it with friends & coworkers

• Get familiar with the Twitter applications– Like iPhone apps, there are *many* of them,

and they change often

26

Best Practices & Advice

• Know that you WILL make mistakes

• You will NOT have full control

• Use your own voice– Don’t turn your Twitter account in to an RSS

feed– Be a HUMAN behind your account

• Give something of value to your audience– Coupons, advice, articles, thanks

27

Best Practices & Advice

• And know when you send a tweet, it’s out there forever…and it’s searchable!

– http://search.twitter.com– http://tweleted.com/

28

Best Practices & Advice

• Following & Followers– Be judious, but don’t be a snob either

– Don’t get freaked out by who’s following you

– If someone is wacky, block them

– And did I mention there are reporters on Twitter…and they may follow you?

• http://journalistsontwitter.wetpaint.com/

29

Best Practices & Advice

• Monitor, Monitor, Monitor!– Don’t throw stuff out and then don’t react;

monitor your account and who’s following you

– Have an RSS feed on your #hashmarks & company’s name

• http://search.twitter.com

– See what’s popular on Twitter• Trending topics• http://tweetmeme.com/

American College of Cardiology’s Advocacy Department & Twitter

31

How We Started

• Created account in Oct. 2007

• Was excited about the grassroots potential, but didn’t know the technology– Way to get to busy members– Connect with other healthcare leaders

• Started with my own account– Took me 6 months – 1 year to feel

comfortable

32

How We Started

• Attended the Public Affairs Council Meeting in 2009 & learned more about social media– Now had the gumption to talk to boss & big

boss about it– They have a lot of trust me in me, but didn’t

know a lot about the technology– Said to go ahead with Twitter

How We Started

• Annual Meeting 2009– Sat down with Communications folks– Started Twittering in late February 2009

• Literally two weeks before annual meeting we met

• Social Media Strategy Policy @ the ACC– Still a work in progress– No formal guideline or document but one is

being drafted33

How We Use Twitter

• Send news articles– Show that we’re on top of the health system

reform debate• Members• Media• Other healthcare groups

• RSS feed– CEO’s blog (Lewin Report)– Medical education website (Cardiosource)

34

How We Use Twitter

• Highlight member and advocacy achievements

• Interact with members of Congress– http://tweetcongress.org

• Still teaching our members about Twitter– Nothing formally announced but we do

include the Twitter account in alerts

35

Any questions?