Twitter for Professional Purposes: 21+ Tips

Helping You Succeed in the Digital Era

Twitter forProfessional Purposes:21(+) Tips

Friday Forum WebinarCourtney Shelton Hunt, PhD (Curry ‘91)October 18, 2013

Copyright © 2013, Courtney Shelton Hunt - all rights reserved2

Session OverviewMany people still don’t “get” Twitter – especially from a professional perspective – or are uncertain whether there is any value in using it. Many others have set up an account but feel overwhelmed and/or unsure about how to maximize the potential benefits. Still others think they’re using it properly but really don’t know if they are. Courtney Hunt will help these Tweeters and more by sharing 21 best practice suggestions for getting the most out of the Twitter experience, including:

– Leveraging Twitter for career management, business development, job search, etc.

– Account/profile set up

– Determining who to follow (and unfollow)

– Building Twitter engagement into your daily routine

– Using the right language and other conventions

– Striking appropriate balances between:• quantity and quality,

• personal and professional,

• private and public

– Using hashtags appropriately

At the end of the session everyone will be better able to tweet without looking like a twit!

About the Speaker


Courtney Shelton Hunt, PhDCourtney is the Founder and Principal of The Denovati Group and an international consultant, speaker, teacher, and writer. Her background in business development, communications, human capital management, information technology, and academia, combined with her business acumen, enables her to provide a unique holistic perspective and strategic leadership to organizations.

The Denovati Group enhances the success of individuals and organizations in the Digital Era through an alliance that provides thought leadership and guidance, research, consulting and training services, and a professional community that fosters the sharing of information and best practices. These objectives are accomplished through three divisions and two sub-brands:• Denovati Solutions• The Denovati Network• The Denovati Institute• SMART Blog• SMART Resources

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http://www.linkedin.com/in/cshunt312

How to Use this Presentation as a Portal

Copyright © 2013, Courtney Shelton Hunt 4

1. Many of the slides in this deck contain active hyperlinks that should be fairly intuitive.

2. The hyperlinks are embedded in both pictures and text. For example, if you click on the photograph on the left, you’ll go to Courtney Hunt’s LinkedIn Profile. Or you can click on this text to go to The Denovati Group’s website.

3. It’s probably best to download the presentation and view it in “slide show” mode to activate the hyperlinks.

4. After you follow a link, you should be able to minimize your browser window to pick up the presentation where you left off.

Please email [email protected] if you find a broken link.

Thanks!

http://denovati.com/


mailto:[email protected]

http://www.linkedin.com/in/cshunt312

5 Click on image to access cartoon on Mashable

Yes, They would have Tweeted

http://mashable.com/2010/11/26/founding-fathers-twitter-comic/









11 TIPS FOR GETTING STARTED


Welcome to Twitter

Find out what's happening, right now, with the people and organizations you care about


About Twitter

Not a “social” network!

Powerful “listening” channel

https://twitter.com/about


Two Twitter Truths1. Everyone can benefit from having a

Twitter account

2. The best way to determine Twitter’s potential value is to give it a try– It is perfectly appropriate to open a

Twitter account with the intent to just listen

– Focus on using Twitter professionally rather than personally, including staying current with local, national, and global news


1. Know Your Goals/Objectives

How do you want to use Twitter?– Personally

– Professionally

What value do you want to derive?– Exposure to news

– Learning

– Connecting

– Career management

– Business development

How do you want to engage?– Listen

– Share

– Exchange

I tweet because…


2. Choose a Good Handle (username)

Keep it short – ≤ 10 characters (max is 15) Devise something that connects to your personal

and/or professional identity Be careful not to infringe on someone else’s brand Make sure it won’t embarrass you, your colleagues,

or your organization (i.e., no cutesy names or nicknames, no off-color humor)

Think about how the handle will read/sound to others, particularly when it’s viewed in all lower-case letters

Be careful when using numbers, especially in combination with letters. 0 and O and 1, I, and l can be hard to differentiate, depending on the screen font people use.

Note: You can change your Twitter handle without having to open a new account

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Setting Up Your Profile

Source: http://www.verticalresponse.com/blog/ultimate-twitter-profile-infographic/

http://www.verticalresponse.com/blog/ultimate-twitter-profile-infographic/




3. Include Decent Images At a minimum, you need a profile image

– Don’t need to restrict yourself to a headshot

– Use an image that accurately and appropriately reflects your professional identity

– Make sure you have the right to use the image

– Pick something that is both clear and attractive in a thumbnail version

If you add a header image, make sure it complements your profile pic

Be cautious about adding a profile background– Less is more

– Should complement your profile pic and header image


4. Add Your Name, Website, Bio Name: Use your real name (20 character limit)

Website: If you don’t have a website (or blog) to link to, link to your LinkedIn profile

Bio (160 character limit):– Okay to use key words rather than trying to craft a sentence

– Focus on your professional identity versus your personal identity• Okay to include some relevant personal information

• Be careful about including things that could be misperceived or might undermine your professional brand

– Avoid blatant promotion, humblebrags, cheekiness and other things that could be offensive or misconstrued

– If you have a LI headline/tagline you like, and it fits, by all means include it here


Profile Samples

Look at various profiles to see what does/doesn’t work.Remember: less is more.


Profile Sample 1

Pros• Plain background• Good profile image• Complementary header imageCon• Hard to read the bio info due to the

busy header image, especially on a small screen


Profile Sample 2

Pros• Simple background; QR code• Good profile image• Complementary header imageCons• Part of background text is cut off• Hard to read the bio info


Profile Sample 3

Pros• Good profile image• Complementary header imageCons• Background is too busy; part of text

is cut off• Hard to read the bio info


Profile Sample 4

Pros• Good profile image• No header imageCons• Background is way too busy and a

bit too self promotional


Profile Sample 5

We like to keep things super simple!


5. Set Up Mobile Access Tweets are like headlines: easy to digest

and manage in small bites That makes them perfect for “interstitial

time” When you’re commuting or traveling While waiting for someone Before you’re ready to get out of bed in the

morning

To facilitate that Set your account up to send tweets to your

phone (i.e., via 40404) Download one of the Twitter apps to your

phone and/or tablet


6. Find Good Accounts to Follow

Accounts to target– Local, national, and international news sources

– Professional and industry associations

– Academic and research institutions, including your alma mater(s)

– Your own organization, clients, prospects, competitors

– Organizations you’d like to work for

– Bloggers and thought leaders

Tips– Make sure you’re following official accounts

– Get ideas from checking out the accounts followed by others and/or those recommended by Twitter

– Review an account’s activity before deciding whether it’s a valuable source for you

– If the volume of activity becomes overwhelming, find a way to dial things down by unfollowing some of the noisier and/or less valuable accounts


7. Restrict Your Followers? Assuming you don’t plan to start tweeting initially, you

should make your account private by selecting the “Protect my Tweets” option

– This way, no one will be able to follow you without your permission

– Doing so will not affect your ability to follow others

Once you’re ready to add your voice to the public chorus (on a regular basis), you can unprotect your account


8. Build Twitter into your Schedule

Tune in at least once a day– Start with a 5-15 minute commitment

– Vary the time of day to determine when the best activity occurs

– Increase the allotted time as needed

Scan tweets and either– Follow the links to items that pique

your interest, or

– Forward them to yourself via email to read later


9. Learn the Language/Conventions

Ways to learn Immerse yourself in the Twitter stream and glean meaning from the activity

itself Watch what others do (but don’t assume it’s all good) Check out the Twitter Glossary or the Twitter Basics section of the Help Center

Basic Twitter symbols and terms @ is used in front of a Twitter handle to directly reference an account; it also

creates a hyperlink to their account #, aka a hashtag, is a way of collecting tweets around a specific topic or theme;

it also creates a hyperlink to a page of tweets that include the hashtag RT = retweet (i.e., sharing someone else’s tweet) MT = modified tweet (i.e., resharing someone’s tweet after modifying the text) FF = Follow Friday, a way of recommending specific accounts to follow (fading

practice)

https://support.twitter.com/entries/166337-the-twitter-glossary

https://support.twitter.com/groups/31-twitter-basics


10. Leverage the Lists Feature

Lists, which can be either public or private, are a great way to organize tweets

List criteria you can use– Personal vs. professional identity– Type of Tweeter

• News• Bloggers and thought leaders

– Areas of interest• Clients and prospects• Organizations you want to work for• Industries you track• Competitors• Topics and functional areas


11. Avoid the “Following” Trap

False assumptions and expectations Low numbers are bad There is an “ideal” following ratio to strive for You should follow everyone who follows you People you follow should follow you back

Games people play Buying (fake) followers Unfollowing people who don’t follow back -

especially immediately Twitter “one-night stands”

8 TIPS FOR TWEETING WELL

You Don’t Wanna be “That Guy”

http://mashable.com/2013/10/12/friends-twitter-advice-comic/


Things to Keep in Mind Your objectives

– Avoid mistakes that can hurt your individual professional and/or organizational brand(s)

– Maximize your ability to maintain a high signal/noise ratio

– Appeal to rookie/casual users, who are likely to have a much more narrow view of acceptable behavior than active/ardent users

Caveats– Many early adopters and successful Tweeters break many of the best

practices rules – but that doesn’t mean you should emulate them

– There are no absolutes, but taking a conservative approach – especially in the beginning – can’t hurt

– As your experience and sophistication increase, you may decide it’s worth taking a few risks and experimenting


12. Quality trumps Quantity The quantity/quality balance for an individual or organization

depends on a variety of factors, including:– Goals and objectives for engaging on Twitter– Characteristics of the organization, industry, and key stakeholders– Characteristics and preferences of followers

Things to keep in mind– Curating content based on quality helps followers deal with information

overload and increases your value to them– If the quality of the content being shared is good, people will tolerate higher

quantity– Inappropriate tweeting can quickly undermine overall perceptions of quality– If you’re viewed as a noise-maker rather than a signal-provider, people will

tune you out, which means even your best content will be missed If you don’t have something substantive to share, don’t tweet


The Tweets per Day Sweet Spot


13. Craft Your Tweets Well Limit your tweets to 140 characters; 120 if you want RTs Abbreviations and other Twitter conventions are generally

okay, but– If you have room, there’s no excuse for bad grammar,

sloppy writing, and unnecessary shorthand and text speak

Also avoid unnecessary jargon, slang, crude and foul language, and inflammatory wording

Always “think before you tweet” – and if possible, get someone else to review a potentially sensitive tweet in advance


14. Think about Multiple Views

There are many ways people can view your tweets. Think about the impression you give off through all these views.

Via their own activity stream Directly on your Twitter page By following specific hashtags Through Twitter searches As RTs (retweets) by others Via managers like HootSuite and TweetDeck Through “feed widgets” on your blog/website On mobile devices and tablets


15. Don’t Tweet Drivel

The banal aspects of your personal and/or professional life

Aphorisms and other “quotable quotes” Unoriginal jokes News that’s no longer fresh (think of the old

Saturday Night Live “update”: Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead)

Personal interests that aren’t relevant to most of your followers or related to your professional identity


16. Don’t Overdo It Excessive Selling and Self-Promotion Excessive (Re)tweeting

– Repeat tweets (i.e., sharing the same tweet over several days)

– Follow Friday (#FF) lists

– Thanks for following, retweets, mentions, etc.

– Retweeting messages

Indiscriminant live tweeting Automatically (and/or thoughtlessly) linking Twitter to

other platforms like Facebook Automatic tweets (e.g., thanks for following)


17. Timing is Key The “best times to tweet” vary, but for professional

engagement weekdays during work hours are best Know the time zone(s) for most of your followers and

schedule accordingly Develop tactics for tweeting during peak and off

hours– Weekdays– Evenings– Weekends

Tweet at a consistent pace


18. Plan Your Tweets Use tools to manage Twitter activity, to avoid large

gaps in a Twitter stream followed by a clump of tweets (aka “cluster tweeting”)

HootSuite

TweetDeck

Buffer

Use scheduling wisely Yes when content is not time sensitive

No when content is supposed to appear spontaneous

No when tragedy or crisis strikes

Warn people when you’re going to engage in live tweeting


19. No Private Chats in Public Spaces

Remember: most tweets are public Carrying on personal exchanges via public messages is

the Twitter equivalent of “cell yell,” forcing people to listen to (portions of) conversations they’re not a part of and have no interest in

Occasionally sending an @ message to someone who doesn’t follow you is unavoidable, but when you have a reciprocal relationship you should use the D feature

If you want to chat with a group of people, find another, more appropriate platform

2 TIPS TO AVOID MAKING A HASH OF TWITTER HASHTAGS


Hashtag Basics

Hashtags are best for concatenating terms into a single string to create a short, unique identifier that is not otherwise available:

– Common themes and topics, like #highered, #socialmedia– Conferences and meetings, like #E32012 for the 2012 E3

conference– Twitter chats, like #UChicJobTips

If your intent is simply to add to a conversation, there is generally no need to hashtag

– A brand name, Twitter handle, webname, or url (e.g., Pinterest, YouTube, 37Signals, Razr Maxx)

– A person’s name or popular event– Common terms


20. Use Good Hashtags Find and use the most popular tags in your

industry/profession Make sure your tags are unique, clear and

relevant Hashtags are not case sensitive - you can use

CamelCase for clarity, but that doesn’t change the meaning or relevance of the tag

Keep hashtags short and simple Don’t inadvertently include spaces between

hashtag terms Don't customize hashtags beyond what's

necessary

#SoMe=

#some=

some

#NowThatcherIsDeador

#NowThatCherIsDead???

#HRTechConfVs.

#HRTechConf13


21. Use Hashtags Wisely Don’t game tags or use them gratuitously

– Kenneth Cole (#Egypt #Syria)

– Superstorm Sandy (American Apparel, Urban Outfitters, Gap)

Use hashtags judiciously and wisely – 2 max per tweet Check Twitter and other resources to see if a hashtag is already

being used, and in what context to make sure you:– Connect your tweet to a relevant Twitter thread

– Don't inadvertently connect your tweet to an irrelevant - or worse, inappropriate – thread

Be careful not to set yourself up so that your hashtag gets hijacked in unintended ways (i.e., McDStories)


A Decision-Making Flowchart

When in doubt, leave it out!

http://www.slideshare.net/SMinOrgs/twitter-hashtag-decision-making-flow-chart

http://www.slideshare.net/SMinOrgs/twitter-hashtag-decision-making-flow-chart


Get in Touch



ABOUT THE DENOVATI GROUP

http://denovati.com/denovati-digital-network


The Denovati…Pronunciation guide: day-no-VAH-teeDeconstructing the term:

– DE = Digital Era– NOV = short for novani, the Latin term for colonists,

immigrants, new residents…– ATI = those who seek knowledge and/or are in the know

The Denovati areDigital Era explorers, pathfinders and pioneers

who seek to understand and effectively leverage social and digital technologies


The Denovati Group

Click here to learn more about who we are, what we do, and what we offer

http://denovati.com/about-the-denovati/

http://denovati.com/about-the-denovati/


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Twitter for Professional Purposes: 21+ Tips