5 good habits for executives on Twitter

1. Twitter for executives
November 30, 2009
Delphine Remy-Boutang Digital Director Worldwide

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Think

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Twitter for Executives
§ By entering the Twitterverse, You are becoming part of IBM’s customer’s
brand experience
§ Stepping out from behind the curtain exposes both you and IBM brand to
intimate scrutiny
§ It’s bigger than you think: Ashton Kutcher and Ellen Degeneres have
more Twitter followers than the entire populations of Ireland, Norway
and Panama.
§ Social media represents a fundamental shift in the way we communicate
and make decisions

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A strategic approach to Twitter
STRATEGY FOLLOW CREATE ENGAGE
Customer
Relations
Your customers and
potential customers
Content relevant to
your customers: tips,
company info, etc.
Answer questions, respond
to comments about your
brand
Crisis
Management
Your brand, products
and relevant issues
Direct to additional
resources, updated
info, explanation
Answer questions, respond
to comments, raise issues,
provide info
Corporate
Reputation
Management
Industry leaders,
similar interest
groups, news/media
Insight, expertise,
become a thought
leader
Jump in the conversation.
Be transparent and add
value
Event Coverage Those interested or
attending event, media
Event information,
updates, behind the
scenes coverage
Set up Tweet-ups, talk to
attendees, ask and answer
questions
Product
Promotion
& Sales
Current and potential
customers, those
interested in similar
products
Links to online
promos, insider info on
upcoming sales,
discount codes
Check replies and DM’s,
answer questions, provide
info when needed
Issue Advocacy Those interested in
your cause, industry
leaders, news
Added values: health
tips, disaster alerts,
fundraising info
Know your followers, thank
them for support, get them
involved
Source: Ogilvy

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5 good habits for Executives using Twitter
5 truths about how a CEO or any
leader should speak when they
step into the Twitter spotlight

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1/ You are IBM’s brand’s conscience
§ For most consumers, an ideal CEO is someone who uses their power to
make sure a brand keeps its promises.
§ As a business leader, Twitter should be your platform.
§ What people sense in an effective company executive on Twitter is not the
echo of marketing, but the principles by which they lead the company behind
it, and their passion for the job.

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2/ Don’t sell – Do share
§ Twitter isn’t advertising, it’s a conversation.
§ Great executive tweeters don’t try to sell to their followers, they try to engage
them in a personal way. (add value to the community before thinking of selling
to it)
§ Share things about IBM’s corporate culture, our IBM values at work
§ Help your followers with problems
§ Make business competition personal, and sometimes even fun
§ Each tweet should be a window into the life of IBM

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3/ Be a real human being
§ On Twitter, what you talk about is who you are.
§ Every Twitter user’s update history paints a true portrait of their character
and what matters to them. So, the best executive tweeters are real
people and sound like real people — always.
§ Know the responsibility to IBM values at work - and know that the great
dinner you had at your favourite place last night are the things that make
you human. In moderation, share some of those things, too.
§ People will be able to relate to you on a personal level and as a result,
they will like and trust you more.

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4/ Write well
§ Bad grammar, punctuation, or hasty abbreviations to get the
character count down to 140, are just a little too humanizing.
§ Great leaders are characteristically great communicators, and
it’s no different on Twitter. Informality is fine, charming even,
but confident prose is one way people recognize leadership in
this forum.
§ Nobody wants to do business with a sixteen-year-old CEO,
and the best executive tweeters don’t write like one.

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5/ Commit
§ The best executive tweeters are people who have decided to join the
party.
§ Tweet a few times a day, and do so at least a few days a week
§ Build a community and become familiar with your followers
§ Establish relationships, running jokes, and a personality that defines
you.
§ Corporate leaders on Twitter that don’t tweet often can seem distant, or
worse, when they do. “We don’t feel like they’ve joined the party. We
just feel like they walked into the room to make an announcement, and
then left.”
§ You almost shouldn’t be a Twitter user if you’re not prepared to commit

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Conclusion
§ Joining the Twitter community as a leader makes your voice inseparable
from IBM’s brand
§ What effective CEO tweeters understand, though, is that this doesn’t
mean you are the brand. (“In IBM, the brand is the employee”- Adam C)
§ People will follow you, initially at least, because they’re curious to
understand who your company is in a deeper way than traditional media
allow.
§ But they’ll stay with you only if they like, respect and trust what they
discover. Which, as any leader will tell you, is what leadership is all
about.
Source: brandcowboy.com , @brandcowboy.

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Finding executives on Twitter
§ Though it is actually a marketing vehicle for Microsoft, ExecTweets is a
great resource for finding executives on Twitter. The site categorizes
executives who use Twitter and lets users vote on their favorite tweets
from those corporate leaders.
§ The WeFollow ( ) directory is another good resource, just search for
tags like “CEO” and “executive” to locate executive tweeters.

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IBM Social Computing Guidelines
ü Be who you are
ü Speak in the first person
ü Use a disclaimer
ü Respect your audience
ü Add value
ü Don't pick fights
ü Be the first to respond to
your own mistakes.
ü Use your best judgment.
ü Don't forget your day job.
http://www.ibm.com/blogs/zz/en/guidelines.html
IBM supports open dialogue and the exchange of ideas
Responsible engagement in innovation and dialogue

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“You have two choices. You can continue to lock yourself behind facile corporate
words and happy talk brochures. Or you can join the conversation.”
Delphine Remy-Boutang
WW Digital Director
@delphineRB
Questions?
Thank You!

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Resources and back up slides

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Click here to visit IBM SWG Social Media Marketing Wiki
Follow me on Twitter: www.twitter/delphrb
Be my friend on Facebook
Read my blog
Join me on Linked in
Blue Twitt me !
Start with social media today and earn your badges :
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" Twitter Tip: Register your Twitter name without
the use of spaces or underscores
" Lock up your full name if it’s available and not
too long and too complicated
" My UNIQUE branded username uniquely
available on ALL social networks is: @delphrb
" People want to network with people
" Twitter usernames will become valuable real
estate just like Web sites were back in the 90‘s.
So “ lock em up! “
" When you join first Twitter, put a picture up
immediately—before following anyone
How to get started on
Go to :
www.twitter.com

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Twitter dictionary
§ Twitterverse or Twittersphere - the universe/world sphere of Twitter (cf. blogosphere)
§ Tweet - an update on Twitter, comprising a message of up to 140 characters, sometimes
containing a link, sometimes containing a picture or video. Also a verb: to tweet, tweeting.
§ Reply or @Reply - a message from one user to another, visible to anyone following the
user who is giving the reply. Also visible to the entire world (and search engines) in your
Twitter profile page.
§ Direct message or DM - a message from one user to another in private (not visible to other
users, the internet or search engines).
§ Re-tweet or RT - repeating a message from another user for the benefit of your followers
and in recognition of its value (the Twitter equivalent of forwarding an email)
§ Micro-blogging - the term given to the practice of posting short status updates via sites
like Twitter (there are others, but none as big)
§ “Follower” someone who has subscribed to read your tweets
§ “Following" people that you decide to follow
§ “Friend" Someone who you follow that also follows you

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Useful Twitter tools
§ Search twitter : Complete an advanced search around
key phrases, within specific dates, and from specific handles.
(Often broken, Google search is the best back up!)
§ TweetDeck: A desktop app that lets you organize your
followers into specific categories (i.e. industry leaders, customers,
potential customers, etc.)
§ TwitPic: Provides a bridge from your camera phone to
Twitter. Pictures can either post to the Twitter public timeline
from phone via email or through the site.
§ TweetLater and CoTweet: Allow you time your Tweets
to be created now and published later.
Seesmic: A desktop client to manage your lifestream from Facebook & multiple
Twitter accounts.Create groups and searches and view them any way you like
Mixero: Twitter client helps in controlling the flow and noise of information – Great to
monitor groups and channels

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Useful Twitter tools
• HootSuite: A shared Twitter platform allowing multiple users,
pre-scheduled tweets, and click statistics including charts and
your most popular tweets.
• TweetVolume: Find out what keywords to use based on their
popularity and conversation volume on twitter.
• TweetBeep: The Google Alerts for Twitter, allows you to monitor
conversations that mention you, your brand, related/competitor
products, and links to your website/blog. Alerted as keywords
appear, reducing the need for a manual search.
• Twitterholic: Find out who has the most followers and who can
be an influential asset to your campaign.
• ExecTweets: Find and follow top executives on Twitter.
• Twollow: Put in key words and automatically add you to people
with those words in there profile.
• Mr Tweet: Your personal Twitter assistant suggests which influencers
and followers…………….

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Useful Twitter tools
• TwitterGrader: Measures the relative power and authority of a Twitter
user by calculating number of followers, power of network of followers,
pace of updates and completeness of a user’s profile.
• Twhirl: Centrally manages activity, messaging and updating for Twitter
and platforms (FriendFeed, Identi.ca and Seesmic).
• TwitScoop: Tells you “What’s hot right now?”, presenting trend
comparisons and volume of conversation.
• Twitterberry and Twitterfox: Downloadable Blackberry app and
Firefox plugin for Twitter.
• Go to Tweepler to see who to follow and who not to follow.
• Go to Trendistic to view the volume of conversation about your
brand, products…

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References
§ 5 Habits of Successful Executives on Twitter
§ IBM Social computing guidelines
§ http://www.ibm.com/blogs/zz/en/guidelines.html
§ Recent trends in the global blogosphere?
§
§ social media directory
§ How do I make time to do social media ?!
§ List of agencies who can help you in your social
media campaign execution
§ The Impact of Corporate Culture on Social Media
§ The social media experiment is over. Now it's time
to extract value.
§ IBM SWG Social Media Marketing wiki
§ Gina Poole, IBM goes to work, Gina Poole’s video
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