How to run a corporate Twitter account

I was writing a guide for a social startup Abbostford Biscuits on how to approach twitter. Here’s a little snippet I thought was worth sharing for anyone wanting to embrace twitter in their company.

The twitter account should be open to all in the Abbotsford Biscuits organisation. Anyone should be allowed to tweet on behalf of the company. This is important because the aim is to share the company culture and values, so that you can build a following. The reality of any culture is that it is the amalgam of all viewpoints. If the brand twitter account is just maned by one person, then the personality will be too singular to truly display the organisations values. It also adds variety to the output and creates more interest with followers.

The team should be given a set of guidelines and then allowed to tweet as they please. This will also help with frequency of output, without impacting the general responsibility of staff and workers. They can do it on their breaks, or any time in or out of the office. The chaos of this proposed situation must be embraced or it simply wont work. For a true social media engagement control must be relinquished. The voice must be human, overtly honest and omnidirectional.

Your thoughts?

5 thoughts on “How to run a corporate Twitter account

  1. Steve,

    It’s an illusion to believe that the brand is the focused message put into the market through traditional media activities. The reality is that the brand is the actions of all those who work for it, with it and represent it. An open twitter account will only reflect the real opinion message customers are receiving every day with their interactions. Classic example is banks.

    Steve.

  2. Call me a control freak,but i still believe company Tweets should be ‘controlled’ the same way as any other marketing exercise or brand communication.

    Why? To enable consistency (and accountability) in the direction and purpose of both the brand and the Twitter account.

    Catrina.

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