Go on take the plunge and tweet me to let me know how you are getting on!
Paul Hunt is a marketing consultant
In previous blogs, I have mentioned that from the start of September an endless round of events in our industry begins, whether they be trade exhibitions or award dinners or industry lunches and I feel weary now and we are only three weeks into the season as I write this!
The value of social media to organisers, sponsors and attendees cannot be underestimated and when done well always contributes to successful events for all.
Despite this, many still question the value of social media and much of this is usually down to not understanding the merit of each platform and this is often because they aren’t users themselves.
I have been guilty of this too, as whilst working in a large corporate, the use of Twitter by individuals to represent the firm was limited to one or two people in a firm of over 10,000 and so it was never a part of the marketing mix I could utilise. My social network also didn’t use Twitter much either, so I didn’t think I was missing anything significant.
I can now admit that I was wrong in this assessment! It took personal experience with many trials & surprisingly not too much error, resulting in me quickly understanding how Twitter can reach and engage like no other medium can.
As with everything, just make sure that you have a clear plan and that you understand why you are using Twitter. Think about what you want to post and to whom and arguably more so than any other medium, be clear about the personality and tone of voice that you and, due to association, your business wish to use.
Having only been using Twitter personally for 18 months and regularly for the past year, I have surprisingly learnt so much in that brief time.
In the beginning, I just signed up and watched what was being posted by other people within the industry, learning from example how to build followers and have productive interactions with people.
Just watching is a real place to start, then whether you dip in a toe or dive in, you can try out a few tweets and most importantly, have a little fun whilst doing it. Go on take the plunge and tweet me to let me know how you are getting on!
Paul Hunt's Twitter account can be found here
