Now Share This: PR and Social Media

Right now I’m busy building my new employer’s Social Media presence from the ground up. I’m starting with Twitter. Here’s some off-the-cuff reminders I’m picking up while starting our Twitter account from scratch.

1. Find your audience. I’m using search tools like Twellow and Twitter searches to find the people who are Tweeting about what we’re interested in. I’m also Googling (“Minnesota politicians using Twitter”) and finding somebody else has already done the work to compile these lists.
2. Listen, listen, listen. I’m spending hours reading Tweets and seeing what people in our industry care about, what they are passionately discussing, and figuring out what types of Tweets I can share to engage them.
3. Follow others’ follows. When I find someone with really good content, I take the time to sift through who they are following and then follow many of those folks as well. This is the beauty of Social Media.
4. Customize. We’re working right now on creating a customized Twitter background. To me this is a HUGE deal – custom Twitter backgrounds are the new business cards. They are an introduction to your brand and an eye-catching way of getting people interested in who you are and what you have to say. Talk to this guy if you need help creating one.
5. Tweet sparingly. I’m getting plenty of followers just by following others, so I don’t need to start barfing out a bunch of Tweets unless I have something helpful to say or share.
6. Create lists. My next step is breaking down the folks I’m following into categories – Journalists, Politicians, Political organizations, etc. These Twitter lists reduce the insanity/clutter of trying to keep up with my main feed, and helps me focus on whatever segment of our industry I need to.
7. Tag team effort. I’m quick to look up anyone/everyone who follows me back (particularly journalists since I’m a PR guy) on LinkedIn and send out invites if I think it would benefit me to do so.

FYI, Mashable has created a great and comprehensive guide to all things Twitter that is definitely worth your time whether you’re a brand new Tweep or a longtime veteran of the service.

How about you? What Twitter tips am I leaving out? Feel free to add yours in the comments!