Twitter for Business: Identifying yourself

Dec 26, 2010

Table of contents:

1. Identify yourself
2. Managing multiple accounts
3. Be open and transparent

A key aspect of being successful on Twitter is being clear, open and transparent. Here is a guide to doing just that.

Identify yourself

If you have one person who manages the company Twitter account identify that person, if the account is managed by a few employee’s either sign each tweet or identify the group of people who are tweeting. People want to feel that they are connecting with a person rather than a company or an automated messaging service.

Identify yourself in the following ways:

1. Include the name(s) of the account handler(s) in the bio section of the profile and a link to their account. Ensure the person who handles the account is responsible for what they tweet on behalf of the company and on their personal account as this reflects upon the company.
2. If there are a few tweeters who use the account you could sign each tweet with a tag that identifies who posted it. I would use ^PB for example.
3. You could include a picture of the person on your profile background with their contact details, phone number and email address and personal bio of what they do at the company. Always ensure that the design of this fits with the company and is clean and professional, you don’t want something that looks like a Myspace through back.

Managing multiple accounts

If you decided to have a Twitter account for each department, sales, customer service, problems and complaints, for example then ensure that each account is clearly marked with its purpose. You could also dedicate a page on your company website to explain the purpose of each account to ensure customers do not get confused. Again a custom background for each account would be useful that identifies the purpose. Each account should follow the same design patterns to show consistency.

Be open and transparent

It is extremely important to ensure that you are honest and open with your dealings on Twitter. The platform is a great way of solving customer problems as other potential customers can see that you care about them and giving a great service. Always ensure that you are clear and transparent. Here are some tips for doing just that:

1. Only post links to sources you find worthy and useful
2. Do not spam links or automated tweets or DMs
3. Do not try and scam people
4. Don’t go for a sale, offer free advice, help and information
5. Be open with who manages the account, put a face to a @name
6. Don’t use an outsource PR company to handle your Twitter account, you may as well not bother with the service
7. Don’t harass people if they do not respond to your answer or offer of help