I Don't Have Anything to Tweet. Sure You Do!
In pitching Twitter to a client, there invariably comes a point in the conversation where your client is intrigued but not yet sold. “I like the idea,” she says, “but I don’t have anything to tweet.”
Sure you do! Unless your organization produces no content whatsoever, you’re no doubt already swimming in possible tweets: op-eds, videos, speeches, congressional testimony, memos, blog posts, podcasts, news clips—even, if you must, news releases.
For example, whenever the Manhattan Institute publishes an op-ed, it tweets it, with the preface, “New Op-ed.” Whenever the Heritage Foundation releases a policy paper, it tweets, “New Policy Paper.” When the Cato Institute finishes a podcast, you can finish the sentence. New content is tweetable content.
The beauty of these arrangements is that once you create them, they run on auto-pilot; a free tool like Twitterfeed can auto-tweet new material as you release it. Simply spend 15 minutes on the setup, then watch as your mission and message spread to those who otherwise might never hear about them.
To be sure, while a combination of pushing and pulling—i.e., engagement—is vastly preferable to just pushing, rare is the client who wants to go all-in immediately. But there’s no rule that says to partake of social media, you need to go big or go home. Instead, it’s often best to start with the low-hanging fruit, and work your way up, as Google does with Chrome, incrementally.
Sure you do! Unless your organization produces no content whatsoever, you’re no doubt already swimming in possible tweets: op-eds, videos, speeches, congressional testimony, memos, blog posts, podcasts, news clips—even, if you must, news releases.
For example, whenever the Manhattan Institute publishes an op-ed, it tweets it, with the preface, “New Op-ed.” Whenever the Heritage Foundation releases a policy paper, it tweets, “New Policy Paper.” When the Cato Institute finishes a podcast, you can finish the sentence. New content is tweetable content.
The beauty of these arrangements is that once you create them, they run on auto-pilot; a free tool like Twitterfeed can auto-tweet new material as you release it. Simply spend 15 minutes on the setup, then watch as your mission and message spread to those who otherwise might never hear about them.
To be sure, while a combination of pushing and pulling—i.e., engagement—is vastly preferable to just pushing, rare is the client who wants to go all-in immediately. But there’s no rule that says to partake of social media, you need to go big or go home. Instead, it’s often best to start with the low-hanging fruit, and work your way up, as Google does with Chrome, incrementally.
Comment
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Comment by Jonathan Rick on October 15, 2010 at 3:31pm -
Thanks Andy! Can you share that graphic?
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Comment by Andrew Krzmarzick on October 13, 2010 at 10:48am -
Hey JRick - Right on! I have a graphic that I share with folks that maps their traditional media and communications approaches to new media...it helps them think about social media in the way you describe. Twitter is one of the possible tools...and once you set up Twitter, why not do the same for Facebook...and a social bookmarking tool or two!? Great advice.
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Comment by Jonathan Rick on October 13, 2010 at 5:03am
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Cool! Thanks!
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Comment by Jay S. Daughtry, ChatterBachs on October 12, 2010 at 5:35pm -
For the record, Jonathan, I saw the link to your blog on Twitter on a tweet from Andy K. And I did RT!
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Comment by Jonathan Rick on October 12, 2010 at 4:55pm
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Jay and Shannon - Thanks for your kind words. (And thanks, Sharon, for the tweet!)
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Comment by Shannon Donelson on October 12, 2010 at 3:03pm -
Great post, Jonathan! I'm always coming into contact with people/companies/groups who are very Anti-twitter because they don't know what to say. Speaking of, I think i'll go tweet about this blog post!
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Comment by Jay S. Daughtry, ChatterBachs on October 12, 2010 at 9:30am
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A point well made, Jonathan!
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