Beginners Guide to Connecting and Engaging on Twitter

A few days ago a link to an article title "(My) Beginners Guide to Connecting and Engaging on Twitter" popped up on my Facebook news feed. I thought it would be interesting to take a look at and see if it could relate to Public Relations.

Even though the article was written for individual Twitter use I found the tips could easily be applied to a PR department trying to create a presence in the social media world. I thought the first suggestion under the "Connecting" section would be a piece of advice that PR people should strongly consider when developing a Twitter and trying to connect with people in their target markets. If a PR department or agency is able to connect with influential users in audience they are trying to reach, those people are more likely to pay attention to the messages a particular company is putting out and pass it along to others - much like we discussed in class.

Engaging with a company's publics is one of the most important aspects of social media for PR people to focus on. I think all the advice given in the article can apply to companies trying to develop social media. Tweeting more non-self serving tweets will show people that your company is concise of what other people are doing and willing to give praise where praise is deserved. I think doing these types of things will help build a positive image for your company and will attract more people to following your twitter.

The main thing for PR people to be conscious of when developing a Twitter and engaging with people via Twitter is to purposely engage and participate in relevant chats. No one wants their Twitter feed to be blown up with irrelevant and pointless tweets. The purpose of a company having a Twitter is to have an easier and faster way to engage and communicate with their target publics. That being said, the last thing a PR person wants to happen is to lose the loyalty of the publics because the company's social media messages are pointless or put out so often that they become annoying.

Twitter is a great social media tool for companies to connect and communicate more freely with their target markets, but if not used correctly it can backfire and push potential clients further away from the company. Developing a social media presence for companies is becoming an increasingly bigger part of public relations work and I found the tips from this article to be helpful for companies just now entering the social media world.

Link to Article