Walking a Fine Line

Twitter-aholics — and even Twitter newbies — are probably familiar with Guy Kawasaki. After all, he has more than 32,000 followers. Today Guy found himself in the middle of a controversy about how to appropriately use Twitter.

In case you’re not familiar with Guy and his projects, he is an original Apple guru turned venture capitalist. One of his many projects is Alltop, billed as an online magazine rack complete with “all the top stories.” (Get it? Alltop?)

Guy uses Twitter as a marketing tool — not an outlet to vent about traffic jams or the long line at Starbucks. I personally experienced his Twitter marketing twice yesterday. I tweeted about the fact that Alltop might be my new favorite online tool, and within minutes, Alltop’s chief evangelist responded back to me. Then, just a few hours later, I received a direct message from Guy himself showing me how to tweet directly from Alltop when I find something that might interest others.

Today, a blogger complained about the fact that Guy and Alltop use Twitter as marketing tools — sparking quite the online controversy … and raising an interesting question. How should companies use social media tools to engage customers? Businesses are forced to walk a fine line between spamming customers and actually engaging them. Some tips:

• Identify Twitter goals. Do you want to raise awareness about an issue? Network with people in your field? Push a product or service? Figure out what you want to do before trying to do too much.
• Remember that Twitter is a communication tool. The Twitter universe seems to be accepting of corporate interaction — especially when the company engages in real dialogue with followers. (See Zappos and Whole Foods for examples.) If you’re not communicating — and just advertising – you’ll quickly become known as a spammer. People will ignore you.
• Listen, listen, listen. Listen to what other people are saying about you, your company and related issues. Understand their perspective before trying to insert yourself into the dialogue.

Each user needs to set their own “rules” to effectively use Twitter.  Just remember, it’s a relatively new tool. There isn’t a “one size fits all” way to use it. The good thing is that it’s a community — and a rapidly growing one, at that. So, if people don’t like how you’re using it, odds are they’ll let you know. If you’re listening, you can adjust. Check Alltop’s Twitter page.

How do you use Twitter?