Branding on Twitter

Recently I saw an article about Branding on Twitter. I was very excited about the headline, seeing a lot of potential for Branding and Twitter. I went in and read the article, but was disappointed.

The article focused on one of Go Daddy's new initiatives for when you set up a new URL you have a quick link to sign up for Twitter and register your Twitter name. The article tied this into branding for the importance of having a branded Twitter name.

I was not just a little in a huff at that ending, because this advice didn't begin to explore what twitter means to branding.

Starting Points
True! Your Twitter name should extend your brand, and you should also create a background that extends your brand identity. Yet these actions alone still leave nearly entirely off the 'Twitter radar', in other words, nobody knows who you are.

Extending your brand
Once you have your Twitter account set up to reflect your brand, the most important step is adding followers. Your followers can serve as the 'mouthpieces' of your brand, commenting, praising, and sharing your brand throughout the Twittersphere. For the ultimate statement on branding is "Its not what you say about you that makes your brand, its what THEY say."

Getting more followers
The lure to pumping up the 'Followers' number on your Twitter profile can be seductive. There are many program out there trying to pull you in with "Add 400 followers a day" or "how I got 10K followers in 90 days". Don't be pulled in by these tactics. As much as Twitter is being hailed and discussed, like any other web marketing tool, it still requires time, patience, hard work, and your analysis.

Stay Focused
You know your brand, your audience, and brand associations. So stay focused. Look for people on Twitter that can be interested in your brand, and even 'tweet' about it. Do a keyword search in Twitter for some of your brands focused keywords. Join groups that focus on niches related to your brand like Twibes.

Your Followers reflect
Your followers reflect who you are. If you are just going for the numbers, you can leave your account on autopilot while spammers and porn follow your account and Tweet your name. To keep your brand healthy and legitimate, you will need to vet your followers frequently to keep followers that are close to your brand. This is important for several reasons. Firstly, spammers don't care about anything you are tweeting about, and won't comment or retweet. You need quality and credible followers. Secondly, by keeping spammers in your follower list you are polluting your account. Legitimate followers will hold back from commenting on your Tweets out of concern of being exposed to your spam followers. This exposure will have a domino effect onto their account and Twitter experience.

The bottom line
Its less about how you look on Twitter, but about what they are saying about you on Twitter. The more influence you can have on what they are saying about you, and pushing that out, the greater impact that Twitter will have on your brand.