Does Your Twitter Business Feed Make You Look Like A Liar?

Posted on the 20 February 2013 by Elizabethlmaness @elizbethlmaness

One of my favorite things as a social media manager and blogger is connecting with my audience – I love to be able to provide value, and I love it when an article hits that nerve that gets everyone talking at once!Monday's article on content marketing seems to have done just that; I'm always so thrilled when I'm able to provide solid value for my readers!So I wanted to follow up with one on a similar note about Twitter. Specifically – Does your Twitter feed make you look like a liar? Here's what I mean. When you post to Twitter, re-tweet someone, or favorite a tweet, what's your strategy? Are you just looking for any old thing to post, or are you systematic and strategic?If you're not being intentional in your content on Twitter, you could easily be shooting yourself in the foot – and that's the best case scenario of "what could possibly go wrong." If you really "step in it," you could make yourself appear hypocritical or even like an out and out liar.Your business has things it stands for. Or at least I hope it does. If not, you really need to take a look at that. But assuming you have, you have values, a mission and a vision, or something like those things. Every single piece of content you produce needs to support that. And I don't mean just your blog, either. All of your social media platforms need to be consistent in promoting your brand's message. If they're not, it could be disastrous.Twitter is one that is easy to take very lightly – it's only 140 characters, after all. But those 140 characters make it very, very easy to be so casual that you goof, Tweet something that doesn't match the big picture of what your brand stands for, and be in "Hurt City" when it all blows up.Ways Your Twitter Strategy Could Make You Look Like a Liar  1. Watch your Re-tweets Re-tweeting is a great strategy to build your connections on social media. But – you need to make sure whatever you're re-tweeting (and favoring, for that matter), is consistent with your brand's values. Otherwise, you end up looking seriously hypocritical – like your values are there just as words on a page and something you don't actually *live* by or do business by. 2. Make sure you're providing serious value If you're using Twitter to promote your business, honestly – you need to be providing value, not just promoting yourself in every single tweet. To be 100% truthful with you – it looks like spam when you just self promote. And – if every tweet could be sung to the tune of "How Great I Art," it looks like you've got to be lying about yourself. Don't be that person! Make sure you're leading with value, promoting yourself when appropriate – but humbly (let your product or service speak for itself), and be sure to be willing to be human, too. No one is perfect.3. Choose your conversations wisely
Similar to re-tweets – make sure you're conversing wisely on social media. Old tweets have a habit of showing up at just the wrong time, especially if they're embarrassing at all. Your conversations on Twitter are public – make sure you're tweeting in ways that you and your brand would be proud to have found on Google now and in the future, not to mention having them found by your grandma or minister.  Do you have any Twitter bloopers you'd be willing to own up to publicly? Or what are some of the Twitter "moments" you're glad weren't yours? Leave a comment – would love to hear from you!