Recently a gung ho client wanted to benchmark his social media efforts right away, but there were some crucial questions we posed that he needed to address before embarking on a benchmarking exercise. Below we share the first set with you.

1. Size of firm really does matter
If you run a micro-business you have to focus your limited resources on a few activities that will make a difference to your bottom line.

We advised our client that posting to the corporate blog once every two weeks might work in terms of time required and costs. Unfortunately, having two staff members monitor the Twitter account and respond to customer inquiries seven days a week may be too much to ask.

The client took our hint and decided to save costs by focusing on the corporate blog for the first year, and not putting too much effort into the Twitter account for now.

2. B2B vs. B2C – Different social media marketing channels…right?
Cadbury’s 2007 Gorilla marketing campaign was a YouTube hit, in spite of breaking most golden rules for effective chocolate advertising. For starters, there were no images of people eating or making chocolate in the ads. Instead, a gorilla was seen hanging on a drum.

The above example and many others focus on B2C (Business to Consumer) cases by global brands. But selling toothpaste (e.g., Crest) for a global brand (P&G) requires different skills than selling printing or graphic design services to a professional clientele, such as media buyers from large advertising firms. Plus, the social media challenge is different for a company with a staff of five than for ABB, GE or inContact.

In short, getting a consumer to purchase chocolate is quite different than an industrial buyer trying to find a chocolate supplier or even computer software for an airline catering firm.

Being in B2B, our client understood that 1,000 readers might be all she needed, as long as they included some of her most important clients. As well, Digg or StumbleUpon traffic would be of limited value, since it was unlikely to bring industrial buyers to her company’s blog.

3. Social media means quick success – or not
We all know that prosciutto ham and great wines take time to ripen and develop their full-bodied flavor before going to market. Similarly, some of the most innovative products took years until they became a success, such as:

- the Qwerty keyboard: known for the first six letters from left to right on the English keyboard, it was created in 1868 by newspaper editor Christopher Sholes. He called it “Type Writer” and it is still used today, even on computers.
- Erno Rubik invented the Rubik’s Cube in 1974. He applied for his Hungarian patent in January 1975, got approval in early 1977 and the first Cubes appeared at the end of 1977. These days Rubik’s Cube is widely considered to be one of the world’s best selling toys (see image at right).

While we all know about cases of companies that did great within a relatively short time such as Google, Facebook and FriendFeed there are many more that are still working hard to achieve success.

As a wine connoisseur, our client understood the concept of aging something to perfection and agreed to give her blog venture at least twelve months. Most importantly, she committed herself to creating one blog post every month to provide value for her clients, her main target audience.

Take-aways
The above post would suggest the following:

Social media is not scalable: Focusing on a corporate blog should be the core activity of any social media strategy to begin with – here you can build a responsive audience over large distances for building your firm’s social network. Thereafter you may have the know-how and resources required to join and succeed with other social media channels, such as Facebook or Twitter, Naijapulse or Identi.ca.
Building success takes time – better start today: Finding your voice and generating feedback or conversation does not happen in three months, so perseverance and quality content are key.
B2B is a different ballgame than B2C : Things that might work for B2C global brands such as Starbucks may fail miserably for a mid-size firm in the B2B domain.

P.S. – To help you devise the right strategy that will help you get a bigger return on your blogging efforts, we prepared a list of 20 lessons one should follow, or the 20 mistakes you definitely do not want to make with your corporate blog:

1) Lessons 1 – 4: Starting your blogging off on the right foot
2) Lessons 5 – 7: Setting the stage – ready – go
3) Lessons 8 – 11: Whatever domain, home you choose – beware
4) Lessons 12 – 13: Getting the basic SEO issues right
5) Lessons 14 – 17: Authenticity and quality are key
6) Lessons 18 – 20: Improving blogging effectiveness

What is your take? What needs to be done differently when using social media in a B2B context? Please share; we love to dialogue more in the comments.

By the way: HowTo.ComMetrics.com provides the straightforward answers you need to use your social media tools more effectively, while saving time and improving your social media tracking and brand monitoring.

Why not register yourself right now – it’s FREE!

Previously in this series we published:
1) Lessons 1 – 4: Starting your blogging off on the right foot (2009-06-03)
2) Lessons 5 – 7: Setting the stage – ready – go (2009-06-03)
3) Lessons 8 – 11: Whatever domain, home you choose – beware (2009-07-08)
4) Lessons 12 – 13: Getting the basic SEO issues right (2009-07-08)

Today we release the last two installments of these tips and lessons. The sixth, and last, post can be read here:
6) Lessons 18 – 20: Improving blogging effectiveness

In this fifth post, the focus is on commitment, authenticity and managing cultural differences carefully.

Lesson 14: Commit to regularly posting during mid-week
Having several writers makes it easier, but a politician is better off writing their own posts to assure an authentic voice (see Lesson 16 below).

Case study 2: Blogging politicians – how do they measure up?

The saying “out of sight, out of mind,” applies here. Hence, irregular posting makes it more difficult for your readers to remember that a blog provides good information. In the fast-changing blogosphere, an irregular posting schedule like Aviva’s does not seem a good strategy.

Finally, more people are on the Internet during the week than on weekends, so posting regularly during the week (e.g., Tue – Th) is most effective for reaching business and potential subscribers.

Lesson 15: Depth and breadth vs. crowdsourcing
Outsourcing is en vogue – some say it helps bring down the head count, looks good on the books and saves money. To succeed with outsourcing blogging means that you must secure the services of  ‘experts’ and ‘volunteers’ that understand your business, as this example illustrates:

Case study: eBookers or how to skip the ropes

But will these experts be as motivated as your staff, providing value for money to your current and potential customers? Can one assure consistent quality as well as making the company more personable? Will you trust others to be your voice on the web and if you do, is this a viable strategy?

Surely outsourcing blogging content fails to give the company an authentic voice (see Lesson 16 below). As importantly, to assure depth and breadth means checking up and making sure that those posts not meeting these criteria are either improved or simply not published – a time-consuming and, therefore, costly option. In today’s competitive environment, learning from and relating to customers is an opportunity that cannot be missed.

To see how well your blog strategy works register your blog here:
My.ComMetrics.com – benchmark your blog – improve your score – sign-up for FREE

Lesson 16: Authentic voice makes a big difference
An effective blog represents corporate policy, strategy and viewpoints. Hence, people need to be authentic.

Therefore, while having text vetted by the legal crew as well as the PR folks makes it all a bit more sanitized, it also removes much of what may raise interest readers. This does not mean that legal issues do not matter but it needs to be personable to get and keep people interested.

Of course, unless your CEO has the passion, desire, time and dedication to commit to frequently blogging and curate the comments, this should be avoided at all costs. That being said, there are countless examples of brilliant CEO blogs from people who love to write and share their insights. A great example is Jonathan Schwartz’s – CEO of Sun, now Oracle – blog. But either do it right or don’t go there.

Lesson 17: Culture, language and medium – editors should apply
Whatever the language of a blog, many of its readers will have a different first language. In turn, one should consider this when writing for a global social media audience.

P.S. – Not every CEO will come across successfully on video => CEO webcasts on YouTube – will it turn them into megalomaniacs?.

Takeaways

Authentic voice is key – outsourcing blog posting is not an option.
Commitment matters – regular AND relevant posts and response to comments keeps your readers interested.
Slang or humor are out – people whose first language is not the one used on a corporate blog will otherwise be lost.
Act locally, think globally – while you are on vacation many of your faraway readers are working, so assure posting during holidays. It is worth the effort.

I will keep it brief, love to dialogue more in the comments. What is your take? Please share.

Previously in this series we published:
1) Lessons 1 – 4: Starting your blogging off on the right foot (2009-06-03)
2) Lessons 5 – 7: Setting the stage – ready – go (2009-06-03)

Today we release the next two installments of these tips and lessons, the fourth of which can be read here:
4) Lessons 12 – 13: Getting the basic SEO issues right

The final set will come your way August 12:
5) Lessons 14 – 17: Authenticity and quality are key
6) Lessons 18 – 20: Improving blogging effectiveness

Corporate bloggers should follow these lessons to save on resources, money and improve blogging effectiveness. It actually takes little effort but the results are astonishing if you correct r completely avoid these mistakes.

To make sure that you don’t miss any of these upcoming posts, just leave your e-mail here:

Lesson 8: Host blog on corporate domain
Most corporations’ main pages have a relatively high Google PageRank (ranking range from 0 to 10, the higher the better). Besides brand recognition and reputation management purposes, this is one more reason why the blog should be hosted under the corporate domain. Advantages include:

a) benefiting from the main page’s Google PageRank,
b) being easier to find for stakeholders, and
c) contributing to and receiving traffic from the main page.

Following the above strategy will result in the blog starting with a higher Google PageRank than it would otherwise get. If one cannot follow the above approach, one has to pay the price as Volvo (212.181.8.238/webbplatser/vbeb/default.aspx) and Swisscom (swisscomnature.blueblog.ch) illustrate.

Lesson 9: Make finding the blog on the corporate website easy
This seems obvious but often it fails to work properly. Nokia does this smartly and effectively (see below). Here, regardless of the visitor’s geographic location, the blog section features prominently on the main website and once one clicks on it, finding the blog one is interested in is simple.

Unfortunately, many corporate blogs use a different approach that is far less user-friendly. For instance, on a visit to the GE corporate website, one will not find a quicklink to a list of all the company’s blogs. Instead, one must search and dig quite a bit to find what one came for. Why make it difficult when easy does it better?

Lesson 10: Make sure variations of the blog’s URL work
Not always do links to the blog’s main page work properly, especially in cases where users type an alternate version of the link, such as:

- www.HowTo.ComMetrics.com instead of HowTo.ComMetrics.com,
- www.blog.Daimler.com instead of blog.Daimler.de, or
- gereports.ge.com instead of gereports.com.

Check the above links for yourself to see which ones work – at least one will give you an error. This is an oversight that can easily be fixed and one wonders why any organization that maintains a corporate blog would overlook this issue.

To see how well your blog strategy works register your blog here:
My.ComMetrics.com – benchmark your blog – improve your score – sign up for FREE

Lesson 11: Once it is chosen, keep your blog’s URL
Toyota Open Road Blog, a blog with a nice ComMetrics footprint (the lower the score the better your blog ranks within the same category – apples vs. apples), lost a lot of ground when its advertising people decided to change its URL and move the blog to the Toyota website.

In this case, the Google PageRank immediately dropped to 0. Giving up a 6 Google PageRank (some weeks it was a 7) just to move a blog might fit the corporate strategy, but is this  effective in terms of corporate best-practice?

Once you choose a URL stick with it and don’t let any advertising expert or strategy guru tell you otherwise. This will save you time and effort in the long-term. And as Nokia and others demonstrate, any blog can be easily linked to and featured on the global website for people to find quickly and easily.

Okay, now it’s your turn. What techniques you have used to improve your blogging effectiveness? What was your most successful “let’s do this and move on” tactic? If you have come close to resolving these challenges smartly, what did you do? Which of the above four strategies is your favorite? Which one do you think is just baloney? It’s okay – be honest. We can take it. Thanks much.

P.S. – You may find our next set of ropes to skip of interest as well: 4) Lessons 12 – 13: Getting the basic SEO issues right (2009-07-08).

Imagine your boss has just told you that budget cuts necessitate cutting social media expenses and you might lose your job shortly. In a semi-desperate move you suggest that she give you another three months to show what a difference you can make for the company by revamping the corporate blog.

Can we help? Absolutely! After publishing the 2009 FT ComMetrics Blog Index, which ranks FT Global 500 and Fortune 500 companies’ corporate blogs, we came to the conclusion that it might be helpful to share some of the insights we have gained.

Today we release the first installments of these tips and lessons, the second of which can be read here:
2) Lessons 5 – 7: Setting the stage – ready – go (2009-06-03)

The next set will be published July 8:
3) Lessons 8 – 11: Whatever domain or home you choose – beware
4) Lessons 12 – 13: Getting the basic SEO issues right

The final set will come your way August 12:
5) Lessons 14 – 17: Authenticity and quality are key
6) Lessons 18 – 20: Improving blogging effectiveness

To make sure that you don’t miss any of these upcoming posts, just leave your e-mail here:

Lesson 1: Ropes to skip – learn from others
There is no good reason to make the mistakes we discuss below and in subsequent posts. Just read these rules and decide carefully.

ComMetrics – thanks to input and advice from others we have come up with the 20+best WordPress plugins to make our lives easier; and
Daimler – Why did Beck’s not ask Daimler before starting an expensive revamp of its blog?

Lesson 2: Define the type of blog you want
Who or what is it supposed to provide information about? Delivering information to investors is different than blogging about a non-profit organization’s neighborhood initiative.

Dell’s investor blog, DellShares, serves shareholders, while Direct2Dell offers customers a way to find out about new products and provide feedback.

Dell’s blogs deliver different fare and their success speaks volumes about the company’s smart blogging strategy.

Lesson 3: Define the target audience
The question is, are those that read Renault’s Formula One racing team blog would be the kind of people you want to reach out to. Hence, who is your target audience – sports fans, customers, potential clients, regulators, donors or someone else? Some of your audience may fall into more than one category, such as sports fans who have and will continue to purchase Renault’s cars.

The challenge of finding your target audience is nicely illustrated by:

General Electric – Blogging for shareholders, creditors and financial analysts

General Electric’s blog is one example where institutional investors and shareholders can get information they might not be able to get elsewhere. But if you are interested to find out about its research and what future products it has in store, GE Global Research Blog will serve you better.

To see how well your blog strategy works register your blog here:
My.ComMetrics.com – sign up for FREE and compare your performance to the Renault F1 team or UPS racing blogs – we’ll help you gain the upper hand.

Lesson 4: Determine what the focus of two-thirds of the content will be
People sign up to get a blog’s RSS feed because the content looks of interest to them on a first or second visit. Straying far from the topic is not always appreciated by one’s audience, considering their many other time commitments and options for news sources. So staying on target is key when it comes to delivering unique content.

UPS racing in the US – get the latest results and box news
Renault F1 team – all about the races – from news about the Red Bull team to McLaren Mercedes – this is what you get

Both cases above show that these blogs provide racing news, so choose Renault for Formula One or UPS for NASCAR news. Somebody who is not a car racing fan is definitely not a targeted reader for these blogs, which is fine as long as it remains of interest to the target audience.

Okay, now it’s your turn. Would you have addressed any of these challenges differently? Did I miss something in one of the three points addressed? Do you agree or disagree? Give us shout-out, whether for joy or frustration, but please share your thoughts. Thank you.

P.S. - Continue with our next set of ropes to skip: 2) Lessons  5 – 7: Setting the stage – ready – go (2009-06-03).

Twitter squatters are people who register an account on Twitter with the name of a company, brand or town. For better or worse, these people become the public face of that corportation or town on that social network. With the upcoming World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, social media features prominently, so we thought we should, among other things, outline the criteria one can use to identify the official WEF versus the non-official WEF feed(s). Read on.

We provide six criteria that, all things being equal, can be used to define an organizational microblog or identify a possible Twitter squatter account, if need be. These are:

1) Registered entity – for profit or non-profit organizations.
2) Corporate logo is used or shown prominently.
3) Twitter account uses corporate name.
4) If applicable, brand logo is shown prominently.
5) Twitter account links to corporate webpage.
6) The organization has copyright.

Below we explain this in more detail using examples to illustrate the above criteria.

1) In this context the term organization includes corporations, government agencies, crown or state corporations, non-profits, charities (a registered entity of a group of people who share a common set of goals).

2) It is expected that the microblog uses the organization’s logo on the Twitter account as illustrated by the American RedCross.

3) The Twitter footprint uses a corporate name, such as twitter.com/companyname/ (or a slightly modified version such as  DellShares or ComcastCares (though an individual is identified, there is clearly a corporate Twitter footprint) or the name of the government agency, such as whereelsebutqld (Tourism Queensland – Australia) or sydney_holidays (Tourism New South Wales).

4) The microblog uses a brand name or brand logo, such asdunkindonuts.

5) The Twitter account links to the organization’s webpage, like SamsungMobileUS or the appropriate blog (as illustrated by DellShares).

6) The organization owns the copyright to all the content associated with the site or account.

Even with this information, it is not always easy to identify the corporate Twitter footprint.  For instance, we think kodakCB seems to be a corporate Twitter feed since it links to the chief blogger’s corporate blog. A bit different is the case with the Twitter account calledikeafans. While it supports IKEA, the associated webpage makes clear that it is not owned by the corporation.

Sometimes, the microblogger is an employee and the company logo features prominently on the blog. However, Twitter’s account disclaimer makes it clear to the casual reader that that does not mean the corporation owns the Twitter footprint. In these cases, the microblog also usually does not link to the corporate webpage or blog. An example is ScottMonty, who prominently features the Ford logo, but still makes clear using the above criteria that this microblog – while very interesting – does not qualify as an organizational or corporate one.
In contrast, FordCustService is a corporate Twitter footprint and it connects to the Ford Motor Company’s webpage.

In some instances, it is rather easy to figure out that a Twitter footprint has been hijacked or is being squatted on. Such is the case withevian: besides the mineral water by that name there is also a French city  of the same name on the shores of Lac Leman. Nevertheless, this Twitter footprint is not owned by either entity.

More sinister consequences are possible in the case of a brand being hijacked or squatted on. mc_donalds, an account registered by someone using their email address, is outright damaging to the brand. Twitter-squatting could become the new domain name squatting. With this example it appears necessary for McDonald’s to contact Twitter and take action. Have you secured your Twitter name yet?

However, brands are apparently still allowed to use names or brands from others, and it is not always a competitor who does so. For instance, the World Economic Forum uses its host city’s brand, trademark or name to report about the meeting. It decided to call its Twitter feed  davos. We grabbed a similar Twitter footprint just for fun and called it WEFdavos. I discussed this with Matthias Lüfkens, the WEF’s own social media expert. After some fine-tuning it should now be clear for all to see that WEFdavos is not the World Economic Forum’s microblogging footprint. As well, WEF’s davos Twitter account now clearly states that it is not affiliated with the city or the Davos-Klosters region. In both cases you can find this information in the account profile.

Test the aforementioned criteria with WEFdavos and you will immediately see that it does not meet rules 2, 3, 5 & 6. Incidentally, somebody has taken the wef Twitter footprint, but does not appear to be using it. Maybe now is the time for the World Economic Forum to re-claim this Twitter footprint for the future, whether to use it or to prevent damage to its brand. As a legitimate holder of the brand it can just ask Twitter to turn over the Twitter acount.

Bottom Line
Given the above information we can now define a corporate or organizational Twitter account or micro-blog by using the following description:

Organizational microblogs exist under the company’s or non-profit organization’s name and/or brand, whereby the organization’s logos are featured prominently if they exist and a link to the relevant organizational webpage or blog is provided. Content copyright belongs to the organization.

See also corporate microblogging on Twitter, Corporate Twitter, Wenn Unternehmen zwitschern – Daimler and Twitter,  adding corporate blogs from FT Global 500 or Fortune 500 firms and adding corporate microblogs from FT Global 500 or Fortune 500 firms AND Twitter tricks, tips and FAQs

Even if you are not planning on using Twitter or another microblogging service, we urge you to register your brand so no one else can.

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Here’s what I’m suggesting for today: Are there other factors one should use to identify corporate space on Twitter? What is your experience with Twitter squatting? Please provide your comments. And if you are already here, tell us about your organization’s Twitter feed in 140 characters or less. Inquiring minds want to know.

follow us on Twitter.

My.ComMetrics.com, type in your blog’s URL and start tracking your performance – straight dashboard for straight answers.

1st step – sign-up and get the 60 days free-trial

Get the latest about benchmarking tools and new features we offer by signing up for the Twitterfeed MyComMetrics
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Why should people follow a corporate blog or what is tweeting for companies 101? It is like the old saying about wheat and chaff: with a lot of followers come a lot of hecklers. In turn, having specific standards and understanding better what works well helps weed out the worst.
This post addresses some characteristics of corporate Twitter account from Dell, ComcastCares, Tyson Foods and so forth.

Microblogging – also called microsharing has become ever more popular thanks to Twitter and the many Twitter tools that help one make better use of this communication tool. We have addressed this elsewhere like:

Twitter – what works what fails

Return on engagement – Twitter for social media experts – benchmarking with My.ComMetrics.com

Here we are particularly interested in finding a better on what distinguishes a corporate Twitter account from a business or personal type of account.

Louis Gray did a survey amongst Twitter users (about 50 respondent online to one question – select your primary reason for using Twitter). Findings revealed that half of the respondents answered for social network or communicating with friends. However, interesting to us is that just about half used it as part of their job, monitor what others are doing and collecting information.

And while only 1 respondent admitted to use it for a brand, the survey did not address the self-branding issue (i.e. many use it to self-brand, of course) or getting brandchecked for that matter.

what is a corporate Twitter account?
Like we have done for corporate blogs, a definition must be given for a corporate Twitter or microblogging account. We list a few (do you know of a few more for FT Global 500 or Fortune 500 companies, please leave a comment) below:

Direct2Dell – pendent to blog – about Dell services, customers, etc.
DellShares – pendent to blog – investor relations, etc.
DellHomeOffers – get the latest deals, offers, rebates for a limited time only
TysonFoods – pendent to blog – corporate social responsibility – foodbank, etc.

Twitter account uses corporate name
Direct2Dell (about products, happenings, feedback) or  MyComMetrics (users, get feedback, ideas) are corporate Twitter accounts that provide information.

Tyson Foods is an example that illustrates a corporate Twitter account whereby the company is supporting its hunger relief campaign with its microblogging efforts.

While the focus is quite different for each of these examples, the corporate name features prominently. Similar to a CEO blog, Twitter accounts can also be used by top management to tweet on behalf of the organization.

For instance, Commetics or ComcastCares – the face behind the Twitterfeed (see images to the left) -both tweet on behalf of their employers.

In short, using the corporate name and keeping copyright with the company seems standard for corporate Twitter accounts.

However, there are many people using Twitter for professional or business purposes. Their tweets may mention the employer and the corporate brand. Nonetheless, the Twitter account is her or his own, as these examples illustrate. These business Twitterers provide great tweets for many people on business related matters:

Twitter profile – bio links to corporate website.
Besides using the corporate name/brand for the Twitter account and the copyright being owned by the organization, a corporate Twitterfeed is usually linked to a corporate website.

For all the many Dell examples one can find on Twitter, each Twitter account links to its corporate weblog.

Hence, the microblog extends the blog’s voice or vice versa if you wish.

Consistency and volume
Usually, corporate Twitter acounts do not send out tweets during weekends. Below shows you three Dell Twitter accounts and Tyson Foods’ Twitter efforts.

To the left you have DellHomeOffers that provides clients in the U.S. only with special offers. Most times, a tweet gives one a link to a special offer valid for a limited period only.

As the graphic shows for the period of August through November, few tweets are sent to followers each month. However, tweets are limited to sales information nothing else. Hence, very focused and narrow type of tweet content. Accordingly, unless you are in the market for a new product from Dell, this feed might not interest you very much. If you are in the market, however, this tweet can help you save you a few dollars for sure.

The feed to the right – DellShares – is for people interested in the firm’s share price. Of course this means investors and analysts.

All tweets and their content focus on issues of relevance to investors, analysts and shareholders.

DellShare provides maybe one tweet or less each week throughout the month as the graph to the upper right shows.  

To the lower left you have another Dell Twitter account. Dell2Dell has about 1 tweet every work day. It is usually quiet on weekends as are the other two Twitter accounts shown above.

So in comparison to Dell, Tyson Foods (see lower right side) has a few more tweets throughout the month. It also supplies its followers with tweets during weekends.

There are other things that make the Tyson Foods Twitterfeed a bit different from those offered by Dell.  The Tyson Foods Twitter account focuses on an issue that is not directly linked to the company itself – namely, fighting hunger.

Twittertweets focus on THE corporate social responsibility issue Tyson Foods has chosen to pursue and be associated with. This is an engaging matter. Helping people not go hungry during an economic crisis and, as importantly, is of interest to many more people than just those looking for the next best bargain available in Tyson Foods stores.

Corporate Twitter accounts – social relationships versus broadcasting
Following the above reasoning, the engagement level with the Tyson Food blog seems quite high. It has quite a few messages starting or containing somewhere an @username. These are replies to tweets followers have sent in.

Accordingly, all other things being equal – corporate Twitter accounts tend to send out fewer @username replies than other accounts. Except for the case of Tyson Foods mentioned above, all Dell Twitter accounts rarely if ever send out replies. So Dell uses its Twitter accounts to provide followers with information about its products or the corporation. Some would label this classical broadcasting - one way communication. Nothing wrong with that since this is what subscribers expected and got. Nevertheless, building social relationships is something different but can be done nicely as Tyson Foods illustrates.

Followers versus Follwing
As illustrated by Dell Twitter accounts, corporate Twitterers tend to follow fewer people than follow them. In some cases this may be extreme (see Dell Norway following 0 – screenshot earlier to the right). Again, Tyson Foods is a bit different in that it follows more people than follow Tyson Foods. Nevertheless, this is more of an exception than the rule with corporate Twitter accounts it seems.

Some Twitter users even state that they choose not to follow those that:

“… Follow way more people than follow them (this seems spammy, or at the least, desperate)…”

There seems to be no fast and simple rule with corporate Twitterers. Some may follow few people (see Dell) and others follow many (e.g., Tyson Foods) but rarely if ever more than follow them.

Many corporate Twitter accounts – not Dell for sure – have automatic follow in place, whereby anybody who follows the brand will be followed back. With a lot of followers comes a lot of cruft. How these companies stay on top of it is hard to say but time-consuming for sure.

Besides the above characteristics of corporate Twitter accounts and challenges, quite a few do a very good job indeed as illustrated above. Nevertheless, each brand needs to find AND define what the purpose is for using Twitter. Only then can it deliver.

Got other reasons why it’s a challenge? Or have solutions, ideas what makes up a good corporate blog? Leave a comment…

And if you care – follow me on Twitter.
======> Addendum 2008-12-17
Self-employed workers already account for nearly a third of the US workforce- up more than 25 percent in the past two years.

This means ever more often the single-practice doctor, lawyer, accountant use their corporate or family name for Twitter. However, tweeting serves work efforts and not private interests. This type of small business/self-employed entrepreneur type of Twitter accounts are on the increase.
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Here’s what I’m suggesting for today. Add your comment to this post. Keeping in the spirit of Twitter, please tell us about your corporate Twitter feed in 140 characters or so.
Please provide people with your corporate Twitter ID so they can follow you. Only corporate microblogging accounts should be added (for definition see above of course). Thanks.

follow us on Twitter.

My.ComMetrics.com, type in your blog’s URL and start tracking your performance – straight dashboard for straight answers.

1st step – sign-up and get the 60 days free-trial

Get the latest about benchmarking tools and new features we offer by signing up for the Twitterfeed MyComMetrics
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