The Tao of Tweet
Companies often ask, “How can we make use of Twitter?” That’s easy: Follow Lao-Tse and General Anthony McAuliffe. Never mind that both have been dead for years.
Lao-Tse founded the school of thinking known as Taoism (pronounced “DOW-ism) in China some 2,500 years ago. It’s about following “the Tao” (the way) for a good life. No doctrine, discipline or beliefs. In fact, Taoism arose in reaction to the rigid “corporate culture” of its day – Confucianism, which had a rule for everything. Taoism’s guiding principle: Just be human – i.e., natural, free, open, true, genuine.
General McAuliffe led the U.S. 101st Airborne Division during WWII’s Battle of the Bulge. Surrounded and outnumbered, McAuliffe famously denied the opposing German commander’s demand for surrender, in a single word: “NUTS!”
Lao-tse and McAuliffe, though as unlike as two people could be, would probably approve of Twitter – the one for its human qualities, the other for its brevity. Companies can learn from their example.
With apologies to Lao-tse for suggesting anything that looks like a rule, here are a few suggestions to improve corporate tweeting:
- Look Like a Person: Many companies affix a corporate logo, telegraphing that their tweet doesn’t come from a flesh & blood human being. Use a real person and put up her or his real photo.
- Talk Like a Person: Make sure that’s the person actually tweeting. Forget corporate jargon and messaging. Tweet just like you talk.
- Be Genuine: Don’t force-fit Twitter into your marketing agenda. Speak to your audience on the things they care about – not about what you’re trying to sell. Gaining peoples’ trust through candor is the best marketing strategy.
- Be Brief: 140 characters are plenty to say what matters. Inserting a link to another source that provides useful, objective third-party info expanding on your idea is fine, but avoid linking to corporate propaganda. Once you make your point, stop — don’t beat them over the head with it.
A brief anecdote that may help explain why the above matters. . .
Once a week I drive 20 miles out my way to buy groceries at a tiny country store in Marshall, VA. Granted, I started going there because they have excellent local produce, King Arthur flour from Vermont and whole milk from Pennsylvania. But the reasons I keep going – At every visit, the manager shouts out my name in greeting. The butcher knows the cuts I like and has them ready. The produce lady offers tips on growing tomatoes. I can crack jokes with the three septuagenarians who handle check-out. All very laid back, no rush, no pressure, and no hard-sell coupons, either. These interactions don’t take much longer than a tweet, but they’re the kind of human experience I would never get at a big chain grocery store, and it’s well worth the longer drive.
Make your tweets human & real so that people see not just what you do, but who you are. They may go the extra mile for your company, too.
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