Don’t Do Any of This Stuff on Twitter

How Not to Screw Up in 140 Characters or Less

Twitter (www.twitter.com) is the absolute easiest to use of today’s social networking tools. Just like a freshly hatched songbird, all you have to do is open a free account and start tweeting. A “tweet” is a brief instant message, up to 140 characters in length, sent to other Twitter account holders who elect to “follow” you. Similarly, when you follow others, their messages are made available to you. Pretty simple, huh? It is and it’s why millions of people tweet for personal and business reasons every day. Still, as easy as it is, there is room for mistakes.

Below are plenty of suggested “don’ts” to help you to avoid making them.

Open More Than One Account

Don’t tweet information to prospects that’s only relevant to insureds, and vice versa. Instead, open up two Twitter accounts: one for insureds and one for leads. Open a third account if you want to tweet personal messages unrelated to business.

Tip: Don’t make your insureds-only account public. Instead, make it private to keep it exclusive (approval required to become a follower). Open your accounts as soon as possible to get the usernames you want. It becomes an integral part of your Twitter URL, as in www.twitter.com/agencyideas.

Respect Your Followers

If you just want to be seen, get a corner office with large picture windows. Don’t send out meaningless tweets just to keep your name out there. And keep religion, politics, and celebrity fan tweets away from your business. Save these types of messages for your personal account. Furthermore, don’t simply tweet links to the works of others or send out too many famous quotes. Instead, tweet messages and links of your own creation. It’s the best way to make your postings an extension of your business personality.

Watch What You Reveal

As obvious as it sounds, don’t tweet confidential information about an insured or prospect, such as touting their new store location before it’s publicly announced. Also, don’t tweet that you are out-of-town at a conference, on vacation, or elsewhere, if you are leaving your office or home unattended. This type of announcement invites unwelcome visitors. Save your tweets about it for when you get back. And don’t tweet your specific location at a given moment (such as at a particular restaurant or intersection) unless you feel that your followers desperately crave knowing where you are at all times or you just like stalkers. Another definite don’t is tweeting something now that you’ll regret later. Remember that all of your public tweets are available for anyone to read online and they’re easily searchable on Google, etc. So, watch what you type.

Beware of Your Friends

As enticing as it is to help out your business friends, don’t mention them, tweet links to their Web site or Facebook page, or retweet their messages – too often. Otherwise, the law of diminishing returns kicks in and your followers might imagine that you are a paid PR person (or just plain cliquey) instead of an objective insurance professional. Done to excess, these “friendly” tweets can potentially damage your sales credibility. Also be wary of direct messages that purport to be from someone you know that ask you to click on a truncated link. (Most URL links on Twitter are shortened due to its 140-character limitation.) It may be a phishing trick to get you to reveal your username and password.

Search and Respond

Never neglect to search for what’s being said about you in the tweets of others. Learn what’s being tweeted about your agency, your carriers, and rivals – both good and bad. Manually search Twitter to find out (it’s easy) or use third party software to do it. Respond promptly with a direct message thank you or jump to your defense. Don’t let negative tweets go unanswered. Also, search to see which of your tweets were retweeted by others and by whom. You may discover a previously unknown fan.

Twitter is a brilliantly elegant software. But like any business communications tool, it is a two-edged sword. To make the most of it, don’t be excessively casual when you’re tweeting. At least that’s what that little songbird told me.

Shulman, CPCU, is the publisher of Agency Ideas, a subscription-only sales and marketing newsletter. He is also the author of the many tools posted on the Agency Ideas Instant Download Store. Phone: 800-724-1435. E-mail: alan@agencyideas.com. Web site: www.agencyideas.com.