Twitter Tips: @replies…Include a Piece of the Previous Conversation

Twitter Tips abound, some more obvious than others.

One thing that I don’t really get:  doing @replies with no indication of the previous or relevant aspect of the original “conversation” or comment.

Be courteous and polite – be useful – include a brief summary or indication of what you are @replying to in your “tweet”.  This makes you more useful and it makes everyone a part of the “conversation”

Example Tweet:  @jamesatbuzz tweets “Love @pagliaccipizza and looking forward to their free comedy night – Pagliacci Pizza:  http://www.pagliacci.com/events/index.html

A terrible @reply:  none at all.  Just not replying, especially as a business, is a no no, but more than that, it’s a lost opportunity.  It’s like going to a social gathering or cocktail party and not socializing.  What’s the point?

A not so good @reply.  @pagliaccipizza replies “Thanks @jamesatbuzz – see you there!”

Your timeline / followers only see your reply and undless their following both of you (rare) and see in their timeline both posts and make the connection over a period of time (very rare) it’s not as relevant as it could be.  They don’t know what you’re talking about.

Recommended:  Either RT (Re-tweet) the original tweet and say “thanks” or reply with something like:

@pagliaccipizza:  “Thanks @jamesatbuzz for recommending our free comedy night every first Monday of the month at our Capitol Hill location:  http://bit.ly/TvMyU

The recommended reply 1.  has a link (always recommended) and 2. insights your readers as to what you’re replying to and 3. results in all of your followers, or at least the ones that see your tweet, knowing details about an event or feature of your business they otherwise didn’t know about.

What do you think?  Have you been off put by all the @replies that flood your stream, not knowing what they entail?

(new feature of Twitter:  unless your following both people, the settings automatically pre populate that you won’t see the @reply to people you aren’t following.)

When Considering Twitter: Don’t Take Yourselves Too Seriously…

I didn’t know how to break it up i.e. “Part 1″ or a more specific title, (I went with the more specific title) but I figure there are a few prominent notions to consider when jumping into Twitter / Facebook as a local or more “regional” medium size business.

One: jump in and don’t take yourself so damn seriously. Seriously! I have a lot of clients who think for days about how to phrase things for Twitter, how to “position” it, wording, what they should talk about, etc. At the end of the day, careful consideration is great, but just do it – it’s not that big of a deal. You can repost a similar response or ‘tweet’ later – most of your followers may not even see any given ‘tweet’ anyway, so don’t fuddle to much with specifics.

It’s about them, not you. Re-tweet, but not too much. Respond with @’s, but again, not too much. Provide useful links. Talk about things in your neighborhood or city, ingredients your using, purveyors you work with, who’s going to win: The Cavs or The Magic?, sports in your town – be real, be authentic and don’t take yourself too seriously. Have some fun!