#MJ’s tweeting—why aren’t you?

Last week, Michael Jordan took over the Charlotte Hornets’ Twitter account with some interesting results. He posted lots of images of Hornets merchandise, pictures of his own brand of Nike Air Jordan sneakers, and he even posted a selfie at one point. Considering it’s MJ and he’s the owner of the Hornets, his choice in tweets probably didn’t harm his brand. But did they help? And what about the rest of us average Joes? Anything we can learn from MJ’s first foray into the Twitterverse?

First off, why bother? What can Twitter do for you or your business?

At its most fundamental level, Twitter is an information tool. Twitter, simply put, is used to share and gather information. From a business standpoint, Twitter has additional benefits like direct communication with your consumers, brand exposure and engagement, as well as providing customer service and a platform for new enhancements to products, services, and benefits.

In case you hadn’t heard, here are some interesting facts about Twitter:

1. There are more than 241 million monthly active Twitter users. (Hughes)
2. The cost of a 24-hour promoted trend runs about $200 thousand. (Hughes)
3. 170 minutes – the average time per month spent by users on Twitter. (Hughes)
4. Twitter is the fastest growing social network in the world, by active users. (via Yahoo)
5. 1/3 of Twitter users use Twitter daily. (via Edison)
6. 37% of Twitter users will purchase from a brand they follow. (via MediaBistro)

So let’s presume you’re starting to accept that Twitter users might be a worthwhile audience to talk to. But how do you talk to them? How should one tweet, exactly? Here are Element’s simple guidelines, borrowed liberally from Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh, who has pioneered an approach to social media that is informative, engaging, and fun. Hsieh suggests users’ tweets fall into 1 of 4 categories (“ICEE”).

I-nspire

C-onnect

E-ntertain

E-ducate

Element Twitter Do’s:

• Upload profile image and fill in your bio.
• Tweet often, at different times.
• Use images (tweets with image links have 5 times the engagement rate!)
• Vary between original and shared content.
• Add personality!
• Use your manners: always be polite.
• Acknowledge tweets sent to you. Engage in conversation.

Element Twitter Don’ts:

• Only share other followers’ content. Come up with something original to share.
• YELL!
• Overuse hashtags.
• Forget to spell check.
• Forget that once you press send, there is no return!

By Matt Levin