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A quick video about SmartSymbols for Jothy Rosenberg’s book “Who Says I Can’t”. Enjoy!

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In “How to Build Twitter-worth”, I wrote about the process, the details of using a specific permission-based broadcasting technology - Twitter. The questions and the comments that article provoked however, are mostly related to a larger question - what’s the underlying, technology-agnostic approach?

New Venues for Old Wisdom
Twitter and Facebook, as well as other permission-based broadcasting systems, allow us to utilize the wisdom of super-networkers and communicators more efficiently. I am talking about the likes of Dale Carnegie, and Cicero, while using the laconic approach that, luckily for us, is forced upon us. Why luckily? One - because short entries (emails, blog-posts, whatever) are more likely to be read; and two - it forces us to (at least to some degree) craft our messages before broadcasting them.

Image Source: Wikipedia: Dale Carnegie

OK, What Does it Mean?
As Robert MacNamara told us - “You Can’t Change Human Nature“. In other words, if you learn how to work with human nature, that knowledge is timeless. Which, in turn, means that we can make our knowledge of human nature (as limited as it is) more important and having more impact if we improve the efficiency of that utilization. Translation - leverage technology to utilize timeless knowledge more efficiently.

Image Source: Wikipedia: Cicero

Before Twitter-like systems existed and were widely adopted, we were limited in how we could engage other people and practice what past and contemporary sages have taught us. In other words, there are only so many cocktail parties and sales meetings you can go to. New broadcasting technology allows us to practice their teachings every day, in 15-minute intervals.

Finally
I think at the fundamental level Carnegie taught us to take real, sincere interest in people we are dealing with. Being sincere and truly interested will make us communicate with people in a way they want us to - with respect and appreciation. Maybe that will make us tweet less about us and what we want, and more about them, and what they are interested in.

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“Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.”
-Steve Jobs

In the past product makers and marketers could selectively show product information of their choosing. It took an effort for potential customers to find more information - reviews, tests, and other relevant info. Now, all information is available instantly through hyper-accessible channels; consequently there is very little effort needed on the customer’s behalf to find out all there is to know about the product, whether they are shopping online or at the actual store.
(NOTE: Illustrations below have been adapted from the “Secret of the Conversion Funnel“.)

What Does this Mean?
New type of advertising is here, it’s called research and transparency. You have to present all information about your products that you know of, show what social networking buzz our products generate, provide 3rd-party reviews and “how-to” visual guides on product usage and, very important!, keep this information up-to-date.

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Is This a Must or a Nice-to-have?
I think it is a must, and here is why: if we don’t provide all the research and transparency information right there, on our site, then others will. That presents one big problem - if there is some OTHER place where our customers need to check or get a second opinion, they will leave OUR site. In other words, we will have the mother of all e-commerce problems: b-a-a-a-d conversion funnel (more on that here: http://bit.ly/6pNos).

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What’s more, in the world where thousands of content creators (bloggers, twitterers, etc.) compete for people’s attention, as soon as they find something “unofficial” about your product, it will be posted everywhere, instantly. Why? Because it is a story. It may not be a big story, but it is a story nevertheless, and when “monetizing the eyeballs” any story is worth money, which means people will do it.

The Good News
The wonderfully good news is that both the information and technology are available (sorry, had to plug SmartSymbols here). And if you use this correctly, then you will be ahead of the game and maybe even become a “go-to” site for the product relevant information. Not to mention, people will buy more of your products. After all: more engagement = more customers = more conversions.

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“He who wished to secure the good of others, has already secured his own.”
–Confucius

Here is my take on how a brand could create and increase its “Twitter-worth”. The diagram below summarizes the process, gives objectives and provides specific actions. As you can see, the process relies on gradual, organic building of the Twitter-worth and creating brand loyalty. (Click to enlarge the diagram.)

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Setup
The process requires that we would create a main brand account and a brand support account. Main brand account is our face to the outside Twitter-world and can be used to provide updates on special events, interviews, awards won and other marketing and PR materials (no spam though). A brand support account is designed to communicate with customers: warranty updates, new service locations, etc.
(Example: If Toyota Motors where to ask me for an example I would provide the following structure: brand accounts - Toyota Cars, Toyota Truck, Scion, Lexus; each one could be paired up with customer communications account, i.e. brand support).

Execution
If we follow the steps outlined in the diagram, we would need to remember the following:

1. We cannot stop our Twitter campaigns - we need to continue the ongoing effort. Just like with any marketing initiative you cannot just stop.
2. Our ultimate goal for each of the followers is make them Brand Ambassadors - people who love our brand; Examples: BMW, Ironman Triathlon, Apple. Keeping this goal in mind will help us decide which tweets we want to post from brand and support accounts.

Last Note
While it may seem that we are creating too many accounts, in fact we are not.  Remember, these types of consumer communications are very cost effective: a small number of representatives per account can take care of the entire brand communication.  Take a look at the diagram again, notice that each account serves its specific function dedicated to a particular brand. As long as we stick with the plan and continue to improve our “twitter-worth” in a way that provides useful info to our customers, we will continue to increase the number of Brand Ambassadors who will in turn increase number of followers and so on.

The Very Last Note (added on October 14, 2009)
I have been asked if the sheer number of followers can be equated to the Twitter-worth. The answer is “it depends”. If the followers are there for the information, and on their path to become customers, then the answer is “yes”. But if the followers are there just to build up their own number of followers then the answer is “no”. Long-term approach is more efficient in this case.

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