Before you start an org Twitter account…
Think about what it means.
At AAPA we don’t do .org accounts on Twitter. There is no @AAPA.org or whatever, individual employees have accounts & that is it. Some may think I’m crazy, but take a look at the pictures to the left…
Now compare the followers…
@GuyKawasaki – 188,517 followers
@alltop – 8,851
I’m sure there are many reasons for this, but one thing is clear, the individual account has many more followers. I know that Guy has started to operate his personal account as a brand account in some ways (always linking, ghost tweeters, tracking campaigns, etc.), but followers still connect with the fact that it is Guy Kawasaki and not Alltop. (Side Note: I do find it funny that the @Alltop account tweets our primarily the postings of Guy’s blog though)
I understand the ease of having an .org account for associations. It’s a great channel to push out the information that you’re wanting to reach your members, there is brand recognition with in the profession or trade, if there is any staff turnover there isn’t the risk of losing those connections (more on this topic later). But there is one major downside to me that negates the benefits… People do not connect with brands, they connect with the people behind the brands. Whether that be your CEO, your President of the Board, etc. your members want to connect with someone they can recognize and go to.
Twitter to me is NOT a broadcast channel, it is an opportunity to converse with & engage your members.
But that’s just my 2 cents.
~Lynn
Filed under: Twitter | 5 Comments
Tags: Alltop, Branded Twitter Accounts, Guy Kawasaki, Organizational Accounts
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SNAP Blog 
I think this is a fantastic approach….but what if your organization has a social media policy that prevents you from tweeting about your organization/engaging with members through these outlets (in a professional manner, of course)?
Lauren,
That sounds like a serious problem and that org needs to look at their social media policies. Their policy is missing a key component of social media interaction – individuals interacting with each other. I liken it to when a member calls up, I’m not going to have them go through a maze of pre-recorded messages to try & find their answer. I’m going to have them direct connect with someone who can try to help solve their problem or will know who can.
Customer Service is a big part of it for organizations & if an is having problems letting go of that control, it sounds like they have much bigger fish to fry internally.
My suggestion is to find the person internally that the ED/CEO/etc. is comfortable with speaking on behalf of the org and start there. Start small, winning little battles eventually helps you win the war.
~Lynn
Thak you ffor the invitation