Let’s say you’re at a party.  It’s casual.  It’s social.

Everybody there is talking to somebody else — some in groups, some in pairs.

All except one guy.

A guy in a suit.

A guy who’s moving from group to group and arbitrarily shouting unwanted information at people, and then moving on.

He doesn’t care if you have questions.

He doesn’t even care if you respond.

He just wants to make sure that you heard what he had to say, because the only thing he’s capable of talking about is himself.

Does That Sound Like Your Brand’s Social Media Strategy?

According to marketing firm 360i‘s recent report on Twitter usage, odds are, it probably is.

From the MediaPost summary of the report:

The six-month study from 360i reveals that 43% of consumer tweets are conversational — replies to other people tweeting. Yet only 12% of marketers’ tweets demonstrate active dialogue with consumers.

This means that while “normal people” spend almost half their time actively conversing with their fellow Twitter users, companies are only conversing in 1 out of every 10 tweets they send.

Which, obviously, begs the question…

What Is Your Company Talking About?

Do you use Twitter as a megaphone to broadcast company-wide news?

Do you use Twitter for sales, showering your followers with coupon codes?

Do you use Twitter for lead generation, littering your tweetstream with linkbait in the hopes that unsuspecting readers will click through to your sales page and be mysteriously compelled to give you money?

If so, you’re at the wrong party.

Remember to Put the “Social” in Social Media

If you only had one minute to chat with a complete stranger, would you rather tell her something about yourself or learn something about her instead?

Why can’t it be both?

On Twitter, people value (short) conversations.  The nature of the service lends itself to bite-sized interactions and splintered attention, which actually increases the need for meaningful connections in shorter amounts of time.

Yes, people like to listen. But they also like to talk.

The key is to make time for both.

Is your social media strategy a two-way street?

We drive on a few two-way streets: Connect with us on Twitter or Facebook!