Know where you are going

Soon after Twitter became popular, one of Canada’s major corporations started sending out tweets. We ‘followed’ each other and then, after a couple of months the tweets stopped.

They resumed in June. I was curious about why they stopped, so I tweeted the question. The communications person responsible sent me an e-mail explaining that an enthusiastic employee had started tweeting before the organization was ready to do so. When the employee left, the tweets stopped.

Since then the company did “some serious thinking about social media.” It was a communication tool they wanted to use, but no one had sat down and figured out its use strategically.

When the tweets resumed you knew immediately they we part of an overall plan.
They are more focused and reflect good communication strategy and follower involvement.

The lesson? Don’t get into social media until you know what you want to do. Ask the ‘why’ question; work out the strategic direction; and decide what you want to accomplish.

I’m sure this company isn’t the only organization to retreat from social media and then re-enter when it’s answered the fundamental questions and mapped out its strategy. People get excited about the potential of social media and tweet first, ask questions later!