Disconnected from twitter: can you afford to be?

Twitter has to be part of a CEO’s strategy

 

The word disconnected is an interesting one. You can break the connection between one thing and another and it will no longer function. You can disable a device by disconnecting it from the main source of power. You can interrupt or terminate a telephone conversation. Certainly it means the flow of something, be that water, gas or electricity ceases to flow. So, if you fail to use twitter or social media as part of your company plan? Consider your self disconnected. From twitter and contemporary business life.

 

Social media helps leadership to become more effective

 

In a recent study of 500 American employees

it became clear that management who make regular use of social media are deemed to be connected to the real world. Not just that they are considered to be more effective in their leadership, apparently were trusted more and of course had more understanding about how to be an effective brand leader. We are beginning to feel it is unwise to be disconnected from twitter and other networks.

 

It would be easy to dismiss such a study by saying: ‘twitter? What’s the point?’

But if we return to the idea of disconnection, if you are not connected to social media then any executive or CEO is going to be divorced from what is being said about their company in real time. The speed at which news spreads – over one million tweets about one photo in an hour, (link to last blog) shows you it pays to be connected.

 

Disconnected from twitter? Why waste my time on it?

 

Ok, imagine if you were facing a PR disaster with no plan already in place? What if you allowed your brand to be damaged on twitter without doing anything about it? If you are not already a twitter user it would be hard to combat it. How can you be an ambassador on social media if you are never usually connected/ It will simply look false. Trust takes time to earn; it does not happen overnight. How can oyu consider it is a smart move to be disconnected from twitter?

 

Social media stats are rich pickings for company executives

 

If you are a regular user of social media you will know just how much information can be gleaned about your business and the business and technology landscape in general. If you check your social media stats you can find out much about your target audience and see just how real people engage with your brand.

 

More effective leadership skills begin here

 

According to this study the American employees surveyed showed a 30% rise in 12 months in their thinking that social media participation leads to more effective leadership skills. This is almost inevitable. We are hyper-connected; social media drives information dissemination. Ann Charles CEO and founder of BRANDfog, who carried out the research felt that this survey showed categorically that many companies were still not using social media to get a handle on brand managements, brand trust and more effective leadership skills.

 

Brand reputation is powerful.

 

Any company who has been damaged will know just how much it has cost their businesses. Twitter has proved itself to be an extremely useful and valuable channel for carrying out public relations. Now is the time to develop strategies to implement this. You can see now how important it is not to be disconnected from twitter or other appropriate networks for your brand.

 

Why connect on twitter?

 

There are many reasons but the opportunity to build more effective connections with every aspect of your business cannot be over emphasised. You can connect investors, potential investors, customers, potential customers, employees and potential employees by social media.

 

The world has changed.

 

If you want to be considered a thought leader and influencer in your niche this can be managed on twitter. This cannot be achieved so easily these days without social media. Being disconnected from twitter is not advisible,This is how the world has changed. Any CEO who chooses to ignore twitter or social media in general demonstrates their lack of understanding of contemporary business practice. It really is quite as simple as that.

 

Being disconnected from twitter means you lose out everywhere

 

Without an active twitter or social media presence a CEO has little idea about what is being said about the brans. She will not be listening. She will be missing out on a wealth of opportunities to be part of important industry conversations taking place every single day. She will also be missing out on have the opportunity to influence both opinion and perception of a brand and in addition continually develop a brand’s reputation.

 

What’s the solution?

 

With an agile, reliable and easy to use social media management application then this connection to twitter should not be onerous. The investment in time will more than reap many benefits for a business. For more information about how to join the conversation and manage a highly effective connection please click here.

 

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Marketme

Marketme is a leading small business to small business news, marketing advice and product review website. Supporting business across the UK with sponsored article submissions and promotions to a community of over 50,000 on Twitter.