Twitter as a commitment

February 2, 2010

Social media, social marketing, e-commerce, Web content, online anything, whatever you’re calling it today. The name doesn’t matter. No one cares about that.

The attention you give it, however, does matter.

Because we all know that every business is looking to jump full steam ahead into social media, regardless of need and viability, and we know that it’s totally the thing to do.

In many cases, that’s true. As long as you focus on the “to do” part of the equation. The “keeping up with it” portion.

An example, from right here in our dusty little village: The City of Sioux Falls, and its SiouxFallsSnow Twitter feed.

The goal of @SiouxFallsSnow is, naturally, to let people know when a Snow Alert has been announced, allowing residents to get their vehicles off of the roads and save them from possible ticketing.

Awesome idea. Seriously.

As long as you keep up, that is. Yesterday’s snow alert went silent on the Twitter feed. This morning, a “reminder” of the snow alert was posted. And, just 15 minutes later, a fellow ad twitterer, who relied on @SiouxFallsSnow for updates, was ticketed for being in a snow zone.

The issue: when you offer up a service – in this case, vowing to let people know when a Snow Alert has been announced – some people will keep you to your word. They will rely on your service. They will look to you for the information they need. And when it’s not delivered, they will wonder what happened, turn away and express frustration.

Nothing against @SiouxFallsSnow – on the contrary, I still think it’s a great idea. It’s just that this small incident highlights the importance of keeping up with a Twitter feed. Or a Facebook page. Or updating a Web site with new information. The content you offer doesn’t exist in a vacuum – it’s followed by real people, who look to you for information just as they would in real life.

It only takes one slip. From there, one errant situation. One frustrated follower. One mass message to the Twitterverse.

If you are going to promote social media or social marketing, make sure you’re doing it right. Similarly, if you are going to offer a service, even if it’s for free, make sure you back it up. Because whether you’re selling candy bars or letting us know about the snow alerts, we’re depending on you.

By Corey

Filed Under Technology, Marketing

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