Could Twitter hurt your reputation?
As you can see, I’ve got a ‘follow me’ button in my navigation, so Twitter is one click away from every page on this site. And that means that visitors’ experience of my online presence might include a sharp variation in tone. Depending on my mood and willingness to Tweet at any particular point in time, a potential client might step from my carefully crafted corporate content to a confession of Cheddars addiction, a sarky comment on last night’s TV or (if they’re lucky) a throwaway observation about search marketing or online copywriting.
When I’m comparing my unique visitor stats to the number of leads I get through the site, this thought gives me pause. Are visitors put off by my Twitter content, or perhaps even this blog? And more broadly, does social media – even when done exactly as the gurus suggest – invariably enhance reputation?
Talking to strangers
Everyone understands that different online media require different tones (I’ve covered it in this post). For most businesses, Tweeting in the same voice as you use on your corporate site would be absolutely deadly, resulting in a desperately dry, po-faced and self-centred feed. While competitors were asking their customers what they did on Friday night, you’d be Tweeting about your dull-as-ditchwater product launch. You’d have no followers, no profile and no ROI.
However, what works for friends and followers might look strange to newcomers. A prospect clicking through to my Twitter profile will see my last Tweet prominently displayed in 28pt type. If that Tweet is frivolous, or even offensive (a subjective judgement, after all), it surely won’t make a good impression. At the very least, the positive ‘he has a personality’ points could easily be offset by a ‘not very professional’ penalty.
I serve clients from all over the world. What would a visitor from Russia or El Salvador make of a conversation about liking cheesy biscuits, on Monday morning, from someone who presents themselves as a professional? In fact, what would a UK visitor who just didn’t know much about Twitter think of it?
For me, casual Tweets are the online equivalent of having the radio on in the background when you answer the phone. Some people just aren’t going to like it. That’s why, when I remember, I’ll try and make sure that I leave the feed with something relatively sensible or useful at the top, like a retweet from @econsultancy. Sure, it’s inauthentic, but it feels safer.
Unseen damage
I often point out to clients that a poor website can do serious harm to their reputation without them necessarily being aware of it. A site riddled with ancient content, inconsistent formatting and spelling errors won’t have the phone ringing off the hook with complaints. Instead, visitors will come, form a negative impression and leave – almost certainly without comment. If they judge by appearances – and why shouldn’t they? – you’ll simply never hear from them.
When I view some firms’ websites, I’m astonished at the substandard content they leave online for years on end, apparently oblivious to the impression it’s giving. If I work with such firms, it often transpires that they are aware of the problem, and plan to sort it out. But with no negative feedback from the prospects that got away, there’s no sense of a ‘burning platform’ to force them to act.
Reputation bomb
With that in mind, consider a Twitter feed that’s easily accessible from the home page, or actually visible on it (as it should be, according to the received wisdom). It could easily be a reputation bomb primed to explode.
If you’re an active Tweeter who combines business and pleasure in one account (as most sole traders and SMEs do), you’re Tweeting stuff you’d never dream of publishing at your main site (humour, politics, personal life etc) on an hourly basis. And if you don’t mix in some personal stuff, your feed will be too dry. Who’s to say a fantastic prospect might not click into your feed at a time when it shows something catastrophically trivial?
I’m relatively paranoid about Twitter. I aim for friendliness, humour and relevancy and set myself strict rules: no politics, no swearing, no arguing, no boasting about work, no chat about clients. (The one evening I did Tweet about politics, I lost a follower for every Tweet I posted.) But many Tweeters don’t police themselves in this way, giving their language, feelings and reactions free rein. I respect that – after all, I’ve argued before that we should market honestly and be ourselves in social media. But some Tweets are so pointed that they elicit a sharp intake of breath as you read them. Does the author really want those words online?
Broadcasting trivia
We’ve all seen the alarmist, ill-informed articles in mainstream media about the perils of Facebook, when in fact it’s easy enough to restrict access to your page (or at least it was, until the privacy options started to look like this). Twitter, as most people choose to use it, exposes your posted content far more widely.
Each Tweet lives forever at its own URL, and Google now searches Twitter in real time, more efficiently than ever before. And it might not index the Tweets you want it to. For example, my highest-ranking Tweet on a search for my name (mercifully on page 2) is this effort (presumably because of its keyword density for ‘Tom’):
Not offensive, but hardly inspiring, and undeniably trivial. On balance, probably not a URL I’d want a prospective client to see. And it could have been worse.
But it doesn’t end there. You can opt to have your Tweets syndicated to third-party sites. One such is LinkedIn, surely the most pin-striped and buttoned-down of all the networking sites. It’s a place where serious job-hunting and reputation-building is the order of the day (along, it seems, with an ever-increasing volume of discussion spam). But depending on when a potential client or employer visits, your carefully edited CV could be gatecrashed by the most hasty, drunken, offensive Tweet you’ve ever Tweeted. That’s why I haven’t, er, linked in my Twitter profile to the site.
Imaginary walls
In my experience, although most people’s Twitter accounts are unprotected, in practice they still Tweet as if their accounts were somehow private – everything is ‘between friends’ in terms of both content and tone. Others go further, treating Twitter like a confessional, or even a diary – despite having thousands of followers. Certainly, many Tweets clearly originate with the urge to unburden rather than the need to communicate.
You might regard your Twitter account as more ‘personal’ than your business content, with a clear division between the corporate and social worlds, but in reality the distinction may be largely in your head (and not in your client’s).
This can apply to other types of social-media content as well. Many of my blog posts, for example, are primarily of interest to other copywriters, marketers or media professionals, and not really aimed at general business readers (i.e. my potential customers). Sometimes, the resulting comment discussion will stray into areas, such as pricing, where an honest response isn’t something I’d really want my clients to read. So, as with Twitter, I have to think carefully about everyone who might be reading, rather than imagining there’s some kind of invisible wall between my main site and the blog. It’s important to remember that anyone could be reading anything, at any time.
What do you think? Should we worry about the reputational risk of social media, or have we entered a new, more relaxed age where saying something online is no different from saying it in the pub?
- Thanks to Sarah Turner of Turner Ink for the conversation that inspired this post.
Comments (14)
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Interesting stuff, Tom.
If a client is sufficiently po-faced and sniffy to object to my talking about cheesy biscuits on my Twitter feed, am I going to find working for that client a happy experience? Probably not. On that basis, I don’t worry too much about what I say on Twitter.
As you say, I can’t see how many clients I’ve lost as a result of tweeting. But I can see those I’ve won: several copywriting contracts have come through as a result of referrals from followers, and I’ve sold quite a few books on the back of tweets.
Interestingly, though, I had a similar experience when I was tweeting about politics during the election: one follower lost for every political tweet (and a few more after I added a Tory Twibbon to my avatar). But do I want followers who unfollow me because of my (moderate) political views, or who don’t understand that I’m having a laugh when I suggest Norman Tebbit should be appointed President for Life? Definitely not – in fact, I’m happier without them.
I’m with Bill on this one. Tweeting helps define your (dread word) ‘brand’, and good brands know they can’t be everything to everyone. You have to let personality shine through on Twitter, and if it alienates some people and attracts others, then so be it (as long as you’re happy with the type of people who come to you through the medium).
.-= Ben Locker´s last blog ..Do you have a stationery fetish? =-.
I agree with Bill, and to some extent I think it depends on the nature of a relationship with a client.
Most of my copywriting is ghost-written – these clients aren’t publicly associated with me, so my Tweets have relatively little impact on those relationships. What I am careful about is to not Tweet something that makes me look like a bad supplier – I wouldn’t criticise a client, incidicate that I’d done a slapdash job on something, or talk about busting deadlines.
.-= Sally Whittle´s last blog ..Lies, damn lies and survey press releases =-.
I think that Twitter can be a really useful tool in giving your company a more personable image. As I am in the somewhat informal music sector, it can really help to add a relatable personality to the business; something that musicians and artists find reassuring. I do constantly have to keep the thought of “this is my company’s personality, not mine” in the back of my mind though. No potential clients are going to care about what I had for breakfast…
Thanks for covering this topic so thoroughly, Tom.
Balancing personal and professional Twitter updates is tricky. There are no hard and fast rules: every person must decide for herself how much to reveal or to refrain from sharing.
I have a feeling this issue is more problematic for the “digital native” generation. Kids who grew up revealing the uncensored minutiae of daily life via Facebook may not deem public/private life boundaries appropriate or beneficial.
As you do, I follow sensible twetiquette (cough). As far as I know, my corporate clients don’t use Twitter. But you never know. That’s why, tempting as it is, I avoid complaining about onerous projects and clients-from-hell. I even started to check myself on my blog when it seemed posts took a whiney turn.
I also avoid politics and swearing. And I try not to talk too much about my children and family life. Much as I would love the corporate world to embrace a more holistic approach to work/family, we ain’t there yet.
On the other hand, I do share opinions about issues some would find controversial, e.g., factory farming. I guess Hormel and Purdue will never approach me with a project. Yay!
.-= Lorraine´s last blog ..Once Upon a Time Small Business Didn’t Need Social Media =-.
Very interesting.
I suspect that a lot of us post random things on Twitter or Facebook without ever giving it that much thought. When you make a sarcastic comment about an answer on “Question Time”, I don’t imagine many of us have in mind that an important client might end up reading it.
Still, we probably should, which is why your post is a timely reminder, I think.
I tried adding my Twitter feed to my website homepage, but found that it really didn’t work for lots of the reasons that you mentioned. There’s such a mixture of work and personal tweets on there, that (as you rightly say), you’d often land on my homepage to a comment about something *completely* random. And as I didn’t want to change the tone of my tweets…I just removed it!
I have a Twitter feed on my site and like, you, I try to leave the last few visible tweets on a positive/informative note. But like many of the commenters I also realize that the people who would be turned off by me being genuine are not my target audience. I actually redesigned/rebranded my website and company recently, and decided I needed to embrace showing some personality. Because if you can’t attract everyone, you might as well attract the clients that are best for you. And those are the ones who’ll “get” you.
On the other hand, I’ve come across some great writers who curse and complain on both their site and Twitter feed and it works for them because they have followers who appreciate the non-BS.
I think of it like this: Your website is the version of you you might take to a networking event, to see who you click with. Twitter’s the drink you grab after the event, when you can relax a bit and see if you still get along once you’ve let your guard down.
.-= Natalia M. Sylvester´s last blog ..How & when to play with words when you mean business =-.
Hi Tom. I approach twitter and my blog as a place to show my expertise to prospective clients. Your site or literature can only say so much about what you do, leaving the prospective client to make his own mind up. But with blogs and twitter, it’s almost a window into the world of what being a client might be like as you’re displaying practical insight and personality every day.
Thanks for a very interesting post (comments too). It’s a topic that came up on a forum I belong to recently, where someone was asked to supply her Twitter username on a job application (gulp). I recently opened a second Twitter account for ‘work only’ tweets, as I was concerned that contacts or clients might be irritated, or just bored, by my conversations about football, Masterchef, the Archers and other random topics – especially those in the USA, who are working when I’m watching TV in the evenings.
I’ve posted regular tweets inviting people to stop following my main account and switch to the new one if they want ‘work only’ stuff, and some have done this – but most just added the work feed and are still following the all-inclusive one. This suggests I was worrying unnecessarily. So follow me for #eurovision this weekend! @CEMichael
Interesting stuff. I do think it’s important to keep personal/professional stuff broadly separate on Twitter, which is one of the reasons why I am not only @majabesparkle (journalist and copywriter), but also @pinchypants (mum and individual). I try and keep stuff related to work and my clients in the former, and everything else that pops into my head, mainly related to my children, in the latter. I am interested in politics, though, and during the election in particular I used @majabesparkle to make and respond to political comments, mainly because lots of the people I follow are involved with politics and public affairs, which is part of my core client markets of public relations professionals and the media. However, I was aware that making my political affiliations so obvious might not be seen as terribly professional, so I turned off the Twitter link on my website so at least that remained neutral. And if one of my clients, followees or friends in the industy makes a personal comment, I do sometimes reply in the same vein.
.-= Maja Pawinska Sims´s last blog ..News: Besparkle joins Grove Partners as Associate =-.
I think this perfectly illustrates how exciting digital communications is right now. There are so many different channels, platforms and ways of communicating which is what makes social media so rich and diverse. Clearly you need a social media communications
protocol, but for me all your communication should be thoughtful and consistent. It’s just important that you articulate your message in the most appropriate way depending on the channel you are using.
I think with social media you can draw a simple comparison to real life, we change our tone of voice depending on what situation we are in, whether we are talking to our children, chatting to our mates in the pub, or making a presentation to a client, but fundamentally we are always ourselves. The same approach to social media will mean you won’t go far wrong.
Thanks to everyone who commented. I guess I’m a little old-fashioned in still preserving a definite divide between my ‘work’ and ‘social’ personae. That’s not to say I won’t act social with a client – just that I would want to do it in my own time, and in a venue of my choosing. To put it another way, I wouldn’t want a prospect to see a ‘pub’ type comment before they’d even met me to discuss their project. But that’s just me I guess…
.-= Tom Abrighton´s last blog ..Ten unwanted guests at the marketing party =-.
Think you are right in many of the things you say; on the other hand, I try to use my account to give an honest impression of what it is like to work at Holiday Extras, which is, in the main, immense fun. I want the world to know who the people are behind the brand, and if that means idiotic nonsense about blondeness and cakes, then so be it. If I just tweeted about products, no-one would follow me, making my Twitter useless to the company!
@Sarah
You’re right of course, and I’ve shifted my thinking a bit since this was published. I think my comments apply primarily to freelancers, who are likely to be the subject of snap judgements based on online presence alone. I’d still advise freelancers not to integrate their Twitter feed into their LinkedIn profile for that reason.