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B2B Twitter: how Johnny Cash would tweet

Johnny CashIt’s standard practice for marketers to plan their companies’ newsletter communications using an editorial calendar. Marketers should back off that sort of approach when it comes to a company wading into Twitter. In fact, Johnny Cash is great inspiration if you’re thinking of using Twitter for business. He’s authentic – ugly, even, up close. And his revelations are anything but boring.

 

Imagine: would Johnny Cash use Twitter for business… that is, to plug his albums? Probably not! But if he did, he wouldn’t conform to his manager’s orchestrations. 

If Johnny Cash were to tweet, he’d be more likely to admit to being tired of being cornered by fans. To feeling old. To feeling an addiction tug at him. To daydreaming about one of his many affairs — or battling his immoral impulses, as in the Walk the Line lyrics.

And we’d cheer for him. We’d follow him like mad. Because Johnny Cash was a package deal, warts and all, and that made him real… and really interesting.

 

What’s the problem?

On LinkedIn I recently read a post that said (paraphrasing):

“I’m planning to start using Twitter on Dec 1st 2009. I’ll be writing about x, y, and z.”

I wrote back that I think it’s great they guy is getting engaged in Twitter, but that I think it would be difficult to plan great tweets.

Planning what you’ll tweet about is not like planning a newsletter’s editorial calendar. Contributions need to be shaped in part by what’s happening in the network. They need to be inspired. And some or most need to be connected in some way to other people and ideas.

It’s standard practice for marketers to plan their companies’ newsletter communications using an editorial calendar. Marketers should back off that sort of approach when it comes to a company wading into Twitter.

As I tweeted as @b2bcommunicate on Dec 8th: in October, I wondered whether B2B marketing might go obsolete because of social media. It won’t. The thing to fear is being boring. And I suspect that nothing is more boring than a history of perfect tweets.

 

Thoughts?

Are you thriving on Twitter with a carefully planned approach?

Great people to watch/read/listen to when it comes to Twitter for business: 

Nicole Nicolay (for ProBlogger Blog Tips): Make a Tweet Plan to Get the Most from Twitter

Chris Brogan: Using Twitter for Business

Duct Tape Marketing: Twitter for Business

Hubspot: How to Use Twitter for Marketing & PR

David Meerman ScottMarketers: Stop Abusing Twitter

Laura Fitton at Pistachio: Twitter for Business

Darren Rose: Twitter for Beginners

Tom Pick: Twitter Twaddle

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Topics: Performance Lead Generation