Foreword xix

Introduction xxi

Part I Get to Know Twitter 1

Chapter 1 Understand Twitter 3

Twitter History and Definitions 4

Twitter’s Technology 10

Twitter’s Rapid Ascent 14

Twitter’s Financial Future 16

What Makes Tweeps Tick? 17

Twitter’s Culture 33

The Main Points 37

Chapter 2 Who’s Using Twitter for What? 39

Demographics 40

Individual Users 43

Bots, Games, and Memes 56

Small and Home-Based Businesses 60

Not-for-Profits: Charities, Causes, the Arts, Houses of Worship, and Associations 62

Academia and Higher Education 63

Government 64

Marketing, Advertising, Public Relations, and Communications Professionals 65

Media Outlets 67

Sports and Entertainment 70

Corporations and Brands 72

The Main Points 85

Chapter 3 Twitter, the Multipurpose Platform 87

What Twitter Can Accomplish 88

Key Questions to Consider for Branding 119

The Main Points 125

Part II Month 1: Master Twitter Fundamentals 127

Chapter 4 Week 1: Get on Twitter 129

Monday: Create an Account 130

Tuesday: Find People to Follow 147

Wednesday: Learn Twitter Lingo 153

Thursday: Access Twitter 161

Friday: From Lurking to Leaping 163

The Main Points 167

Chapter 5 Week 2: Find and Attract Followers 169

Followers and Following 170

Monday: Use Basic Search to Find Followers 173

Tuesday: Add New Friends 179

Wednesday: Attract Followers 185

Thursday: Syndicate Your Tweet Content 195

Friday: Tools to Help Build and Manage Followers 197

The Main Points 203

Chapter 6 Week 3: Use Twitter Search and Other Tools to Improve Your Experience 205

Search and Other Tools for Twitter 206

Monday: Master Twitter Search 206

Tuesday: Use Tools to Enrich Your Tweets 215

Wednesday: Analyze Your Twitter Activity 227

Thursday: Experiment with Other Useful Twitter Tools 236

Friday: Fun with Twitter Tools 241

The Main Points 246

Chapter 7 Week 4: Track and Monitor What Twitter Generates for You 247

Twitter Metrics 248

Monday: Understand What to Track and How to Review It 248

Tuesday: Alerts—Simple Tracking Tools 255

Wednesday: Advanced Tracking Tools 260

Thursday: Compile Tracking Data 267

Friday: Review, Analyze, and Respond to Tracking Data 270

The Main Points 275

Part III Month 2: Develop and Launch Your Strategic Plan 277

Chapter 8 Week 5: Develop a Successful Twitter Strategy 279

Monday: Study Brands Succeeding with Twitter 280

Tuesday: Different Approaches to Develop Your Strategy 292

Wednesday: Study Strategies for Market Verticals 296

Thursday: Twitter’s Role in Your Overall Marketing Strategy 302

Friday: Avoid Pitfalls 303

The Main Points 307

Chapter 9 Week 6: Establish Goals and Get Corporate Buy-In 309

Monday: Establish Objectives 310

Tuesday: Measure and Report Upon Your Objectives 314

Wednesday: Determine Tweet Topics 317

Thursday: Assign Resources 322

Friday: Get Company Buy-In 325

The Main Points 328

Chapter 10 Week 7: Get Your Brand Started on Twitter 329

Monday: Claim Your Brand’s Twitter Name 330

Tuesday: Set Up Your Brand’s Profile 335

Wednesday: Your First Brand Tweets 342

Thursday: Engage Your Brand’s Followers 347

Friday: Summarize Best Practices 352

The Main Points 355

Chapter 11 Week 8: Monitor, Measure, and Valuate 357

Monday: Review Your Twitter Stats 358

Tuesday: Analyze Your Website Traffic 362

Wednesday: Analyze Actions 366

Thursday: Valuate 370

Friday: Review Case Studies 372

The Main Points 378

Part IV Month 3: Maintain Your Twitter Presence 379

Chapter 12 Week 9: Institutionalize Maintenance 381

Monday: Hold Weekly Meetings 382

Tuesday: Implement Weekly Action Plan 386

Wednesday: Oversee Production Requirements 388

Thursday: Prepare Documentation 390

Friday: Deliver Results to Management 391

The Main Points 393

Chapter 13 Week 10: Prepare for Crisis Management 395

The Reality of Twitter Crises 396

Monday: List Potential Crises 401

Tuesday: Create a Fire Drill 403

Wednesday: Write a Twitter Crisis Management Action Plan 406

Thursday: Know How to Really Say “I’m Sorry” 408

Friday: Distribute Your Crisis Action Plan 410

The Main Points 412

Chapter 14 Week 11: Develop a Direct Response Promotion for Twitter 413

Monday: Define the Need 414

Tuesday: Define Campaign Components 421

Wednesday: Move to Production 425

Thursday: Work Your Announcement Strategy 426

Friday: Launch Your Campaign 427

The Main Points 429

Appendix A Twitter-Related Glossary 431

Appendix B Twitter-Related Tools and Resources 439

Appendix C Tips from Tweeps 447

Appendix D Social Media Guidelines 453

Index 457