TWITTER WORKSHOP

ABOUT TWITTER

•Twitter is a real-time social media platform that allows you to share information with your followers in small posts called “Tweets”•Tweets are 140 characters or less and can include links, photos, videos•Twitter can also be useful as a listening tool to monitor what others are saying about your agency and what’s going on around you•Twitter is good for updates and information in emergencies

TWITTER

GETTING STARTED

When creating your twitter account:

•Choose a handle that is recognizable and descriptive such as @nycHealthy as opposed to @DOHMH•Be sure to register your twitter account with DoITT at http://cityshare.nycnet/html/cityshare/html/social_media_form.html•Choose an appropriate avatar to represent your agency•Add a headline/brief description of your agency/account•Link to the City’s social media policy at http://nyc.gov/socialmediapolicy

GETTING STARTEDBefore you start tweeting:

•Follow other agencies. Agencies will frequently follow your agency back, may retweet your content or write a tweet welcoming you- all great ways to add more followers• Go to http://bit.ly/vLZI2l to see a list of all NYC government twitter accounts .

STYLE GUIDE•Remember you are representing the City of New York and your agency when you tweet.•Remember to check all spelling and use proper grammar•Do not use abbreviations and slang

–Such as “2” for “to” or “r” for “are”•Avoid using more than 1 exclamation mark and all capital letters•Remember to speak in the voice of your agency

TWITTER BASICS• To start using twitter, log on to your account and type

your tweet under the “What’s happening” box. • Your tweets are limited to 140 characters including

spaces and the remaining characters appear to the right of the tweet button

ENGAGEMENTHow do I see what people are saying about my agency or

programs on Twitter?• The first thing you should do is click “connect ” on the top-left corner on

Twitter.com and then click “mentions.” You will then see every time your Twitter handle was mentioned in a tweet.

• There is also search box on Twitter. Typing in your agency’s name as well as other keywords affiliated with your agency will yield the results of any tweets that mention these terms. You can use this to sift through popular tweets, tweets with links, or all of the tweets with the keywords.

ENGAGEMENTThere are many ways to engage users through twitter:• Mention: Anytime you mention an entity with a twitter

account, use their Twitter handle, e.g.: Check out @nycHealthy’s new ad campaign to quit smoking at on.nyc.gov/zc123

• Many times, the account you mention will retweet your content and will likely engage back with you– Why should you do this?

• People like to showcase positive mentions of themselves• Retweets by others can lead to new followers

HASHTAGS• Hashtags: You can use a hashtag to categorize a tweet,

hashtags are usually themes or subjects so that others can easily search for your tweets and you can find other tweets about similar topics– For example during Hurricane Irene the hashtag #Irene

was used and during the State of the City #SOTC2012 was used

– You can click on the “Discover” tab at the top of twitter.com to see the popular hashtags

HASHTAGSWhen using hashtags:• Avoid using general terms such as #food• Limit the number of hashtags per tweet • Use hashtags only when there is topic you feel others will

likely use. If a hashtag is too specific and others do not know about it, it will not be useful

• Hashtags are useful for promoting specific campaigns or events. Instead of creating a new twitter account for a campaign, you can use a hashtag.

RETWEETS

Why would you Retweet?• Retweet: When you see a tweet that you would also like to

share with your followers you can retweet that same piece of information.

• You would retweet when:– A tweet mentions your agency in a positive light– A tweet is about a project or campaign of your agency– A tweet is about an issue that is relevant to your agency

RETWEETS

There are 2 ways to retweet a message1. The newer way to retweet is by clicking the Retweet

button on the top of the desired tweet• The retweet button places the original tweet with the

original user’s avatar into your twitter stream• This is faster and you do not have to count characters,

but the tweet does not contain your account’s avatar

RETWEETS

2. The older way of retweeting is copying the tweet’s text and prefacing it with RT and the original account name• This tweet will contain your avatar and will look like an

original tweet from your account• You can also add in your own text to the tweet such as

“Thank you” or “Excellent resource”• If you see MT in a tweet that means the original tweet

has been modified.

PICTURES

Best practices show that posting exclusive, engaging content such as videos, links or photos is extremely effective in social media.

How do I include pictures in my tweets?• With the updated version of Twitter, there is now a camera

icon that shows up underneath the “What’s Happening?” text box, as well as an icon to add your location.

• There are also mobile apps you may use to add images to your tweets including Twitter for iPhone, Blackberry, and Android and Instagram

LINKSHow do I include links?• Bit.ly and ow.ly are sites that allow users to shorten, share, and

analyze the links they post to Twitter. Using these sites will help you optimize your 140 character space.

• Twitter will also automatically shorten your links now to t.co• We suggest going to bit.ly to shorten links as nyc.gov site will be

automatically shortened to the format: on.nyc.gov/_______• If your agencies websites do not shorten to on.nyc.gov, please email

digital@media.nyc.gov• In addition, please email digital@media.nyc.gov if you would like

your bitly account upgraded to a pro account.

STRATEGIESThere are many ways to gain followers on Twitter:• When referring to an agency, individual, organization or company that has a

presence on Twitter, always use their Twitter handle when referring to them. • Respond frequently to Tweets

– When you check your “mentions,” you may find that people have asked you questions. While no one would expect you to respond to every question, regular engagement shows your followers that you diligently monitor activity on Twitter.

– There are two ways of responding: 1. When you begin a tweet with a twitter handle only that user and

users who check their profile will see the account. This can be helpful if answering a specific question

2. If you start the tweet with a phrase or even a period, your followers will see the response on their feeds (e.g. .@johnsmith Thanks for your help.) This can be helpful if you have received many questions on a topic and would like your followers to see the response.

STRATEGIES

Add value and stay topical• Tell your followers something useful in Tweets or direct them

to compelling content. • Think about the question of “What’s in it for me” when

creating content for your followers• A generic tweet telling them “Good morning,” “Visit our

website” is not valuable, and would not lead a user to follow you. Agencies are specialized, so we advise you to stay topical by tweeting about issues relevant to your agency.

STRATEGIES

Provide a next step or call to action• Give your followers something to do, be it watching a video,

going to a website, voting in a contest, following another account or attending an event. When directing users to content on the web, always link to the content in your tweet.

MEASUREMENTMeasuring success with Twitter:• Be sure to set goals and monitor Key Performance Indicators

(KPIs)– Fans– Retweets– Followers– Impressions– Klout Scores