Before I get angry emails from Twitter fans, let me first say that tweeting (as with all marketing and communications) has its place.  It works for some and not others.

Now- I started a Twitter account a loooong time ago.  Someone told me if I wasn’t tweeting, I was DEAD.

Dead?

Huh?

I think I am still alive.  And since that bold statement was shoved at me, my little strategic marketing business has tripled in size.  Hmmm.  So what gives?  Shouldn’t my epitaph say “Here lies the marketer who did not tweet.”?

Here’s the deal:  Twitter is better for some and better left alone by others.

An example of a successful Twitter business:  There’s a taco truck that has awesome tacos.  They drive around the city going from corner to corner and (amazingly) a herd of people rush over to get their food each day.  But oddly, in a few minutes, the line dies down and they move a few blocks down and a bunch of people rush the truck again.  Weird right?

Not really.

They have developed a following by getting people to sign up for their tweets.  So they’ll post, “At 19th and M… next stop is 15th and M” (4 blocks away).  Then, “leaving 15th and M… next stop Dupont Circle”.  Their followers are updated with the tweets and leave their desks to get their tacos.  Neat right!

An example of a business that doesn’t use Twitter: Mine!  My target market is CEO’s and people who influence CEO’s.  Also consultants, sales reps, VP’s of Sales, COO’s, CMO’s, marketing directors.  They are busy.  Should I tweet that I just helped a CEO generate 152 hot leads resulting in $123,000 in new business?  I don’t think so.  Should I tweet that I’m on 15th and M.  No.

So, I decided I won’t tweet.  (One note:  My blog automatically tweets every new post.  That was so easy to set up… so I just did it for fun.)

Instead, I decided (and recommend you) FOCUS.   Try to be good at just one social media outlet.  Maybe it’s LinkedIN.  Maybe Facebook.  Maybe, after all, Twitter.  Or perhaps blogging.

Being good at one thing is much better than being bad at several.  It will streamline your efforts saving you time (which is precious these days).

Beware:  I think I might tweet today just to say, “I’m not dead!”