How To Build Your Business Brand On Twitter

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of Suzy Nicoletti. You should not act on these views or opinions without undertaking your own due diligence as to the voracity and accuracy of her views and opinions. These views and opinions may be wrong or misleading.

Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) Australia Managing Director Suzy Nicoletti explains how to build your brand, engage users, be authentic and mitigate online risks. Suzy also reveals how Twitter is staying competitive and what the social media platform is planning for its users. Speaking with The Capital Network’s Lelde Smits.

Lelde Smits: Hello I’m Lelde Smits for The Capital Network. Joining me at here at Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) Australia is its Managing Director, Suzy Nicoletti. Suzy, welcome.

Suzy Nicoletti: Thank you, great to be here.

Lelde Smits: Twitter was established in 2006. Since then we’ve seen rising online competition everywhere. What is Twitter doing to remain a vital platform for its users?

Suzy Nicoletti: There are quite a few social networks out there these days. At Twitter we are continuing to focus on what makes us unique. So, what we essentially are and what we offer, is that we are the best and fastest platform for users to come and see what is happening in the world. And, this is true for brands and this is true for consumers.

Lelde Smits: So we all know that celebrities are popular on Twitter and the corporates have taken a while to catch up but generally in Australia, what do you consider a popular account on Twitter?

Suzy Nicoletti: So authenticity I would say is a real mark of an account where someone is able to showcase multiple sides of themselves. And, that in turn makes it quite popular. An account that gives access, one that does not only tell information but takes people on a journey. Someone that is going to take you on a ride, typically ends up being a more popular account for us. And, accounts that use a lot of rich media are also accounts that are quite popular in this market as well.

Lelde Smits: Can you give us some examples of executives or corporates that you think are doing a great job?

Suzy Nicoletti: Absolutely, so Andy Penn from Telstra Corporation Limited (ASX:TLS) does an absolutely fantastic job. He does live Q&As [Question and Answers] he actually listens to some of his users and he comments in real time based on some of the conversations happening on Twitter.

Lelde Smits: Some people may say that is risky to be commenting, some corporates, what are your views?

Suzy Nicoletti: I think you are capitalising on a huge opportunity. It is a conversation that is happening. And, it is a CEO that shows he cares, he’s actually going to listen, he’s actually going to engage. And, it shows that he is really connected to his consumers. And, I think that shows a lot about him and also Telstra as a brand all together which is fantastic.

Lelde Smits: You also mentioned authenticity. What are some ways in which people or companies can be more authentic?

Suzy Nicoletti: Authenticity to me is sharing the news, sharing the company information, but also sharing something of yourself. Not being so polished. Having a sense of humour from time to time, that makes an account incredibly engaging.

Lelde Smits: From the executive and corporate perspective, they are always looking at risks. When it comes to authenticity they may say, ‘What if I overstep the mark?’

Suzy Nicoletti: When people are getting started with Twitter we always advise you to start by listening. Listen to the conversation, listen to brands, listen to what’s happening in the space. And the second thing we advise is to find your voice.

Lelde Smits: Absolutely, and a natural extension of finding your voice is really building your brand. How do you advise executives or companies to build their brand on Twitter?

Suzy Nicoletti: There are two pieces that are powerful for brands on Twitter. So, the first is that you can actually distribute your message. But, the second is that you get that two-way conversation happening with consumers.

So, a couple of pieces of advise. Firstly, it is, listen to the consumers and pick different times that you want to engage with them. I think that is very powerful and unique to Twitter. A second thing you can do is actually plan the content you are going to distribute. So, a lot of our brands have actually trained their followers in terms of what to expect each week.

Lelde Smits: Excellent, and talking about expectations, what can we expect from Twitter; what are you working on at the moment and how is Twitter looking to build its own brand and value in the community?

Suzy Nicoletti: So we are very, very hard at work at the moment making our user experience as strong as possible. So again, we have a great platform, right now we’re trying to make it as customised for the user as possible.

Another initiative is brand safety and making sure we’re giving our users the most control possible to make the environment on Twitter as absolutely safe as possible.

Lelde Smits: Fantastic. Thank you so much for your insights today and I will certainly be watching and engaging on Twitter.

Suzy Nicoletti: Fantastic, thank you.