When you tweet to a brand, who do you think responds to you? Do you imagine a business logo or a person you know? Ideally, the latter. However, we also see countless brands everyday that feel distant and rigid towards their community. That’s what we wanted to address on ur chat this week. We invited social media trainer, Christine Gritmon, to talk about how to be more human on social media, and Twitter specifically. Here’s a summary of our chat.
Guest: Christine Gritmon
Topic: Being more human on Twitter
Format: Eight questions directed at the guest. Everyone’s welcome to share.
To be human is to be yourself. It means you’re constantly having meaningful conversations and showcasing your personality.
A1. #TwitterSmarter pic.twitter.com/o6gW64xE46
— Christine Gritmon #ChatAboutBrand ❤️ (@cgritmon) November 5, 2020
To put it another way, don’t be a bot that does what your business needs doing. Be a person who happens to manage a business account.
As Holly explained, with most of the world going online and working from home, we miss the small, everyday human interactions. That’s why it’s become even more important to be yourself on social media—talk about who you are as a person and what’s going on with you. These tiny snippets make you more relatable—everyone’s having issues with work-life balance, and your story can help validate theirs.
A1: Be relatable! Take the time to chat about yourself. Gives people a chance to find that connection that pretty much everyone wants and needs in our WFH world right now. #twittersmarter
— Holly ☺️ (@holly4tigs) November 5, 2020
Reflecting Holly’s response, our guest also emphasized that it’s important to show your human side because that’s what makes people resonate with a brand. If you only share promotional posts and reply to notifications as a perfectly rigid brand, no one will engage with you on a daily, conversational basis. Instead, they’ll only come to you when they have a problem. The core of community is human-to-human interaction.
A2. #TwitterSmarter pic.twitter.com/AQHHleS8MM
— Christine Gritmon #ChatAboutBrand ❤️ (@cgritmon) November 5, 2020
Rachel from Express Writers mentioned how essential it is to build trust within your audience. The only way to achieve that credibility is to be approachable. And an approachable brand is one that reflects the person behind the scenes. If people feel as if they’re talking to a real person when they tweet, they are more inclined to respect and buy from you.
A2: Showing your human side helps you build the Know, Like, and Trust Factor. People need to get to know you before they trust you. And you need trust before they'll buy from you. #TwitterSmarter
— Express Writers | Your Content Writing Partner (@ExpWriters) November 5, 2020
Besides, as Kennedy from Rob & Kennedy pointed out, that personal voice is a great way to stand out from a busy feed. And where you have multiple people managing a brand account, it’s important to enable every person to show their voice. The more human-sounding a brand is, the more likeable it becomes.
A2. Sharing in your human voice is a smashing way to stand out in a noise of bland, boring, emotionless cack.
It also allows for variety and reduces the worry of a singular brand voice, if the person behind the account is allowed to inject THEIR personality too #TwitterSmarter
— Rob & Kennedy ? Email Marketing Heroes (@RobandKennedy) November 5, 2020
It’s worth noting that both Rachel and Kennedy are #TwitterSmarter regulars. They use their brand handles, but we always see them as Rachel and Kennedy—our community members know them for who they are, and not only for what they sell.
Focus on building conversations rather than broadcasting your messages to the masses. Treat social media as a family gathering and not as a speech you deliver from your pedestal. The more you are in the moment, expressing your personality, listening to your community, and engaging with them, the better it is for your brand in the long term. Don’t try to be perfect every time—people will appreciate those occasional raw and unfiltered posts. It’s all part of what makes you human.
A3.#TwitterSmarter pic.twitter.com/hZSF1J8Dgd
— Christine Gritmon #ChatAboutBrand ❤️ (@cgritmon) November 5, 2020
Another great and easy way to show humanness is to show emotions, either by words or as Ben mentioned, by including emojis in your tweets. You can also add GIFs to your tweets, both custom and from the library, create videos, post photographs, and share behind-the-scenes stories.
A3 I like to use emojis to communicate emotion. ? Novel, I know. #TwitterSmarter https://t.co/UPE1Me8192
— Ben Br??n (@iBenBrown) November 5, 2020
As Jesse also said, your tone and language matters a lot. Choose simple conversational words rather than words that are well-placed in doctoral theses or press releases. How you present yourself is just as important as what you share. You’re probably a fun person to hang around in the real world; be that fun person on social media as well.
A3: Speak like a normal human and not a PR machine. Get involved in conversations about your niche. Make jokes and share GIFs and memes and have fun with it. #TwitterSmarter
— Jesse Denney (@inb4denn) November 5, 2020
If you have a team of people who manage the brand account, let them introduce themselves. A good way to do that is during the introduction in Twitter chats. And of course, encourage them to sign off tweets with their name so that people who regularly engage with your brand can identify them and have conversations with them as a person.
If you have a behind-the-scenes team that doesn’t manage your social media, but are instrumental in your branding anyway, go the extra mile and introduce them. Share photos, videos, background information, and even everyday stories. It helps your audience connect with you on a deeper level.
A4.
If you’re a branded account, have your people introduce themselves!
Even ending a tweet with their name can help.
Share pictures, videos, or even personalized GIFs of the real people managing the accounts.
Share facts about them.#TwitterSmarter https://t.co/AueRZeoKG6 pic.twitter.com/vuzVusSqnz— Christine Gritmon #ChatAboutBrand ❤️ (@cgritmon) November 5, 2020
Another great way to highlight people in your team is to feature them separately—either on social media or on your website. GiveWP is a regular on our chats, but they have a handful of people behind their handles and it’s a different person every week. For instance, last week, we had Taylor, who was also the guest. We spoke about GivingTuesday and how to use social media to give back to our societies. This week, however, it was Drew behind the handle. He told us about how GiveWP has spotlights for each team member.
A4: We love doing #TeamGive spotlights so people can learn more about who’s behind our accounts. Not to be “that guy” but here is mine: https://t.co/YYx7T1L1bi ? #TwitterSmarter #ShamelessPlug
— GiveWP (@GiveWP) November 5, 2020
As I mentioned before, custom GIFs are a brilliant way to grab attention and add a personal touch to your tweets. Aside from that, you can also do voice messages, and videos—both recorded and live.
A5.
Pictures, custom GIFs, videos, and voice messaging can all be great ways to show that there’s a real human behind the words.
Live streaming on Twitter can show that even more directly!#TwitterSmarter https://t.co/z1XLcvv3Sj pic.twitter.com/TXBdnMZHJV— Christine Gritmon #ChatAboutBrand ❤️ (@cgritmon) November 5, 2020
Rachel reminded us of the importance of using the profile header and pinned tweet to show who you are and what you do. It’s a great space to include an introductory video, illustrations and images, and even website addresses.
A5: Use your bio & pinned tweet effectively. That’s free space to showcase yourself! I also think the banner is underutilized. You can use that spot SO many ways. #TwitterSmarter
— Rachel Wendte (@rkwendte) November 5, 2020
Smita suggested polls, image gallery, and Twitter Lists as additional ways to convey your personality.
? Audio Tweets
?Video
? Personalised gif's
?Polls
?Emoji's
? Multiple Image Gallery
?Lists— Smita Poojary (@Smita_DigiMarke) November 5, 2020
I’ve already beaten this point to death, but I’ll say it again: prioritize conversations. Reply and quote tweets to keep interactions flowing. And take Christine’s suggestion and invite your Twitter connections to join you across other social media as well. When you surround yourself with like minded people, it’s easier to initiate conversations and to convert them into more meaningful relationships.
A6b.
I’ve also started adding my Twitter besties on additional platforms, such as LinkedIn and Instagram, and encouraging them to come over to Facebook for my Friday live stream.#TwitterSmarter pic.twitter.com/1Dw3lXtyx3
— Christine Gritmon #ChatAboutBrand ❤️ (@cgritmon) November 5, 2020
Bernie added another valuable point. Focus on developing relationships on social media, and whenever you get a chance, meet and catch up in real time as well. Just see that you wear masks and maintain appropriate physical distance. #SafetyFirst.
A6: Listen, engage, communite, join and be part of communities/chats, support others, lift others up and have respect. And take to IRL when you can. #TwitterSmarter
— Bernie Fussenegger #Digital360Chat (@B2the7) November 5, 2020
It’s also crucial to be consistent. After all, the biggest challenge for any relationship is when one person isn’t around. Diana put it well—you have to be genuinely interested in your Twitter relationships. Only then will you want to come back and engage with them on a regular basis. Otherwise, it’s nearly impossible to maintain those relationships.
A6 #TwitterSmarter oh man, I love this question, too. You have to have a real interest in people in the first place. Social media is about keeping up with relationships, so if you're only here every once & a while, those connections will fizzle out.
— Diana Richardson? (@DianaRich013) November 5, 2020
We need to nurture relationships because we’re all naturally driven by our relationships. Twitter and other social media, in particular, are all founded under the same underlying need to be connected to other human beings.
Quoting Mark Schaefer and Bob Burg, Christine pointed out how people trust people and not random brand marketers. And to develop that trust, you have to be around so they can recognize you, and be likeable so they choose you over unknown brands.
A7.
It's not a marketing channel;
It's a relationship channel.#TwitterSmarter pic.twitter.com/oqoahY9ikX— Christine Gritmon #ChatAboutBrand ❤️ (@cgritmon) November 5, 2020
Lance gave us another good reason to nurture relationships on social media. Often, we see people who thrive because of their social media connections. Who’s to say, when you’re least expecting it, one of your long-term Twitter friends might be the reference that lands you a big deal. Of course, don’t delve into developing relationships just because they will help you later on. Social media should focus on being social and not transactional.
#TwitterSmarter A7: Nourish social media (and offline) relationships, because it's not always what you know but WHO you know. Be willing to share knowledge, contacts, opportunities, because that kindness may come back 10-fold when you need it.
— Lance A Schart (@LanceASchart) November 5, 2020
A8b.
In terms of personal brands, off the top of my head, @Brianne2K @chrisbrogan @amandamgoetz feel like I get to see their human side a lot, in the best way.#TwitterSmarter
— Christine Gritmon #ChatAboutBrand ❤️ (@cgritmon) November 5, 2020
Christine’s favorite brands include Fast and Aviation Gin, while the top personal brands on her list are Brianne Fleming, Chris Brogan, and Amanda Goetz.
A8. I think that@Agorapulse @LatelyAI @streamyardapp @Metricool
Do a great job interacting with the community#TwitterSmarter https://t.co/AqpotpNhyd
— Jim Fuhs #LaunchYourLive (@FuhsionMktg) November 5, 2020
Jim highlighted Agorapulse, Lately, Streamyard, and Metricool.
Some other brands our community members love are, SEMRush, Wendy’s, ScotRail, and Buffer. I’m sure I missed a lot of other good ones, so feel free to let us know which human brands you like the most.
Well, folks, that’s all from me this week. As always, thanks for reading through. And if you have some time to spare on Thursday, join us at 1pm ET for the next #TwitterSmarter chat.
About me, Narmadhaa:
I write all things—technical and marketing copy to fill the pocket; haiku and short stories to fill the soul. A social media enthusiast, I’m a member of the #TwitterSmarter chat crew, and always happy to take on writing gigs.
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