Your Twitter Name: Company Name vs Personal Name

David Meerman Scott wrote a great post today on his Web Ink Now blog entitled: Time to Stop Abusing Twitter. David Wrote:

“I’m seeing more and more Twitter feeds created not with a person’s name “Mary Smith at XYZ Company” but instead the feed is created with the company name instead “XYZ Company.”

It’s easy to misconstrue that using your company name as your Twitter username is bad idea.

First, let me say that it’s perfectly fine to use your company’s name as your Twitter username. The important thing is that the tone and style of your tweets conveys the impression that there is a real person behind the name.

Southwest Airlines is on Twitter. And in typical SWA fashion, their Twitter profile reads:

“The LUV Airline! Airplanes can’t type so Christi is responding/chatting with you!”

So now we know we are really talking to Christi.

Here’s a company that I think should be held up as a shining example of how to make effective use of Twitter: SixApart. A couple of months ago, I wrote about my excellent experience with SixApart’s support group that came about as a result of one of my tweets. Though their profile doesn’t mention anyone’s name, it is clear from reading their tweets that Twitter is a formal part of SixApart’s support and outreach. It’s also clear after a couple of interactions with them that there is a real person on the other end. She’ll even include her email address in her replies to you if circumstance warrant.

Dell Computer has made the news recently by announcing that it has sold $1M worth of product through Twitter. Dell has several Twitter accounts, each targeted at a different demographic, interest, or persona. The notable one I think is DellOutlet, used to announce short term specials and deals in the Dell Outlet store. Even then, their Twitter profile makes it clear that someone named Stefanie is behind the curtain.

Don’t forget that Twitter is the ultimate opt-in permission-based channel. Nobody is forced to follow you. If you want to use a Twitter account to promote and advertise your high-precision laser-guided pneumatic-powered cat-whapper, people who are contemplating the purchase of a cat-whapper will find you and follow you. Just remember:

• Use your Twitter profile to tell people what you’ll be tweeting about.
• Make it a point to et people know the identity of the real person on your end
• Make your tweets personal and genuine

One final thought:

Sometimes it’s NOT a good idea to use a person’s name as your company’s Twitter username. If you are going to designate a person in your company as ‘The Twitter Person’, you should use the company name instead of her personal name. She is going to be building social media capital on your behalf. If she leaves the company you don’t want her taking that capital with her. If that happens you’ll have to start all over. Stick with your company’s name as your Twitter name under those circumstances.