What the HECK do my clients think? Spending a bit too much time on Twitter…?

ScreenHunter_03 Oct. 18 15.51Please tell me I’m not the only one. You sit at your desk, trying to hold in the giggles from something brilliantly funny that just popped into your head. “I have to tweet that! I’m a genius!” you say. (Ok, that’s a bit far from what I say to myself, but you get the point.)

But wait! My client Scooby Doo Scuba Gear follows me on Twitter . . . Shoot! I can’t tweet that. They will see it. They will think I’m nuts.

*Nudge, nudge* How about they will think: “what the HECK is my PR firm doing with the time I’m paying them for?” (This applies for those who don’t operate their client’s social media.)

I truly believe PR pros view their involvement with social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter very differently. But have you ever gotten that feeling like you might be in trouble for it? With client or boss?

Here’s my $.02 on why (take a deep breath with me now) it’s ok for us PR pros to spend time each day on Twitter:

  • The media landscape is changing. Where we’ve lost many print outlets, it seems online news outlets aren’t taking the hit as bad. Where are many of these online (and print) news outlet editors and reporters? Twitter, Facebook, Linked In, MySpace.
  • I don’t know about you, but I found out about Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize win from Twitter. News spreads fast on social media sites. If I find a fantastic article on, for example, mobile marketing that can be applicable to one of my mobile website building clients in that realm of service, my time spent on Twitter has been worth it and I’ve possibly found a new writer I can pitch.
  • So many local, small-business start-ups don’t have the budget just yet for advertising. Off the top of my head I can think of at least five local businesses in my area that I haven’t seen a single advertisement for. But I know what they do and I’ve built a relationship with them via Twitter . . . a better relationship than an ad would have produced. There! I now have a possible new vendor or even customer for one of my existing clients.

Don’t get me wrong. There are definitely those who spend far too much time on Twitter (and frankly, if you aren’t putting in those occasional late evenings and weekends, I’d be a bit cautious). I myself wonder if their clients panic at their Twitter feeds. But overall, I have not run into any real issues and find the benefits outweigh the negative.

I’d love to get your feedback on why you think your time spent on Twitter, Facebook, etc. during your day is ok . . . even beneficial (or not). Express your fears or doubts here as well. Anyone had a client talk to them about their presence on Twitter? Anyone simply block a client?

Nota bene: this blog post was written after-hours. 😉

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