First Original Post. "Just call me @thelegendaryKB"- How I learned to successfully utilize twitter as a tool for free marketing and PR at English National Ballet

From: Google Images

My first experience with twitter was, for lack of better words, a complete and total MESS. 

During my sophomore year, my professor, without giving any guidance or conversational direction, spontaneously decided to hold an entire class on twitter. No talking. Just tweeting.  After gathering us in one of the Clark University Computer labs he us loose into the twitter world.  In minutes I was overwhelmed with short blurbs about breakfast, passive aggressive complaints, and opinions on the new Harry Potter movie trailer. Not only was I unsure of what to write, but also totally unsure of what the class discussion was.  People were simply tweeting whatever first came to mind.

I was more overwhelmed during those few minutes than I had been during the midterm exam.

For a long time after that negative experience, I thought Twitter was the most pointless media platform that was ever created…and at first glance, who wouldn’t think so?  Here is a service that allows users to send a 140-character update to their followers about anything. Why, I thought, do I need to know what @LadyGagaLover4236 ate for breakfast?

The truth is though, as I have come to learn, that people do actually care.  Not necessarily about what someone is eating, but about being in “the know.”  Users enjoy the fact that they have made several connections with other users… whether or not they have ever actually met them.

The driving force behind the groundswell is to connect with one another.  Twitter is just another platform that facilitates building such connections.

When it comes to businesses though, is all about utilizing social media properly to build the kinds of connections that help drive it to success.  Li and Bernoff note though that before utilizing the groundswell, you need to have some sort of a strategy.  To go on twitter and just tweet randomly using various hash tags would be what has been coined as “making noise.” In other words, tweets that are ignored and get in the way of what people want to read about.  It’s all about your strategy-- knowing what you want to accomplish from using a particular platform and how you are going to accomplish it.  Social media, in this case Twitter, is exactly what you make of it.  I learned this while interning in London for English National Ballet the fall of 2011.

Working in the marketing offices at the headquarters of English National Ballet

During my time at English National Ballet (ENB for short), I had the opportunity to work alongside the social media manager.  Her job was to oversee the various accounts ENB had within the groundswell and make sure that they were accomplishing what they were meant to accomplish.  ENB’s twitter account is meant primarily to “energize” and promote positive talk within the twitter world.  To them, twitter is considered a free marketing and PR tool.

ENB Twitter Homepage

The ENB tweets I would write were mainly short “headlines” concerning the ballet that followers and twitter users may find interesting.  To generate more enthusiasm within twitter, I was guided to include links to interviews, press releases regarding dancers and performances, as well as photos of rehearsals.  Over the course of my internship, I became more “versed” in the ENB brand lingo and was able to compose my own original tweets using the ENB handle (@ENBallet) as well as the hash tag (#EnglishNationalBallet).  Later, I even created my own twitter account and started tweeting about and re-tweeting ENB from my handle so my personal followers would get to learn about the great things that were happening at the ballet.  It was this kind of strategic tweeting I had learned that lead to creating more ENB enthusiasm in the ballet and twitter world.

My very first tweet! Naturally about my first day on the job at ENB

Since my internship, ENB has revamped their web page, facebook, and twitter account in order to keep up with the ever-changing groundswell.  One thing that has not changed are ENB’s tweets.  They are still created with the goal of energizing users about ENB and encourage them to get interested in the company.

Recent Tweets from @ENBallet and tweets "at" @ENBallet

Today I am an active and rather enthusiastic “Tweeter.”  I have my own handle, @thelegendaryKB, which I use to make my own connections with my friends, other users, and businesses that interest me.  I have since moved past my aversion for the social media platform and am no longer overwhelmed by the random tweets that routinely show up in my feed.  Sure I tweet from time to time about a great book I have read or meal that was particularly delicious, but I also know how to use twitter as a free marketing tool.  Whether it be to gain enthusiasm for ENB or to spread #CougarPride and awareness about a Clark University athletics event, I know how to work twitter to my advantage.

Me having a much needed dance break in the main rehearsal room... tweeting can be hard work! :P

If you are interested in checking out all of the great stuff that is going on at ENB, check out the ENB website, ENB Twitter or facebook page!

… And if you really are interested and want to check out an inside look at ENB, check out this first installment of a three-part documentary the company did in 2010 and released while I was an intern!  Enjoy!