February 4, 2011 by Philip Calvert
A couple of days ago, @TheFinanceCoach aka Tina Weeks conducted an interesting straw poll asking if people thought she should change her Twitter name to @TinaWeeks.
This followed the publication of an interesting article about the power of names being used on Twitter. Not surprisingly, the feeling is that your own name will always have more appeal than (say) your company name and on balance it will probably attract more followers – if that's what your Twitter strategy demands.
This in itself is a huge talking point on the Internet, as companies increasingly realise that 'people buy people' and that brands often bring a lot of baggage with them when they enter the 'Social Web'. For big organisations who have invested huge sums of money into the perception of their brand, the realisation that individuals within their organisation may well represent them better on the real-time Internet than their carefully crafted image is something they often find uncomfortable.
After all, who within a big organisation should a brand trust to keep the keys to the hallowed Twitter room? Is it the Marketing team, PR, Customer Service, Sales or someone else? And what rules should there be to ensure that brand values aren't compromised? What safeguards are in place to monitor individual tweets just in case the keeper of the corporate Twitter account runs amok amongst the Twitterverse?
It's all very dangerous and scary territory for big brands. Some are dealing with it very well and have changed their mindset to communicating in a real-time world, rather than through carefully pre-planned corporate communications signed off several weeks earlier.
Clearly, smaller brands are handling the change much better, being able to be more nimble on their feet and relishing the ability to leverage the speed of sites like Twitter to their own advantage. But even in the small and micro business sector, the importance of branding is not being ignored completely.
Tina Weeks is no slouch when it comes to Twitter. She runs a boutique financial life planning practice in London, and has almost 5,500 followers – so she's at the top end of Twitter followers amongst the financial planning profession in the UK.
Her entire business philosophy is based around making high quality financial planning available to not just the wealthiest in society, with her marketing and business model aligned around that. So quite apart from being a valuable networking tool, Tina uses Twitter as part of her wider communication proposition.
Again, using the principle that 'people buy people', Tina's posts are 80% - 90% about what goes on in her life. When she does use Twitter to talk about the business side of her life, it is almost always as part of a conversation with other financial planners. Thus, her brand is herself.
So you would be forgiven for thinking that when Tina asked her Twitter followers whether she should change her Twitter name from @TheFinanceCoach to @TinaWeeks, that they would agree because her name more accurately reflected her persona – and because evidence seemed to confirm that a name will attract more followers than a brand name.
But no. Out of over 50 responses, the overwhelming majority said she should keep @TheFinanceCoach as her Twitter name.
Whilst admittedly a small and not very scientific sample, Tina's followers were saying that she is an example of a business that has successfully given a human face to a brand name. This is an exceptional skill to have in the online world. And quite apart from the feedback from her followers, it's also worth noting what a great exercise this was in how to engage with people online.
Whilst 'Twitter experts' may tell you that your name is your most valuable commodity, it goes much deeper than that. Strong branding is crucial for businesses of all shapes and sizes, but if you have a brand with a human face, then that is something to be cherished and nurtured.
Behind the concrete, glass and steel of the world's big corporations are people - real people, living real lives and with stories to tell. Our favourite brands need to be brave enough and proud enough to let us see and hear them.
And let's be honest, anyone in the world of Financial Services is under the spotlight right now. Trust is a key issue, so it's extremely reassuring to see at least one financial planner successfully using Twitter to build her brand, engage with her community and to enhance the perception of her credibility and professionalism.
A great example of using Twitter to good effect and a lesson for brands everywhere. Why not follow @TheFinanceCoach here.
Philip Calvert
Founder of IFA Life
http://socialmediatoday.com/philipcalvert/267016/what-s-name-twitter-dilemma-brands
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