Twitter for Branding: follow the leaders

If you’re thumbs are getting sore from tweeting and searching for good tweeters, give ‘em a break. There are more than 75 million Twitter users according to data published by RJMetrics in January 2010. If you’re trying to find tweeters in a particular niche it can be a tad overwhelming. So we’ve sifted through the millions to uncover the best branding tweeters and thought we’d share them with you.

The tweeters below represent a small portion of branding focused Twitter users available, but what sets this group apart is their influence, ranking and follower base. Make sure to add them to follow them for excellent 140 character snippits to help you build your brand.

@pramitjnathan

Pramit J. Nathan has summarized himself as a marketing consultant, author and speaker that specializes in branding and perception management. With an astonishing 123,836 followers (growing daily), he’s the leader of the branding pack on Twitter.

Following Pramit will connect you to great strategies, suggestions and tips that are brand and marketing related. Definitely one of few tweeters with a ‘pure’ tweet stream, meaning you won’t find random pontification on abstract subjects (i.e. what type of coffee he likes to drink each a.m. or what he purchased for his brother’s birthday last year).

@thebrandbuilder

Olivier Blanchard is author of the Brand Builder Blog and a Frenchman with a penchant for cooking and good food. Not only does Olivier tweet about relevant branding topics, but his blog and website have an amazing arsenal of well-organized links to other helpful business strategists and influential branders.

Absolutely a resource worth following, plus his blog posts and tweets are highly original and entertaining. Don’t know too many people that can connect social media and Bette Davis together for a good read.

@danschawbel

If you’re not following Dan Schawbel, well, you’re just plain missing out. He’s the bestselling author of Me 2.0 and publisher of Personal Branding Magazine. Dan is a personal branding guru and if you’re seeking advice on how to start, where to start and what to do with branding, this is the go-to-guy.

@simonmainwaring

A native Australian, Simon Mainwaring has a fresh and creative approach to branding, which makes him an excellent follow and a fun one too. He specializes in brand triage, or a blend of creative and strategic solutions across traditional, digital and social media. Join the masses and follow to learn how Simon can help maximize your brand.

@landor_dot_com

True, this last tweeter appears to be a bit random and doesn’t have tens of thousands of followers like the others, but it is currently ranked as the number one most influential branding tweeter by a Twitter search directory. Landor Associates is one of those hidden gems in the branding mine. A continual stream of branding’s impact and branding tips can be found. All are encouraged to follow.

Obama and social media: an integrated approach

President Obama understands what needs to happen after the sale. He’s already elected. Yet he is using social media in order to continue the brand experience.

Look at two recent emails that his transition team used to generate conversation and commitment on the part of his “customers” – We The People. The approach of the first email is to ask the receiver to Take A Look. The language is specific and pushes the known hot buttons important to maintaining his brand.

Take a look…

“to execute the most efficient, organized, and transparent transfer of power in American history. As a co-Chair for the Transition, I want to tell you about a few steps we’ve already taken to achieve this goal.”

Transparency…

Transparency is crucial to his success. Americans are starving for a credible leader to trust and transparency is the key element. You can make mistakes, but you can’t cover them up. If you want to continue to strengthen the relationship, your customer must believe that you know who they are, what they want and that you won’t pull any punches.

“that begins with shifting influence away from special interests and restoring it to the everyday Americans who are passionate about fixing the problems facing our country.”

Aren’t we all passionate about fixing the problems facing our country? Even if we aren’t, don’t we want to be? We want to belong. We want to be part of the tribe on the inside. Nobody wants to be outside with their nose pressed against the window. So, of course you are going to want to identify yourself as a passionate American.

“Opening up the Transition means listening to your ideas and stories and providing a window into how the process works.”

Change…

Taking control of the process lets the user participate in an empowered way. It allows the Warrior in us all to champion the cause. We can take action on our own behalf with the blessing of Obama the Ruler. The Warrior and the Ruler are classic archetypes that hold a heartfelt place in our psyche. We can identify with them, act on our role immediately and thus carry forth the brand that we voted for: change.

That change is facilitated by his use of social interaction on the web in his website http://change.gov. Obama knows that social media alone won’t build his brand. But, so far, as he takes his first steps since being elected – he shows us that he knows the value of social media marketing to dominate Internet Branding. Copyright 2008 Leili McKinley