Should I Twitter? Well, yes, but what should you Twitter about... thats the key.

To me, it's not really a question of whether one should Twitter, it's more a question of what should one Twitter about. In that simple statement really lies the truth.

A lot of Sagittarius Digital clients of late have been showing an interest in Twitter. Partly, it's because its deemed the next big thing in digital and consequently all over the media. Partly, it's because people like Nick and Sang have been telling them that they if there not, they should at least be open to the possibilities of it. Partly its because we've just been interviewed by the BBC's South East business team because I Twitter (twitter.com/FletchMcGull) for us all day and Nick sees it as an integral part of our communications strategy.

But why do we do it? Sagittarius Digital is a marketing company, B2B; it's not Nike or Coca Cola - youth brands for a youth platform - as some would argue. The truth is that it's a great way to create brand engagement and reach new customers and audiences. In classic marketing speak, it's about customer acquisition, through networking, and retention, through meaningful continuous dialogue. The other truth is, its used by everyone with recent figures showing the largest take up of late has been in the 20 - 35 year old age group.

The key words in the preceeding paragraph though are 'engagement' and 'dialogue'. Twitter is not and should not be seen as another channel for your News RSS feed. It should not be a one way push of your latest offers. Make no mistake, relevant news stories and special offers should be communicated but only as part of your on-going communications; not as the meat of it.

Twitter is about real time conversations; conversations that engage and interest. Brands that embrace Twitter in this manner, building relationships with people in an honest, open and conversational way will do well. Twitter is an open forum where brands can talk to people as people, not as segments or as types. Brands can almost become people through Twitter and be seen as part of their network. In order to do so though brands must adopt personality and can not be seen as faceless, corporate entities.

Twitter is the current antithesis of Web 2.0 - user-centric, user-generated, self regulating and conversational in its communications model. It connects people in a real way, more so than blogs like this and even Facebook. Its what the webs about and as such has real value when utilised in this fashion.

So what should I Twitter about? Anything, so long as its interesting and engaging and not cold and broad. From my own experience, I can say you should Twitter about anything that you know people will find interesting, useful and/or entertaining. By doing this, you then have a platform and channel in which to introduce the more marketing focused communications - insights into real world issues, latest news articles from which you can generate further debate and engagement and yes, even special offers and promotions.

To find out more about Twitter and what it can do for you, contact my people on 08450 553888 or look me up at http://twitter.com/FletchMcGull or visit http://www.sagittarius-digital.com

Internet Explorer 8 - are you ready for it?

It's fair to say that Internet Explorer 8 has been met with mixed feeling in the office. The sales and accounts guys are seeing a new service offering: Internet Explorer 8 compliance testing and fixing, whilst the digital team are collectively slapping their heads as they now have to support another browser - and another Microsoft one at that.

The reason for all the noggin slapping - the browser has been launched with a button that fixes CSS issues by putting itself into backward compatibility mode - effectively making it Internet Explorer 7 again.

The cynic in me thinks that really Microsoft should really just get things right the first time but on the other hand perhaps this is there way of acknowledging their mistakes with browsers past (IE6 standing out in my mind as a truly remarkable beast for all the wrong reasons) and making sure that their customers have a way to adopt (and I use the term adopt loosely given that it is now an automatic update) this new application with a fairly painless escape route when things their customers favourite sites no longer really look like they used to.

The question remains though: Will people know to do this? Probably not. If you know this much about browsers and website layout, aren't you on Firefox already?

Ramblings about browser issues aside, if you are a website owner or manager and would like to talk to someone about the implications of Internet Explorer 8 for your business, then take a look at the article on the website: http://www.sagittarius-digital.com/News/our-news/is-your-website-ready-for-internet-explorer-8.aspx

Another Friday competition

Well, today's Friday competition got to the bottom of just how interesting some of our Twitter friends really are!

Having seen a local press article about Medway Council planning a Hollywood style sign for the Medway area, I posed the question on Twitter "What would be the best place in the UK to get its own Hollywood sign?"

The results were as you would imagine - lots of suggestions for Pratt's Bottom -which would indeed make a lovely 30ft high white wooden sign, a few Nastys, Ugleys and even the odd Twatt! At the moment there is consensus in the office nest that 'Fattahead' would make a rather attractive piece of hillside art as would 'Bottom' in Ballymena.

Results to be announced at http://twitter.com/fletchmcgull...