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Edward Boches, chief creative officer at the ad agency Mullen, recently wrote a blog post titled “10 Reasons why every CEO has to get on Twitter now.”
“I have found it to be one of the most remarkable tools,” said Boches, who joined Twitter less than a year ago and has nearly 4,500 followers. “For CEOs, it’s the simplest and easiest way to stay in touch with your customers. It will get you out of the ivory tower and closer to the thinking and conversations in the marketplace.”
Dave Balter, CEO of word-of-mouth marketing firm BzzAgent Inc. in Boston, might seem like he would have been an early adopter of Twitter. But he wasn’t.
“I’m a non-tweeter. The fact is, I don’t think that the minutia of my life is all that interesting,” he said. “As an organization, we tweet. It’s just not for me.
“I care more about my company being famous,” Balter added. “It’s down to ego and a personal need to share the things that really don’t matter in the long run. ...I think we’ve become a society of over-sharers. It’s like TMI on a grand scale.”
The executives’ approaches represent two polar viewpoints in an ongoing debate about the value of the social networking site. Some occupants of C-level suites have embraced it; others remain skeptical about its value and longevity.
Love it or hate it, Twitter’s popularity has erupted in recent months. Initially Twitter attracted advertising, public relations and media types. New York-based eMarketer estimates that last year, there were about 6 million Twitter users, a number that the marketing research firm predicts will reach 18 million in 2010.
While those numbers are impressive, Nielsen Online recently reported Twitter’s retention is only 40 percent. Social networking sites average 70 percent.
Supporters such as Boches are exploring the marketing potential of the three-year-old social networking site that lets members tap out micro blogs or tweets in 140 characters or fewer, while amassing a group of “followers.”
“It’s a quick way to catch up with people. It’s also fun to figure out how to say something in 140 characters,” said Paul Levy, CEO of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, who joined the microblogging site late last year and now has more than 1,500 followers.
Levy usually uses Twitter to promote his blog, “Running a Hospital.” He also tweets about movies — “Star Trek Rocks!” — and even Twitter etiquette.
“Is it rude not to follow everyone who follows you?” he asked in one recent tweet.
Tracy Gallagher, managing director of accounting firm CBIZ Tofias in Cambridge, says that the potential for security breaches has held him and his staff back from joining Twitter.
“I haven’t figured out the business usage of it yet,” said Gallagher. “We do use YouTube and we have a site on LinkedIn. But for marketing purposes, to open us up to a security breach? The return on investment isn’t worth it.”
Still, the potential for increased exposure for both company and personal brands is the main motivation of many executives on Twitter.
Employment lawyer Jay Shepherd, founder of Boston-based Shepherd Law Group, says that since he joined Twitter in January traffic has tripled for his blog “Gruntled Employees” and grown significantly for his newer legal blog, “Client revolution.”
“It has increased our brand awareness and as a result I’ve gotten some speaking gigs,” said Shepherd. “The bottom line is, is it making any money? The answer is no, I haven’t gotten a client yet. It’s more like a branding campaign. But because my business is B-to-B, I’m not going to get clients” through Twitter.
A Twitter address is a must-have for CEO’s, Shepherd said. “I think not having a Twitter address now is going to be like not having a Web site or e-mail address 10 years ago.”
Perhaps not surprisingly, Chuck Hollis, chief technology officer at Hopkinton-based EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC), is an advocate of Twitter.
“We have many hundreds of people who work for EMC, who engage on Twitter and other platforms. Collectively we share and connect with each other to help EMC and our customers communicate more effectively,” said Hollis in an e-mail.
Other local executives who tweet include Diane Hessan, CEO of Watertown-based Communispace; George Colony, CEO of Forrester Research Inc. (Nasdaq: FORR) in Cambridge; and Kip Hollister, CEO of Boston-based staffing firm Hollister Inc.
Meanwhile some executives are reserving judgment about Twitter.
Bob Metcalfe, a partner at Waltham-based Polaris Venture Partners, says that his Twitter usage is experimental at this point. Metcalfe regularly tweets about his weight-loss program.
“I have an open mind about Twitter,” wrote Metcalfe in an e-mail. “I have 800-plus followers, most of whom I do not know, nor do I know why they follow me. I am finding it useful to support my current weight-loss program. I regularly post my weight, and it helps me somehow to know that I will be. I guess we might call this the support-group application of Twitter.”
“I have found it to be one of the most remarkable tools,” said Boches, who joined Twitter less than a year ago and has nearly 4,500 followers. “For CEOs, it’s the simplest and easiest way to stay in touch with your customers. It will get you out of the ivory tower and closer to the thinking and conversations in the marketplace.”
Dave Balter, CEO of word-of-mouth marketing firm BzzAgent Inc. in Boston, might seem like he would have been an early adopter of Twitter. But he wasn’t.
“I’m a non-tweeter. The fact is, I don’t think that the minutia of my life is all that interesting,” he said. “As an organization, we tweet. It’s just not for me.
“I care more about my company being famous,” Balter added. “It’s down to ego and a personal need to share the things that really don’t matter in the long run. ...I think we’ve become a society of over-sharers. It’s like TMI on a grand scale.”
The executives’ approaches represent two polar viewpoints in an ongoing debate about the value of the social networking site. Some occupants of C-level suites have embraced it; others remain skeptical about its value and longevity.
Love it or hate it, Twitter’s popularity has erupted in recent months. Initially Twitter attracted advertising, public relations and media types. New York-based eMarketer estimates that last year, there were about 6 million Twitter users, a number that the marketing research firm predicts will reach 18 million in 2010.
While those numbers are impressive, Nielsen Online recently reported Twitter’s retention is only 40 percent. Social networking sites average 70 percent.
Supporters such as Boches are exploring the marketing potential of the three-year-old social networking site that lets members tap out micro blogs or tweets in 140 characters or fewer, while amassing a group of “followers.”
“It’s a quick way to catch up with people. It’s also fun to figure out how to say something in 140 characters,” said Paul Levy, CEO of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, who joined the microblogging site late last year and now has more than 1,500 followers.
Levy usually uses Twitter to promote his blog, “Running a Hospital.” He also tweets about movies — “Star Trek Rocks!” — and even Twitter etiquette.
“Is it rude not to follow everyone who follows you?” he asked in one recent tweet.
Tracy Gallagher, managing director of accounting firm CBIZ Tofias in Cambridge, says that the potential for security breaches has held him and his staff back from joining Twitter.
“I haven’t figured out the business usage of it yet,” said Gallagher. “We do use YouTube and we have a site on LinkedIn. But for marketing purposes, to open us up to a security breach? The return on investment isn’t worth it.”
Still, the potential for increased exposure for both company and personal brands is the main motivation of many executives on Twitter.
Employment lawyer Jay Shepherd, founder of Boston-based Shepherd Law Group, says that since he joined Twitter in January traffic has tripled for his blog “Gruntled Employees” and grown significantly for his newer legal blog, “Client revolution.”
“It has increased our brand awareness and as a result I’ve gotten some speaking gigs,” said Shepherd. “The bottom line is, is it making any money? The answer is no, I haven’t gotten a client yet. It’s more like a branding campaign. But because my business is B-to-B, I’m not going to get clients” through Twitter.
A Twitter address is a must-have for CEO’s, Shepherd said. “I think not having a Twitter address now is going to be like not having a Web site or e-mail address 10 years ago.”
Perhaps not surprisingly, Chuck Hollis, chief technology officer at Hopkinton-based EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC), is an advocate of Twitter.
“We have many hundreds of people who work for EMC, who engage on Twitter and other platforms. Collectively we share and connect with each other to help EMC and our customers communicate more effectively,” said Hollis in an e-mail.
Other local executives who tweet include Diane Hessan, CEO of Watertown-based Communispace; George Colony, CEO of Forrester Research Inc. (Nasdaq: FORR) in Cambridge; and Kip Hollister, CEO of Boston-based staffing firm Hollister Inc.
Meanwhile some executives are reserving judgment about Twitter.
Bob Metcalfe, a partner at Waltham-based Polaris Venture Partners, says that his Twitter usage is experimental at this point. Metcalfe regularly tweets about his weight-loss program.
“I have an open mind about Twitter,” wrote Metcalfe in an e-mail. “I have 800-plus followers, most of whom I do not know, nor do I know why they follow me. I am finding it useful to support my current weight-loss program. I regularly post my weight, and it helps me somehow to know that I will be. I guess we might call this the support-group application of Twitter.”
