Instead of blogging about a cool new application or sharing a solution to a pesky development problem, I’m going to talk at length about what I had to eat today. To start off, I had some toast with some coffee at the office and then ate some strawberries. I might Twitpic the strawberries later just in case you have no effing clue what strawberries look like…

I lost you, didn’t I? Did I lose you at the toast? Or maybe right as soon as the word “food” came up. Well, if you’re still hanging with me, I appreciate it. It was all for a reason, I promise. How often would a person read through a blog about what the blogger ate that day? Very rarely (I would say never, but you never know). So, why does it happen so often on Twitter?

Well, lets think about this. Twitter is a social networking tool where the user writes anything and everything as long as it is under 140 characters. Yes, it says “What are you doing?” but these days that question is there for decoration. Twitter has turned into less of a status update, and more of a mini blog. So, what do you talk about?

Some people use Twitter as a gossip tool which can come in handy if you’re like me and you’re completely out of touch with what is going on in the world. Then there are people who make it a daily goal to say something witty and clever as they observe the world. Finally, there are the people who use Twitter as insight to their life. What they’re doing, what’s they’re thinking, who they’re hanging out with, etc. Personally, I think the only people who can do this and still be interesting are celebrities. However, these are the type of people who are culprits of the main subject of this blog.

So, why is this a common problem on Twitter? Obviously this many people wouldn’t post so many food related tweets if they didn’t find it interesting, would they? My theory is that people may not know just how pointless these statements may be. Eating is something that happens often in our lives (especially for Americans) and it is very often present in celebrations and social gatherings. Food is tied to so many emotions: relief, comfort, guilt, excitement, happiness, and the list goes on.

So obviously something that induces so many emotions is worth sharing with your Twitter followers every chance you get, right? Well, not really. Your emotions may be high from the experience, but unless the person can experience it for themselves, it often falls short. I’m not saying that sometimes conversations can’t start from a shared love of burritos from Big City Burrito but usually people just don’t care. So next time you want to post a Twitpic showing the omelet you are about to eat, or you want to talk about how good your sandwich was, take a step back and think “do other people really find this interesting?”

What is your professional / educational background?

I’ve been in the e-commerce business since 1997 when I built the e-commerce department for Alamo Rent A Car. I’ve worked in the travel industry for 10 years and now three years in financial services. I have an undergraduate degree in International Marketing and a MBA. Stacy Gratz is the voice behind @hrblock. She has been in the interactive space for eight year. This is her second year with @hrblock and Twitter.

Did you start up the H&R Block Twitter account or was something already in place when you took over?

We launched the @hrblock account on Twitter in December of 2006. We were expanding our social media programs and wanted to try this new microblogging platform – although I would say it is more like a group instant message.

What Twitter applications do you use to post your tweets?

We mostly post directly through the web through Tweetdeck or coTweet.

What tools do you use to monitor the conversations around H&R Block ? ex: TweetDeck, Monittor etc

TweetDeck is the tool that we use the most. We have multiple brands, products and potential spellings. We set up various columns to monitor our brands.

Have you had to educate others at H&R Block about the benefits of Twitter? If so, how did that go and are they seeing the light?

We’ve had to educate the organization about all our social media efforts including Twitter. It helps with Robert Scoble and Biz Stone tweet that they are at an H&R Block office and we can respond. It also helps that the Wall Street Journal and mainstream media are now talking about Twitter. It was much more difficult to explain the value in Twitter two years ago.

We’ve been able to use Twitter in a variety of different ways. Customer service is important for any brand. We answer questions and help people with any issues they are facing through Twitter.

We also use Twitter to share important information and tax tips. These past two years have been challenging with the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 and the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009. There are a lot of things that consumers can do to better manage their tax situation. We’ve also launched contests and other promotions that are centered around products that we offer such as online tax preparation or Second Look.

We also use Twitter for listening. It has also been very helpful when we can instantly show what people are saying about our brand or an event. For example, we were able to see what people were saying about our SuperBowl ad seconds after it aired. We were also able to see brand sentiment after Timothy Geithner said he used TurboTax during his confirmation hearings. Actively listening to Twitter is a great research tool because it is real time and unbiased.

Does “management” ever second guess your tone or direction on Twitter?

No. We have a great brand and because we are engaging to share our tax expertise or to help our consumers our tone has always been in line with the brand.

What was the most interesting Twitter conversation you’ve had?

It’s funny – last year people were surprised that @hrblock was even on Twitter, this year they are looking for @hrblock to help them. We have a lot of Twitter stories where we were able to help people complete their taxes and A LOT of last minute tax questions on April 14th and 15th. My favorite tweet is from someone stating that they never thought they would be an @hrblock groupie!

How many hours in your day do you spend Twittering?

We are always plugged in, but, we collectively spend about four hours a day actively tweeting.

Are there certain times of the day you Twitter more often?

We tend to find that evenings between 7pm and 10pm are the most active for us, but, we are online all day.

Have you been able to “quantify” your social media efforts at all?

We are looking at Twitter and our other social media efforts as brand building activities. While we can measure the amount of followers, friends, or fans, the measurement tools today are imperfect. We can easily measure the quantity but getting to quality of contacts is more difficult. Even tools like Twinfluence are not perfect. We are looking at brand level measurements versus only transactional measurements.

What other online or social marketing efforts do you think have been most beneficial or successful for the H&R Block brand?

In general, I believe that H&R Block benefits greatly from being part of the conversation online. We have our own community site on hrblock.com that is continually updated with useful tax information and blogs. It has been instrumental to help people navigate through the Tax Stimulus Act of 2008 and the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009. We are also actively participating in Yahoo Answers. Our tax professionals are answering questions and demonstrating the tax expertise that H&R Block has at the local level. We also want to ensure that our brand is represented where communities are forming – through Youtube.com, Facebook, Myspace and Twitter. We tailor each of our programs to match the interests of that community.

Twitter icon: Fluffy Bird from Imulus on Vimeo.

How do you manage a Twitter account on behalf of a brand, product or service?

Lately we've been managing more Twitter accounts on behalf of our clients. Everyone seems to be jumping on the Twitter bandwagon (for good reason) but most aren't sure how to climb aboard. I've put together this "Brand Voice" document to help agencies and companies figure out how to frame the conversation of managing their Twitter account(s).

I'd really appreciate any additions, changes or deletions that you may have:

Characteristics

1. Please describe the product or service in less then 140 characters.
2. Please describe the personality of the product or service in terms of a human voice? (conversational, warm, casual, friendly)
3. How does this voice talk about the competition? (friendly, aggressive, indifferent)
4. What will be the general message of this voice? (customer support, informational, industry news and events)

Audience Profile

1. Please describe the ideal community composition?
2. Is there a difference between how product or service is perceived by a current customer versus a potential customer?
3. Are there application where you would like to see the product or service more widely used?

Management

1. Will other parties, or the company be interested in managing the account(s) along with Imulus?
2. What is the companies’ position on following people? (Follow all or follow us; follow those who are interested in our topics; or follow those who send us Tweets)
3. How would you like us to balance the follow / follower ratio? (1:1, more followers; follow more)
4. If a topic or question escalates to a point where we can’t find an answer or proper response, who can help us within the company?

Content Resources

1. Where or who should we look to at the company to provide us with the most current news, events and inside information?
2. Which websites do your customers frequent?
3. Can we alert your Twitter community of upcoming news before other outlets are made aware? If so, how much lead time can we usually expect?
4. How frequent would you like to see updates to the account(s)? (Once a day, 3 times a day, throughout the day)
5. What keywords would your audience be using in day-to-day conversation around your product or service

Final Thought

I'd be neglecting my duties if I didn't point you to this tutorial on "How to Use Twitter for Marketing and PR". The simple truth is you can't look at Twitter as another marketing channel; a megaphone for your company to spout garbage to the world. Rather, I suggest tweeting with the mindset of having coffee with a new friend or acquaintance. Don't begin by telling them how great you are. Ask questions; really immerse yourself in the conversation, but also know when to shut your mouth.

Good luck, please pass over the recommendations for improvement!

I was about to leave a comment on a recent blog post by @Bruce but instead I feel it needed to become a blog post.

How is it in all our Twitter debate that not once have we touched on the issue of safety? Frankly I don’t really give a crap how insightful and useful it can be if people are dying from some crazy Twitter serial killers. As most of you know already is that on Twitter you can be followed by anyone. Yes, I know that you have the ability to make it private but how often do people do that?

I think what is especially scary is BrightKite. For those of you who don’t know what BrightKite is, it’s “(A) location-based social network. In real time you can see where your friends are and what they’re up to.” What this means is you “check in” on BrightKite and it tells your followers your exact location at the time of check in. Um, hello? Have we all forgotten Mom’s voice telling us never to tell people online were we are? Look at how many people have posted there exact location on BrightKite’s home page!

Yes, I understand there are privacy settings, but you have to remember that people are naive. Say for example someone contacts me through twitter claiming to be interested in a redesign for their web site with Imulus. Of course I wouldn’t want to pass up an opportunity for my company and, me being the trusting soul I am, I check in my location on BrightKite which posts on Twitter for all can see. Is no one else seeing a problem with this?

Yes, you can argue with me the reasons that Twitter and BrightKite are helpful. Yes, you can tell me how many times you and your buddies had a great night out because you happened to be down the street and they happen to see your Twitter post. However, what I am interested in is how far are we willing to sacrifice safety on the off chance that you might benefit from these social networks?