Evernote is one of the startups that I think will not only endure but prevail in these troubling times, either as a standalone company or as a popular feature in a larger company. It is a Web 2.0 service that lets you send a clip of anything you find while surfing from iPhone or computer to an Evernote-hosted space where you can organize and tag text, audio or video clips. I should be using it to write Twitterville.
I've chosen Evernote to be the fifth and final company to be profiled in Chapter 5: "Who wants to chat with a Coke bottle," in part because they are succeeding in Twitter while ignoring my viewpoint that Twitter is most wisely used as a tool of conversation rather than a new channel to broadcast marketing and PR messages.
The Evernote Twitter account has almost 8500 followers and several people enthusiastically recommended I include it because users find it useful. So I went to Andrew Sinkov, Evernote's lead marketer and principal Tweeter to get his perspective. Here's his side of the story:
1. How has the recession impacted your business?
The recession has not had any significant impact on our user growth or premium service uptake. In response to the economic downturn, we have reigned in a lot of our spending both operationally and on marketing campaigns. We want to ensure that we are spending our resources as wisely as possible.
2. What social media programs are you using? How does your use of Twitter connect with the other social media platforms?
In addition to Twitter, we have a corporate blog, a Facebook fan page, a Tumblr blog, YouTube video page, a FriendFeed, accounts with Pownce and Plurk and a LinkedIn group.
Of these, our Twitter feed is updated with the greatest frequency, and it is our Twitter feed that most often directs people to our pages on other social sites.
3. What do you find unique for Evernote about Twitter?
Twitter’s design coupled with the myriad ways of receiving updates make it a powerful broadcasting tool. Whenever we have something newsworthy to announce, a useful tip about our products, or an interesting article, we share it directly with our followers in an incredibly personal way, akin to receiving an IM message from your close friend.
Much has been written about the ambient awareness that Twitter creates. We think of each message as adding a layer of knowledge about Evernote. A person may only glance at our update, but it reinforces our existence and our utility.
5. Is Twitter something you just use, or is it part of your strategy? Please explain?
Twitter is a key part of our community and communications strategy. No message is ever sent haphazardly – each message has a value and a purpose. Oftentimes, we tweet links to our blog posts, videos, or relevant articles. In each of these cases, we use short URLs that are trackable. Also, we try to tweet only during hours and days when the greatest number of users will be online. Even though Twitter, like RSS, is asynchronous, we find that the majority of clicks occur immediately upon receiving an update and then trail off over the following 12 hours. So, we always aim to maximize that initial burst.
6. What has Twitter achieved for you?
Twitter has played an instrumental role in establishing our brand. For a small company, we were able to reach our users, connect with them on a very personal level, and provide them with useful content. In addition, Twitter has helped to augment our PR efforts. On a number of occasions, we have had our first interactions with journalists through direct messages. Those DMs then turn into briefings and conversations, which, in turn, become blog posts and articles. Many journalists have a somewhat negative view of traditional PR, for those individuals, receiving a message directly from the company is preferred.
7. Why did you choose to just make the Twitter account "Evernote?" Why not show there's a real person behind the Twitter account?
Evernote is a place for users to store and retrieve memories, ideas, and, generally, things of personal importance. In order to build confidence in our new service, we focused on consistent branding and messaging that was always solid and trustworthy. We had the software and infrastructure in place and needed to couple that with a strong identity.
Early on, we chose to use Twitter only for broadcasting. We would not reply publicly to messages, nor would we comment on things unrelated to our product. If successful, we felt that this approach would help build a positive relationship with our brand. In our view, this could only be done effectively by tying the corporate brand to the Twitter account. If we had tied it to a person, then there would be a natural tendency towards conversation, and our feeling was that the signal to noise ratio would become unfavorable.
In addition, our identity is very inclusive. It does not feel age or gender-specific, which helps us attract a wider, more diverse audience. A number of our employees have personal Twitter accounts, which they use for more direct interaction and conversation with users.
8. Do you have any good stories about something that happened on the Evernote Twitter account?
One of the great aspects of Twitter, is that it allows us a glimpse into how users are using our product. To our surprise, we’ve learned that people use Evernote as part of their religious lives. Some save sermons in Evernote, others use it for research as part of their divinity studies. The most unexpected tweet came from an individual who recorded his sins in Evernote so that he could remember them for confession.
9. Additional comments?
Two suggestions and one warning:
1) Tracking: There are many Twitter tools out there. Some are useful, but most are not. I recommend that anyone starting out with Twitter become familiar with tools that provide some tracking and insight.
2) Be consistent: It is very easy to have a schizophrenic personality on Twitter. There are tons of options, but I feel that it’s important to choose a voice and stick with it, especially when tying your corporate brand to the account.
