The Internet is a buzz with the news that the CIA just joined twitter. While, it is interesting and cool and certainly a sign of the times it also brings up a more important fact about businesses today that are still not embracing social marketing. As I write this and as you read it, businesses are still making up excuses about why their audiences are not on Twitter and other popular social sites. I could make a case that almost every single business should be using Twitter to communicate with clients, customers and contacts.

I have heard it all before; our niche can’t communicate in 140 characters, Twitter is too young for our audience, we don’t get it, and on and on with many excuses.

The CIA is probably one of the most PR driven organizations in the world. Public opinion is very important to them and one misstep can create a media firestorm that can last for weeks.

So is this the tipping point for all businesses? A shout across the nation saying stop making up excuses and figure out how to embrace social media?

I think that it is just that.

Your business is literally not the CIA, dealing with top-secret information daily and facing criticism with every step. How’s that for some perspective on social media for business.

Many social marketing managers are tired of being cheerleaders for our line of work. Most days it feels like we are radio salesmen in the 1930s, or telling people how great television sets were in the 1950s, when most people already knew it.

The ROI Of Social Media

The same goes with ROI. What’s the ROI of your company’s website, probably a lot if you have leads coming in through a contact form. What is the ROI of your telephone? What is the ROI of emailing a client back when they need something? I worked in print publishing for a decade and the ROI of print advertising is a complete joke.

Social marketing is just another way to communicate with your audience.

It’s Not Enough To Just Be On There

The CIA will soon learn that it is not enough to just be on Twitter. Sure they will get an initial press boost from having a page. But if they tweet once a month or every week, it is not enough. They also shouldn't just tweet only when there is a major problem or they will be irrelevant on that medium. My advice is to humanize your organization and let people know that you have real great people working for you are so much more than how the movies or television often portray.

That being said ... their first two tweets show extreme promise that the person in charge of the page has a sense of humor and could thrive on the platform.

We can neither confirm nor deny that this is our first tweet. — CIA (@CIA) June 6, 2014

Thank you for the @Twitter welcome! We look forward to sharing great #unclassified content with you. — CIA (@CIA) June 7, 2014

The Truth About Twitter

Nobody cares what most businesses are writing as their status updates. The odds of someone seeing those status updates are relatively low (unless you screw up) because it is a constant feed with lots of updates in each pages feed.

The real work is done when searching terms about your company, business and industry using https://twitter.com/search-home and then engaging with people directly.But most in social media already know this. But a lot of people outside of social marketing don't get how much effort and time this can take a brand manager. You are constantly searching waiting for opportunities to add value before your competitors.

Why It’s So Hard And Why Most Are Failing At It

It takes consistent work to use Twitter as a listening tool. Like most social sites the real work goes beyond posting daily status updates. For that reason most brand managers phone it in. They are managing multiple platforms and their time on each is limited. Some larger companies are starting to dedicate one employee to each platform. In this scenario John Smith’s only job responsibility is to be a rock start for the company on Twitter. Not every company can justify this right now, but I believe we will see this become more common in the future.

The Twitter App on Your Phone is Your Best Tool

For brand managers just starting out on Twitter I highly suggest using the app on your smart phone. For some reason it makes it much more easy to check in several times a day to respond to people and @reply people talking about specific search terms. I like to use the Twitter App while watching TV at night to cap off the workday.

Dream Big and Have Fun

Most important, have fun with it. If you come from a true and honest place, no one tweet can hurt your business. At the same time remember that it is public and no tweet can ever truly be deleted. So be prepared to be honest and sincere and apologize when someone on your team puts something bad out into the tweet-o-sphere instead of trying to cover it up. And don't jump on the media bandwagon and fire the person. That looks even worse for your organization. Mistakes will happen, and it is most likely that the person did not have negative intentions. Dream big, and try to talk to media outlets and celebrities directly. Most won't respond to you because they are just using the platform to broadcast out. However, I predict that more of those brands will soon learn how to use the platform correctly.