Soldiers’ Angels just launched their new Twitter Background that the MindComet team created for them as a part of their CommuniCause $25,000 Social Media Makeover.

It’s a small piece of the makeover, but it’s so pretty that I have to share it. And while we’re doing so, I’d like to discuss the usage of a twitter background and highlight some best practices. Please read on below the fold!

Click on the image to see it in its full glory!

Some people might think “No one is going to see your Twitter background - everyone uses a mobile device or desktop application.” They’d be right - but only in part. As you can see in our prior post, just over half of users don’t use Twitter.com, and therefore don’t see the background. However, people who are reading an account’s tweets are generally already subscribed to the account. In this case, it’s really about spreading the word and gathering new followers and supporters.

How do people find new Twitter accounts? There are two very common ways - via links on Web sites and from their friends. If they click on a link on your Web site, the twitter.com page will load, not the visitor’s mobile or desktop app. If they find you via a friend’s tweet, they may or may not see the account on twitter.com - but this just enforces the importance of having a great description and compelling content for them to see.

What’s so important about them seeing this pretty twitter background anyway? Will people follow an account because it’s pretty? In some cases, yes, but that’s a completely different discussion (notice how ugly boys tend to have less followers than pretty girls, but I digress…) In this case, it’s all about conversion. You’re making a first impression - make it a good one!

Your Twitter background is just like your Facebook landing page. Upon arrival, the user is posed with a decision: should they follow or not? Putting your best foot forward is all you can do to enhance your success in that decision making progress. But there’s more! You can offer the visitor additional options.

Again, like a good Facebook landing page, there’s more than just the goal of connecting with the visitors as a fan or follower. Maybe this user likes what you’re doing, but they think you tweet too much and wouldn’t like your messaging to get in the way of their celebrity gossip. Then maybe they would connect with you on Facebook! Wouldn’t that be great? Or maybe they feel strongly about your organization’s work and want to connect with you in every way they can. Maybe they’re ready to donate - give them options!

But don’t overload them. You’ll see that we offer three simple options on the left of the background above. Soldiers’ Angels does so much and has so many goals (they’re supporting our entire US Armed Forces!), so we had to define a path and make some decisions. Look at this opportunity as a doorway to the conversion funnel. What destinations would benefit your visitors most? What would call them to action to support your organization? Can you place them directly in the funnel without putting a bad taste in their mouth by being too direct? That’s your call, but remember to test and refine for optimum results!

In our case, we took them to the Soldiers’ Angels Web Site, which offers up calls to action to donate, shows how many soldiers are awaiting adoption and has paths towards a number of goals. We also selected Facebook, as Soldiers’ Angels has a fantastic community built that will certainly make the visitor feel welcome and compel them to offer their support. Then we have the mobile club - a way to get connected and stay connected - or even directly donate. Their bases are covered.

And don’t forget about campaign tagging! Read up on our last discussion about measuring the effectiveness of your social media initiatives. If any of these links land on pages that you can track with Google Analytics, append some appropriate tracking code, and then shrink and customize to make it pretty. Notice our tinyurl.com/mobileclub link in the background above - tinyurl/X4rBzQ3 wouldn’t have been great, considering the links cannot be made clickable and must be typed by visitors.

Now a quick talk about design. Our creative team would speak about consistent branding, and they’d be right. It’s important to offer a uniform experience to help the user relate from one medium to another. Really, it’s not as easy as we’d like with the limitations of Facebook (wow - MySpace is actually far superior in this respect, albeit a bit dangerous with their level of available customization). But still - tie it all together. If you develop this background, use the same creative for your YouTube channel, with appropriate tweaks, for instance. Use elements from your Web site. Think of it as part of a larger system, not all out on its own.

Also, make sure you’re designing for the medium. Twitter can be tough, with the method in which the main tweet area is centered and moves as the page is stretched horizontally. This leaves one safe area for textual content - and that’s the far left. Unless the users’ screen is so narrow that they’re not seeing your background at all, they’ll see some content here. And really, the narrower that your message can be (but stil pop), the better. Use the rest of the background to evoke emotion and draw the user in. In Soldiers’ Angels’ case, we’re drawing on the patriotic spirit. In your case, maybe you should tile pictures of those you support. Your organization should know what pulls at the heartstrings of your supporters - this is where you use it. But use happy imagery - people want to feel good for supporting you, not guilty.

For me personally, if you put a bunch of sad kittens on your Twitter background, I’m following you, end of discussion!

In the end, just remember that it’s all about your organizational goals. When making a decision to allocate resources in social media - whether it be design, community management, development or promotion, be sure that it’s tied to your goals and that measurement is in place to see that you’re constantly improving.

If these concepts have made you think, but you have questions or need a little guidance, be sure to leave a comment. I’ll be happy to set you on the right path. You can also feel free to reach out to me directly on Twitter - I’d love to chat.

Until next time - stay tuned as we cover our next Soldiers’ Angels initiative on Facebook!

Art Wilbur
New Media Manager
MindComet

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