This blog post will explore the many images, pictures, and persona that are portrayed on Twitter.  It is an essential part of the learning of how to market Bed and Breakfast Inns on this new social media.  Here are my thoughts on this subject:

Most people on Twitter have recognizable avatars, those small picture-like icons that identify the issuer of each tweet.  Sometimes these avatars are head shots or more stylized characterizations.  In other cases they are cartoons formed from pictures or even corporate logos.  Imagination is the key, and those that seem to work the best are easily recognizable.  Most “twitterers” change their avatars often, sort of like shedding their skin and adopting a new persona.  In some cases we just see parts of a face or parts of the body.  The interesting thing is whether you want to be recognized on Twitter as a person or as an inanimate object?   For Inns and Bed and Breakfasts doing marketing on Twitter, the selection of the avatar is important, because it is part of the image that you are trying to invoke.  A lot of Innkeepers select avatars that are pictures of the Inn or the surrounds, but many others use their own pictures.  It is sort of like personalizing the image of the Inn.  Your website is the place to put all of the great professional photography that expresses the image that you have created with the Inn, but Twitter is a social media, and you need to also convey the persona of the Innkeeper in order to gain trust and make people think about coming to visit.

This personal image is essential to the relationships being built through Twitter.  It starts with your unique avatar.  Each picture captures the mind in various ways and is very important in grabbing attention from the beginning.  Many people say that they can immediately tell a lot about a person just from their photo, and the same is likely true about someone’s avatar in Twitter.  But that is just the first impression.  The more interesting and lasting image that you will create on Twitter is your unique “voice.”

When I refer to voice, I mean what it is that you talk about on Twitter and how you say it.  Are you so formal as to be off-putting to people?  Or, are you so casual that your tweets are really unimportant and disregarded?  What is the right tone to take to invoke the correct image of the Inn and yourself as the Innkeeper?  I believe that the real answer to these questions are to just be yourself on the web.  You might be able to create a persona, like an anonymous avatar, but in reality, your voice will always come through.  People that like and trust you will hear that voice.  Those that don’t, won’t get you.  That is probably good, because on Twitter it is not about the perfect way of saying something to achieve higher occupancy, but instead, it is about gaining respect, trust and friends who will want to get to know you better, hopefully as guests and in person.  Others may live continents away, but may become great referral sources for your business, because they grow to like and respect you.  This is the essence of personal marketing and what Twitter is all about.  No reason to hire the advertising agency for this kind of marketing, as it is totally within your reach.  Innkeepers need to just find their own unique voice in the Twitterverse.

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