The GOP’s Twitter lesson: Bring the followers back home

The New York Times’s Jennifer Seinhayuer profiled the Republican party’s evolved use of social media and shared this account of Brad Dayspring, communication director to House Majority leader Rep. Eric Cantor, firing off a Tweet to counter claims made just minutes earlier by President Obama: 

Within seconds, Brad Dayspring, Mr. Cantor’s Rasputin of retort, was on the case, his fingers ripping across the keyboard as if individually caffeinated. “Obama says he’s open to any “serious #GOP idea,” typed Mr. Dayspring, the aggressive spokesman for Mr. Cantor, the Republican from Virginia who serves as House majority leader, in a message on Twitter. “Here are 15 jobs bills stalled in the Senate to get him started.” 

A link from Mr. Cantor’s blog was quickly pasted in, the send button was hit, and Mr. Dayspring sat back slightly in his chair, pleased. 

The Tweet:
 

What’s interesting is the final step, the one that brings it all home, literally. Dayspring linked the Tweet back to Cantor’s blog (a post job creation bills), where readers could dive deeper into the topic, float off into other topics and witness a more complete view of the majority leader.
 

 

It isn’t enough to engage in Tweets, status updates, checkins and video posts. You want readers engaging on your turf—your Web page—where you have built your own environment to drive the user experience, connect them to alternate social media channels, keep them consuming content or take some sort of action, be a purchase or a vote.

Content on our own turf is the key to social media engagement. Otherwise, you’re just another voice in the void.