Why businesses shouldn't be on Twitter

Let me start by clarifying the title.

Of course businesses should be on Twitter. But in my opinion, it should be the individuals that represent the business who should be on Twitter.

I've been working with a number of clients for a long time now in establishing their social media presence, and several of them are on Twitter - using their company name and a logo as the avatar. And it simply doesn't work - unless they are a household name, and even then I'm not sure how effective that is other than as a broadcast account.

The thing with Twitter is that it's so personal, so individual.

I can't share some light hearted banter with @officialmgp (The Mercedes Grand Prix team account) for example. I don't know if the person behind it is a man, a woman, an enlightened fan or the factory cleaner. In short, it's impossible for me to build any kind of relationship with that account.

Conversely, and staying with the F1 analogy, look at @jakehumphreyf1, who is the BBC's commentator for the sport. I can chat with him, ask him questions and generally enjoy being one of his followers. Yes it's his account, but he is clearly representing the BBC, who he works for, in everything he does on Twitter.

Look at some of the other successful Twitter accounts, and you'll see that there is almost always a person behind the tweets.

So my message to businesses is to appoint some key staff to work the Twitter accounts, but let them be themselves. Let their name and image appear on their Twitter account, but make it obvious that it's an account related to the business.

Let's imagine an active sports travel company called Adventure Holidays, which has a sales team who man the phone and email enquiry lines, each an expert in one sport. Give them each an official Twitter account - it could be "Tom adventure" or Alice from adventure." The bio should be their bio, but clearly explain that they are representing the company. It gives people a name and face they can relate to, and the individuals can Tweet about their specialisation. If Alice is the scuba expert, then she can talk about Scuba to her heart's content. If a client has an issue that needs dealing with, they can talk with any of the team.

I can imagine talking to Alice and comparing notes about Red Sea dive sites. But chatting to "Adventure Holidays?" I don't think so. And that means next time I book a Red Sea Trip, I'm far more likely to do so through my "mate" Alice.

What do you think about this? Does it make sense to you?