Over 5.6 million people posted 25.3 million Tweets during the Super Bowl, making it the world’s biggest Super Bowl party. Did your brand attend?

Many did. And the results were mixed. Too often, brands enter the live-Tweet arena like that guy passing out business cards at the party. Nobody likes that guy. Before your brand live-Tweets, mind the following:

  1. Know your audience. Craft your Tweets to your followers’ perspective, not yours.
  2. Be knowledgeable. Don’t go into the Super Bowl or the Oscars without knowing a thing about football or film. Your ignorance will leave you ignored.
  3. Be valuable. Twitter rejects the weak. If you bring nothing to the table, you will be exposed and expunged. Bring unique insight and information.
  4. Loosen your tie. People are on Twitter to have fun, not to build brand loyalty. Limit your corporate speak and mission statements.
  5. Be brave (not stupid). Jumping into any conversation takes a level of courage. And while you don’t want to be the stiff, you should never get too comfortable in the Huddle either. Go into the conversation with a gameplan, and deviate with caution.

Super Bowl 48 taught us some lessons to remember for the next Twitter Event on your schedule. Let’s observe:

LESSON 1:  Pounce on big moments. Percy Harvin’s kick-off return was the most Tweeted moment (381,605 TPM). You needed to be ready for it.

LESSON 2: Be prepared for a dud event. As the lackluster play at the Super Bowl demonstrated, you can’t expect the event to generate a positive mood.

LESSON 3: Proof before you Tweet. Then proof again. (NOTE: JC Penny later claimed the typos were intentional. That’s a bad strategy, too.)

LESSON 4: People are brands, too. And bravery can create a buzz.

Tweet-events like the Olympics, the Oscars, the World Cup, and season premiers of huge hit TV shows are great ways to interact with the 645M people who are active on Twitter. But you have to plan well. More importantly, you must perform spontaneously when the opportunities arise.