Twitter It.
How many social networks are there today? 100? 1000? 2000? Who knows. But more and more are constantly created and the possibility of competing with Facebook, MySpace, or any of the other top sites, is minimal. Yet, Twitter did it. How did they do it? They kept it simple.
In short, Twitter is a status update. It is an immediate way to give real-time updates, news, event info, promotions…whatever you want. Competitors, like Facebook, also have the status update feature, but it doesn’t seem to have the same affect, even though it allows you as many characters as you need. What’s interesting, is that twitter limits users to a measly 140 characters, the same amount as the length of this exact sentence, spaces included. This space limitation may actually be the genius of it all. It forces the author of the status to be creative, smart, and catchy, with their update, in order to grab readers’ attention, especially if they are including a link to, let’s say a YouTube clip (which takes up many characters on its own). Twitter is an invaluable resource if approached the right way. The right way means something different for every business user. However, fundamental rules do exist, and for your convenience, we have researched these rules and will briefly review them in this post.
Twitter, in essence, is a marketing tool, but it is not approached in the normal manner. Any experienced business twitterer will tell you that twitter is a relationship builder. It is a way to connect to customers on a more personal level. It is a mechanism to increase the transparency of a business. So where does a business start? The basics of signing up, creating a username, biography, customized background, and all the other general information is easy. Some other useful tips are to look for comments about your company, address concerns in a timely manner (within the day), offer customer service, and thank everyone for their positive or negative feedback. These tips are the required minimum in order to thrive on twitter.
As a business student, I was trained to speak and write in an extremely formal manner when addressing business individuals. Times have changed. Customers want friendly tones and humor when being addressed. When it comes to using twitter, be friendly and outgoing! If tweets are boring and monotone, no one will listen. Users are able to interact with customers in such an immediate way that Twitter is basically a conversation piece. So tweet like you are conversing with a friend, not like you are speaking to thousands of people at a formal business convention.
The real kicker is figuring out how to bring value to your tweets. Offering promotional items and coupons is an easy way to attract followers. MS has posted pictures of our new corporate office building to show customers where we will be working from in a few months. We are also planning on shooting a “Who we are and what we do” video in the next few weeks. Posting pictures of people in the office, office events, and other related topics, is another way to take customers behind the scenes of a business. It gives customers the feeling that they truly know and can trust who it is that they are doing business with. When it comes down to it, businesses must look at what it is they provide and find ways to ways to utilize twitter in a way the is effective for their business.
Twitter produces feedback in real-time. Business users can ask followers if they liked a new product, enjoyed an event, or ask them what they would like to see in the future. The possibilities are endless if the game is played right. Are you ready to play the game? If you aren’t, then you better buck up and get ready or you’ll be left in the dust.
