Twitter is one of the most mis-understood social media tools. Twitter lets you post brief items about your opinions or your life, shared with the world -140 characters at a time. The beauty of Twitter is that it is a blend of SMS text messaging and the Internet. It is also a great balance between Facebook and LinkedIn.
How do businesses use Twitter?
- Would you like a way to connect and network with others in your industry or others who share your views?
- Would you like a way to get instant access to what’s being said, this minute, about your organization, people, products, or brand?
- Would you like a steady stream of ideas, content, links, resources, and tips focused on your area of expertise or interest?
- Would you like to monitor what’s being said about your customers to help them protect their brands?
- Would you like to extend the reach of your thought leadership-blog posts and other content?
Twitter is great for all of these reasons.
Other ideas…
What if you could find out what is most important to your clients or the day to day frustrations of your target market? Would that be helpful? Well, of course it would. Twitter is a social networking tool people use to post what they are currently doing. People also share thoughts, resources, and information. Businesses can use this tool to find out seemingly trivial facts about people. These “seemingly trivial facts” could be very valuable. Here’s how: What if you knew your biggest client was drinking coffee right now and looking forward to the Twin’s game tonight? Well, then you know that she would appreciate you sending a bag of gourmet coffee beans on her birthday. The next time you talk to her on the phone, you could say, “What about the Twins game on Tuesday?”
Twitter allows businesses to observe behavior patterns, gather information, and pick up on frustrations. All of these things allow businesses to use the information to their advantage, make product/service adjustments, and create unique “value-add” opportunities. Twitter allows you to build your own network of people, or select a demographic to follow.
ONE ACTION ITEM: Go to www.twitter.com and create your account. Remember to document your username and password. Make some twitter posts to learn how this simple tool works. Then come back here and write a comment with your Twitter ID so I can follow you.
This is just a quick intro to Twitter. There is so much more to make it a powerful tool to BUILD RELATIONSHIPS with customers, vendors and partners. Stay tuned for some amazing uses of Twitter tomorrow!
I am President and Chief Evangelist for Vivid Image - a web design and social marketing firm located outside of Minneapolis, MN. 
Nice call to action, Steve. I especially liked number 2 about “instant access to what’s being said, this minute, about your organization, people, products, or brand.”
It’s amazing how much money companies spend on qualitative market research, which as we all know, can be biased, misleading, and subject to interpretation. Additionally, so many companies lock that information inside the silos of R&D or Marketing so that other resources in the company don’t even know about it!
I think we can take this even further and say that companies should have MULTIPLE twitter accounts. One for Marketing, one for PR, one for R&D/Innovation, one for Recruiting, and one for leadership!
Thanks Ben! When you just follow people – one account is fine. But when you really want to start building relationships, I can see how multiple accounts or “personalities” can be valuable. I will talk more about that in future posts. As you say on your blog, thanks for your “insight and interesting comment.”
BTW: I just started following you on Twitter!