Part Three - A Conversation About Twitter

A Conversation about Twitter in 140 characters or less to tweet or not to tweet Part Three: What’s in it for business?

I have a Twitter account, but does my company need one too? Meet Twitter Tom

Yes, your company can beneﬁt from using Twitter Meet Twitter Tina

Twitter not only helps you manage your personal brand but also your business

Yeah, but what if I want to keep business separate from personal?

No problem,Twitter tends to be a blend of both, but you can have a separate company account and a personal account

Business on Twitter makes me nervous because I’ve heard of corporate brands as well as people’s identities getting hijacked on Twitter e.g., Dalai Lama read more

Although it doesn’t happen often, it reafﬁrms why it’s important to get on Twitter now. Getting the right Twitter name helps protect your online identify

From small neighborhood coffee shops to big established global corporations, businesses realize the importance of being in this space

But how can a businesses really beneﬁt from being in this space?

Monitor real-time conversations about your brand, resolve issues in lightning speed, share viral news, and do it all for free on Twitter

Yeah, it’s powerful ... but to simplify, I believe there are three primary ways a business could utilize Twitter in the way they do business

1) For one, it can be used to promote and develop your brand

Twitter is a great place to monitor your brand. Monitoring real conversations is like being exposed to the inner thoughts of your customers

OK, I know many companies have a Twitter presence, but is anybody really beneﬁting from all this?

Good question. I was skeptical myself earlier, so let’s dive into some business case examples and business beneﬁts

Dell has made more than $2M connecting with customers and advertising discounts on Twitter read more

A mobile burrito chain has had a lot of success twittering their location and thereby increasing sales read more

Zappos reinforces its brand by having hundreds of its employees on Twitter; increasing culture, communication, and customer connections read more

Why not just promote your brand traditionally and advertise on TV, in Magazines or through Tele-marketing, etc?

It’s just not as effective anymore, in particular with tech-savvy folks, but especially with the net generation read more

And Twitter has a lot of early adopters and inﬂuencers that can quickly spread word of mouth (WOM) messages read more

Wow, with all those messages being spread so quickly, it sounds like you really have to care for your customers or bad news can spread

2) Exactly, because of Twitter’s free- ﬂowing and real-time capabilities it can be used to enable an entirely new level of customer service

Comcast @comcastcares uses Twitter to help improve customer service by staying on top of issues before they spread read more

So do @Starbucks, @AlaskaAir, @SouthwestAir, and Ford @FordCustService

You can get feedback & suggestions from your customers or potential customers anywhere

Twitter can even be used for instant live feedback at events because participants share feedback and talk to each other read more

That kind of instant live feedback is also great for market research and improving customer interaction read more

Hmm, I like the idea of observing conversations of interest, such as what my competitors are doing and what my customers care about

Furthermore, to the beneﬁt of your customers, Twitter turns Q&A into a digital archive of searchable answers

I could see how transparency provides beneﬁts, such as avoiding redundant answers and keeping customers apprised

Absolutely. Consider how Obama was able to connect with the entire nation and serve his “customers” throughout his presidential campaign read more

3) Which brings me to my ﬁnal point, the importance and power of connecting with individuals

Twitter for business is about developing relationships with past, current, and potential customers

But what about all that other stuff you were talking about?

Developing and promoting your brand and engaging in great customer service happens as a result of connecting with real people

@Tina @Tom Great point! #sweetpresentation

Just as with our previous conversation on using Twitter for personal use, the real power comes from making real connections

Seems hard to make real connections with 140 characters or less, but if businesses are, who is making those connections?

All levels of staff, even CEO’s. Take a look at how executives are lowering barriers of communication using Twitter read more

And in addition to the other companies we have discussed, I know there are others...

Like who?

Whole Foods, Best Buy, Home Depot, Sprint Nextel, the Financial Times, Nordstrom, all use Twitter!

Thanks again @Ted

Why get started now though?

Social networks are organic. They are growing always. Getting in early can help you be part of the early growth

Okay so I’ll consider getting a Twitter business account, but once I’m on, do you have more tips on how to actually use it?

Of course! Let’s talk strategy and tactics at our next tweetup!

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Part Three - A Conversation About Twitter

by Fresh Consulting on Aug 14, 2009

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Part Three - A Conversation About Twitter — Presentation Transcript