Twitter has officially entered the mainstream. From Ashton
Kutcher’s CNN challenge to first glimpses of passengers being
evacuated from the ditched airplane on the Hudson River, the
world knows the word “Twitter.”
But is Twitter just an emergency beacon and “a toy for bored
celebrities and high-school girls,” as The New York Times
reporter Maureen Dowd claims?
Thankfully, no. The latest wave of Twitter users are business
executives. They range from home business owners and marketing
executives, to brand evangelists and CEOs. Take a look at
ExecTweets.com and you’ll see some well-known names with active
Twitter accounts: Richard Branson of Virgin, Lisa Stone,
co-founder of BlogHer, Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos, and Steve
Case, co-founder of AOL, to name a few.
Twitter provides a way for businesses to promote products and
services, resolve problems and customer complaints, and connect
with current and potential consumers. And it all takes place in
the form of a conversation — not a traditional marketing pitch.
Twitter as a Business Tool
As the saying goes, “content is king.” But as the Web
transitions from 2.0 to 3.0, immersive conversation is quickly
challenging the throne. Twitter allows businesses to engage
directly with consumers and potential customers in real time in
front of an impressionable public. The opportunity this provides
is unparalleled.
Twitter attracted serious interest from businesses and their
executives because they know conversation is a powerful and
persuasive business tool. And right now, Twitter is where the
conversation is taking place.
“Twitter allows for a personal, real-life brand presence, while
fostering better communication, engagement and attention to our
customers,” says Josh Austin, social media manager for Overstock
when asked why he thinks Twitter is a good fit for businesses.
To find out how Twitter is being used as a business tool, I set
up a Twitter poll:
Based on these results, the majority of companies that took this
poll are using Twitter primarily to interact with their
customers (34 percent) and drive traffic (23 percent). It’s a
clear indication that both businesses and consumers are finding
value in Twitter. Another poll was issued to find out how
consumers interact with businesses on Twitter.
It’s
encouraging to see that 65 percent of poll respondents conversed
with a company using Twitter. Considering that nearly half of
those people had an issue to resolve (25 percent), the potential
for customer loss and retention is enough for every business to
open a Twitter account, and to monitor it closely. Then there’s
the number of respondents giving companies direct feedback
(positive or negative) via tweets — a virtual PR goldmine.
Meg Geddes, a search marketing expert and heavy Twitter user
related her recent positive experience with a business. “At the
end of December, there was a special one-dayonly promotion
through Intuit and Staples for buying Quickbooks Pro, where
you’d get a full rebate,” Geddes says. “I ordered it and filled
in my rebate paperwork but it was illegible and had to be
re-faxed. The date on the revised paperwork sent by Intuit
didn't match my order date (and I didn’t notice) so my rebate
was denied. I was complaining about it on Twitter and, within
half an hour, someone from Intuit sent me a tweet asking if she
could help. I explained the situation and she had the rebate
approved. I was very happy, as I had been expecting to have to
sit on the phone for hours with Intuit and/or Staples.”
Conducting keyword research on Twitter for your business name
can reveal opportunities that stem from problems or complaints,
like the one above. But businesses can also find opportunities
by scanning Twitter for industry wide terms, or competitor’s
businesses.
The Pizza Meal Win
It’s not just big brands that can benefit from using Twitter.
Small businesses have just as much to gain. Take Silicon Valley
pizza chain, Tony & Alba. By using keyword tracking and the
Twitter Search tool, they monitored conversations on Twitter
involving the keyword “pizza.”
Seeing a tweet from a local man to his friend suggesting a rival
pizza place for dinner that night, Tony & Alba tweeted the man
directly suggesting their pizza restaurant instead. It was
further away for the man and his family, but a quick offer from
Tony & Alba to reserve a table and free soft drinks clinched the
deal. A positive meal experience and a single tweet won respect
and future business from three happy families.
The Free Burrito Fail
Before using Twitter to promote your products, make sure you’re
prepared for the potential rush of business, and set qualifiers
in the offer. In February 2009, Utah-based Mexican restaurant
chain Costa Vida sent a one-day-only offer for a free burrito to
its 80 Twitter followers. As part of the promotion, Costa Vida
required customers to have an electronic coupon on their mobile
phone.
The burrito was designed to test the effectiveness of leveraging
social media websites like Twitter and Facebook in brand
building and driving restaurant traffic. However, Costa Vida
customers tweeted about the promotion and forwarded the offer to
friends via mobile phone. Their followers told their own
followers and so on, until more than 2,500 people inundated one
of Costa Vida’s stores looking for their free burrito.
Costa Vida sent multiple Twitter updates with instructions on
how new Costa Vida fans could redeem their coupon on a future
date for the (now sold-out) burritos.
Companies with shareholders monitoring their every move can’t
afford to have their brand sullied at the virtual water cooler.
So, these companies employ staff to send out short bursts of 140
characters every hour or so, thereby controlling their presence
on Twitter. They are already at the water cooler and they’re
handing out the cups. It’s important to remember that Twitter
opens the door for positive experiences, but can also empower
users to quickly damage a company’s reputation. Therefore, it’s
important to monitor the conversations for any problems, and to
respond quickly and respectfully. Take advantage of tools like
TweetBeep to set keyword alerts pertaining to your company, and
TweetDeck to manage your Twitter account(s).
Could your business be a Twitter success story? Here’s one last
piece of advice, from blogging consultant Michael Martine: “If
you’re on Twitter to market your business, the best thing you
can do is shut up about your business and help people.”
