Twitter has developed into more than just an instant messaging service. Being a social networking site, it has become an ideal customer service tool. As communications is a key feature, marketing products and services via twitter could be the secret to a marketer’s success. With viral marketing being the buzzword in marketing circles, Twitter can be exploited to its full potential as a viral marketing tool.
The benefits...
An increasing number of businesses have turned to Twitter to enhance or support traditional marketing channels. Large corporations like Intel and Amazon send messages (called tweets) to engage with users and monitor conversations about their products. The notion of getting and staying involved with clients can be better fulfilled by using twitter. Promoting deals and discounts can be easily achieved in a couple of tweets.
Since tweeters are allowed to re-tweet (pass on messages to their own networks of followers) a network can grow phenomenally in as little as a couple of tweets. So each time you need to put out some ‘breaking’ news about your product or service, you can be sure it will reach a large following, even if your initial tweet was only sent to a small group of people.
Responding to queries and monitoring requests is easily accomplished with Twitter. Customers appreciate early responses to their issues and this helps in relationship building and is a great way to lend credibility to your brand.
Starting to twit
Many have not been sold on the idea of Twitter being used as a marketing tool. However, over time, you will realize that it offers exceptional value, not only for marketing but PR as well.
For a start, sign up and create a profile. Once you are through with this, get down to writing some updates about your product or service. You need to do that within 140 characters. You don’t need to be a Tennyson or a Wordsworth, just be clear and brief. A link to your message will get tweeters interested in your product. If your link has a long URL, it won’t leave much space for your message. If you are struggling to get your message over within the character limit, you can use an URL shortening service like TinyURL.com
Make friends and create a following
Making friends on Twitter will help you gather a large following. You will come across a Twitter box on blogs, Facebook profiles, and a host of other sites. Click on the box to view the profile of the user and then click on the ‘Follow’ button. This will add you to his or her list of followers, who in turn will most often reciprocate and follow you back. What a great way to increase your network!
PR at work
What people say about you, your company, or brand is important. Twitterers, i.e. people that tweet, will definitely tweet about your company or product. It is easy to monitor their conversations even if you aren’t a follower yet. Twitter’s search engine will help you to bring up a list of conversations about your product or service. You can start following all the people talking about you and start to follow them too.
To conclude, it is all a matter of testing the waters with Twitter. Several successful Twitterers use it for marketing themselves, their products, or services. The potential is huge and is definitely worth a shot. Many people say, ‘Twitter is what you make of it’. So go ahead and make a marketing success out of it.
Article submitted by Bryan Farrow publisher of a top selling
twitter marketing guide and writer for a twitter blog filled with
twitter tips
