Many companies are finding value in utilizing Social Media.  The medium provides an enormous potential for getting out brand awareness and creating leads.  Twitter, like most social media networks are still in their infancy and many corporations are hesitant to jump the bandwagon.  It is for this very reason there’s no better time then now to start.

“Get Real with you Customers”

Place yourself in the mindset of a customer.  How hesitant are you to sign up for e-mail updates? If you’re dissatisfied with a product, do you end up waiting in a queue over the telephone waiting to speak with someone? Twitter displays brand integrity.  All interactions are online for the world to see.  How many customers are lost due to unresolved problems with customer service? As a company, you have the ability to see what others are saying about your brand and allows you to rectify any misunderstandings or provide resolutions to customer complaints. The consumer of today believes everything they purchase is worth sharing with their friends and/or relatives. Don’t let that mis-step with your latest product release sour the relationships of current and future customers.   Develop a relationship with your customer and watch the sales grow.

“Boring Brands”

So you’re not selling the latest hype… That’s alright too!  The key lies in creating a strategy.  Most brands don’t grow on their own, they require a spin.  Find a way to create a community based upon your target profiles.  Say you sell sunglasses, how could you gain followers?  Your brand could begin informing the population about how to protect themselves from the sun.  Hold discussions on the best beaches to visit and begin recommending the styles of shades you provide. Foremost, get people talking and continue to feed them.  Unless you have a well-established brand and online presence, if you stop, your numbers are almost guaranteed to come to a halt.

“Learning by Doing”

No company began knowing all the answers.  It’s a series of trial and error.  Profile your customer characteristics, find out what they like and don’t like.  Be prepared to have weeks of exponential growth and weeks where it seems to be crawling, but through it all stay with it.  Most importantly, learn from mistakes and seek to find ways to correct them.

“Where to Start”

Find out what your customers are already saying about you and your products.  Scour the web for news, search blogs, Twitter and Facebook and listen in to the conversations people are having.  Start out small. Begin with a couple networks, Twitter and a Facebook fan page are a great place to start.  Encourage employees to participate in spreading brand awareness.  Engage with your customers!  Don’t link every posting back to your site, you do not want to be a social media spammer. Rather, find creative ways to draw your customers to your site every now and then.

“Measuring Success”

If you don’t have a custom tracking number to append to a URL for your web stats program, use HootSuite for tracking clicked links.  This free application also allows you to manage multiple Twitter accounts and send out Tweets at a later time.  Pay close attention to referral URLs in your web statistics, many times these programs list how a visitor came to your site. Measure your followers on Twitter with TwitterCounter.  This visually displays how your followers are growing over time on Twitter.   Watch your numbers grow and continue to keep watching those conversations!

Final Words

A good idea is to let people know your brand is out there on these networks. Place a link on your homepage and develop an RSS feed from your Tweets to display on your website.  Keep people coming to your site with fresh content, interactive videos (webinars, screencasts etc.), photo albums on your Facebook fan page etc.  Don’t stop.  And remember, the next generation is dependent on this medium for expressing opinions, engage them now!

 Admittedly, it wasn’t until recently I discovered the power behind Twitter.  My account with Twitter was first opened in 2007 yet remained void of Tweets (status updates) until late 2008. During that span of time, I simply didn’t know what I would do, or what I was supposed to do with it.  I figured, if I wanted people to know what I was up to, then it would be limited to friends through status updates on Facebook.

After a brief unemployment stint, I realized it was time to become more informed in Web 2.0 applications.  The buzz of Twitter was growing, I dug up my password and logged in for the first time in a year. The following are my discoveries.

 

1. Twitter links you with people sharing common interests.

Many of my friends from Facebook and MySpace are not using Twitter as of this writing. People I follow on Twitter are generally a mixture of people living in a shared geographical region, folks who share similar career paths, or some for plain entertainment (www.twitter.com/darthvader). No matter who I’m following, it is likely someone who has an update I might find interesting. Usually by following links of interest, pictures from an event or concert, or news updates.

2. An infinite source of knowledge

Looking for something?  Your followers on Twitter are a priceless resource.  Post a question and someone will return to you with a link or an answer relatively quickly.  Whether you are wondering which book you should read next, what movie people recommend.. etc.  Priceless.

3. MicroBlogging at its best

Maintaining a blog can be a demanding task.  Many times, they become neglected since they can be rather time consuming.  Creating, developing and reviewing content can grow to become tedious.  Twitter limits you to 140 characters.  You have to be brief.  No time is wasted in creating and reviewing posts to your blog.  If you have a blog, Twitter can direct a much larger audience to your posts.

Tips for those new to Twitter

Manage Tweets with Tweetdeck

Undoubtedly, through time you will end up with hundreds if not thousands of followers.  How do you manage to stay on top of all those Tweeple?  Tweetdeck is a nifty application.  Updates come streaming in the background and you can organize groups to easily keep up-to-date with your favorite Tweets.

Upload pictures with TwitPic

Twitpicis an online service where you can upload photos and link to them on Twitter. Should you decide to Tweet via mobile phone, this becomes a very handy tool.  When looking at mobile Twitter clients, look for this add-on.  If not, you can still email pictures to TwitPic to be posted to Twitter.

Finding People

A good way to find people on Twitter is by searching by keyword on search.twitter.com. Alternatively, search around those blogs or websites you browse to often.  Some Twitter users will link to their Twitter profile for you to easily follow.  It is especially courteous to follow people who are following you, provided they aren’t spam accounts.

What does RT mean?

RT stands for “ReTweet”.  This is basically a reposting of what someone has posted on twitter.  Retweets are followed by the @username of the originating source.  Example: RT @darthvader: The bad news is we had to let go of about 8,000 clone troopers today. The good news is it really only counts as 1.

More Shortcuts

You can keep your conversations private through Direct Messages. Simply begin your tweet with:

D username enter your personal message

Reply to someone using the following:

@username type your reply

Tweetdeck becomes a big help with replies and direct messages.  You don’t want to miss your replies!

The possibilities with Twitter are limitless.  Enjoy!