If you haven’t heard about Twitter you are probably living on the moon. Twitter “they say” will change the way we live (see Times cover article http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1902604,00.html). When have we heard that before?
I am more interested in how it may assist me in helping my clients market better. There are some great examples of Twitter success. CNN, FOX and other media outlets have embraced twitter as a tool to get instant feedback from their audience, which helps to increase viewers. Ashton Kutcher, Opera and other celebrities are using Twitter to keep in touch with their fans. Some major brands have used Twitter as well, and many say it has worked well.
It is clearly easier to get a large Twitter following if you have an established brand that you have spent many millions of dollars to create or an existing large media company where you can promote your Twitter profile for free. What about a new company or a small company with limited resources and they have to pay for media exposure? It is not so easy for them, but it doesn’t mean they shouldn’t try.
The first rule of a successful Twitter marketing program is to have followers. No followers, no messages sent. The second rule is you must have content that interests (provides value) your target customer and promotes your brand in a positive way. The more valuable the information the more followers you are likely to attract. This is not an easy task, especially when you only have 140 characters to present your message. What works for one organization may not for another.
I recently attended an ecommerce conference where a presenter spoke about the value of social media. I was taken back by a statement the presenter made about how he detested people like Ashton Kutcher, Opera and Larry King because they polluted Twitter by posting meaningless dribble about their everyday lives. I held back from questioning this comment because I already had one disagreement with him that made the audience react in shock. I had suggested that MySpace was a viable social media for many companies.
Anyway, what this presenter failed to comprehend is that the first concept of marketing is to give people what they want. For Ashton, Opera and Larry everyday details is what their fans want. Fans want to feel like they are part of a celebrity’s life, a fact easily proven by the hoard of magazines and TV shows dedicated to celebrities.
The good news about starting a Twitter program or and social media program, for that matter, is that it makes you really concentrate on the customers needs and desires. Well, I should say you have to do this to make your social media programs successful. And, if you do this well what you learn from social media marketing will have a positive effect on all you other marketing activities.
Oh, one more benefit of Twitter. It shows up on Google when people search for you.
Harry
Looking for some Twitter vocabulary go here http://www.slideshare.net/aspoeth/twitter-words-presentation.