by Curt Mercadante
The following post is taken from our new, free booklet, The Press Release is Dead: Using New Communications Tools to Build your Business, Non-Profit or Campaign.
Have you ever walked into a cocktail party full of people you don’t know and cringed at the mere thought that you’d have to break into one of the many conversations going on around the room?
Getting started on Twitter can be the same way.
There are millions of conversations going on at once. Who do you follow? Who’s going to follow you? Why are people you don’t know suddenly following you?
What’s the point of Twitter?
Well — the cocktail party analogy is perfect, because Twitter is the ultimate conversation tool.
Let’s take the analogy a bit further …
When you walk into the cocktail party, you usually break into a conversation by making some small talk. Maybe you mention the weather, or the type of drink you’re consuming, or something about the drapes in the restaurant — let’s face it, small talk can be mundane.
But my point is that there are all these conversations going on, and you use some mundane, sometimes personal, detail to strike up conversation. Then that personal conversation may lead to a discussion of business, then an exchange of business cards, then perhaps a business deal.
So it goes with Twitter. Most “tweets” are people talking about what they’re watching on TV, or the kind of work day they had, or what food they’re cooking for dinner, or what they’re doing on their vacation. Those tweets can lead to conversations with other people who have the same interests. Sometimes — just like the cocktail party — that can lead to business.
So is Twitter merely a networking tool? Yes, but it’s much more.
- Frank Eliason was a customer service manager at Comcast who, in 2008, started Comcast’s first Twitter account: @comcastcares. Today, Frank manages a full team of customer service “tweeters” and he tells us that (as of January 21, 2010) his team has serviced a total of 160,000 people via social networking sites — more than 50,000 of them on Twitter. That’s just since February 2008. Frank’s team monitors Twitter to find out who is talking (or complaining) about Comcast and reaches out to them to help solve their problems. They also receive a good number of service requests by people who now know they will receive quick replies from Frank’s team via Twitter.
- Similar to Comcast, major brands monitor Twitter to find out who is a) Tweeting about their brands, b) Saying good things about their brands, and c) Who is complaining or “trashing” their brands. For example, according to a recent Forbes articleDaniel Adler, “Twenty-One Twitter Tips,” Forbes, July 31, 2009. , there were 3.37 million mentions of “Starbucks” through May 2009. Starbucks follows those mentions like a hawk — using it as a real-time focus group.
- In Illinois, we have a fast food chain called “Culver’s” that has great burgers and custard. The local Culver’s franchise in my town has its own Twitter account (@culvers177) and provides daily tweets of their “flavor of the day.” Many times, these tweets are tempting enough to lure me and my family for dinner (or dessert.)
- In Los Angeles, the nightclub crowd is familiar with the “Kogi BBQ” mobile trucks that park outside the clubs late at night and sell Mexican tacos stuffed with Korean-style meat. The company has 52,000 Twitter followers and uses Twitter to send out alerts on the locations of its four mobile trucks. How successful is this marketing effort? The trucks regularly draw crowds in the hundreds — and they have been featured in publications ranging from the Los Angeles Times to the Wall Street Journal.
- K9Cuisine.com is an online purveyor of premium and organic dog food. They have a Twitter account managed by the company founder and president, Anthony Holloway (@k9cuisine). Anthony uses Twitter as a customer service tool — but also as a way to help answer questions and provide tips and advice to pet owners. Although they don’t overtly use it as a sales tool, Anthony tells us that Twitter is the third-largest source of traffic to the company Web site — very warm leads that could lead to hot sales.
So, you see, different organizations are using Twitter in different ways to communicate with their unique audiences.
There are also a lot of people on Twitter using it to converse with like-minded people about life, politics, hobbies, sports, etc. This provides a huge marketing opportunity for any business looking to market to the more than 75 million consumers who have Twitter accounts.
So how do you get started?
- First, go to http://www.Twitter.com and sign up for an account. For your Twitter name, try to pick something personal — not just your company name. For example, if your company name is AJAX Corporation, pick a name like FrankatAjax. Also — use your real picture (or a fun avatar) of yourself for your profile pic. Consumers like to feel like they’re talking to a real person — rather than somebody hiding behind a corporate name and logo.
- Now, go to http://Search.Twitter.com. This is like a “Google” for Twitter. Let’s say you are an online purveyor of frozen beef and want to find everybody who is “tweeting” about steak right now. Type in “steak” and you’ll get the results of everybody who is “tweeted” about steak. Go ahead and follow these people. Most of them will follow you back and see your regular tweets — and perhaps become customers.
- Are you a small storefront business and want to find people in your town who are on Twitter? Go back to http://Search.Twitter.com and click “Advanced Search” at the top of the page. This will take you to a page in which you can fill out a series of search options. You’ll be surprised at how many local people are tweeting. Follow them. They are potential customers and will most likely follow you back.
I want to caution you that Twitter — like any other communications tool — is not to be abused. Twitter is not a place to merely start robotically tweeting links to coupons or company announcements. You need to build a personal relationship with your Twitter followers.
Frank Eliason from Comcast (mentioned earlier) doesn’t merely tweet about Comcast service issues. He also tweets about what he’s doing during the day. He might tweet about putting his kids to bed, or a sporting event he’s watching on TV. It allows him to build that personal relationship and trust with his followers, which directly benefits Comcast’s customer service efforts.
And Anthony Holloway at K9Cuisine.com tells us:
“I think the most important insight is this is not a sales tool for K9 Cuisine. We never pimp coupons or specials. It is a branding tool and an excellent form of two way communication. The real beauty is the transparency. Anyone can see how we handle problems or respond to customer feedback. It makes helping people very easy.”
The benefits are tied to the tips and insights in a way. This really helps us raise the profile of a small company. I have also made some incredible contacts. I regularly converse with journalist from major media outlets and influencers in the pet food industry. Our new team of bloggers are all professionals. They all came from Twitter contacts. They are now cheerleaders for K9 Cuisine. There would no economical way for to have this reach otherwise. It is completely opt in and generally followers welcome we I have to say.”
Transparency. Cheerleaders. Opt-in subscribers.
Are you starting to get the idea of the benefits of Twitter?
The possibilities and uses of Twitter are endless, and companies are finding new uses every day.
If we had to sum our advice on how to get started, we’d say:
Sign up.
Find out who’s talking about your industry, brand or product.
Join the conversation.