Despite the fact that Twitter has climbed to a lofty 75 million users with 50 million tweets per day, has received massive publicity from both celebrities and government, and produced good results for companies like Dell, many business executives still don’t “get” Twitter.
Granted, there is an awful lot of noise but for those who understand and learn to use it effectively, Twitter can be a powerful business tool.
Interact with Customers
For most business, it’s far easier and more profitable to generate continued or new business from existing customers than it is to acquire new ones. Growing existing customer business requires ongoing communication. Staying in touch with customers on Twitter is not only more real-time than many other techniques, it’s also far more cost-effective than direct mail, attending trade shows, picking up the phone, or even maintaining a customer newsletter. It’s not that Twitter can replace other touchpoints completely of course, but it can reduce the required cost and frequency of high-touch interactions: Maybe Twitter and other social media will turn companies into mom and pop shop of the old days
Interact with prospects
Just as many of your customers are probably on Twitter, so are your prospects. They care far less about your advertising than about what your customers are saying about you, and how you respond. An active Twitter presence enables you to demonstrate strong customer service: A new way of managing customer relations
Influence the influencers
Industry analysts, journalists, bloggers and other influencers from most sectors of the economy are well-represented on Twitter. Tweeting content of your own that will interest them, retweeting content they post, and engaging in dialog is a great way to get these people talking, and writing, about your company.
An active Twitter presence can also reduce crises caused by influencers with a strong Twitter presence: Customers aren’t just simply customers, they’re influencers
Gain market intelligence
The fact that customers, prospects and industry thought leaders are all using Twitter make it a valuable tool for monitoring the topics and concerns being discussed. This is a great potential source of new product/service enhancement ideas as well as topics for blog posts, white papers or other content.
Become a resource
Prospects don’t care about your products or services – they care about solving their problems. Demonstrating your knowledge of their industry and their challenges, for example by tweeting your thought-leadership blog posts and white papers, makes you a resource they can go to for helpful information. That gives you the opportunity to explain how your products or services can help them, in a consultative fashion.
Be part of the conversation
As noted above, your customers, prospects and key influencers are already having conversations about your industry, your competition – and quite possibly your company – on Twitter. If you aren’t participating in that conversion, you’re missing valuable intelligence, business opportunities, and possibly even the opportunity to prevent damage to your firm’s reputation.
Image: Scott Hampson
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