Digital Marketing and Technological Insight

No one can deny that Twitter has become a game changer. Gone are the days where social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace ruled the online world - now, no matter where you turn someone is talking about Twitter. However, regardless of the amount of buzz, the ability for Twitter to actually monetize its popular service is the hot topic with everyone adding their own two-cents.

The good news for Twitter is that there is no shortage of  money making opportunities. One revenue channel Twitter seems to getting serious about revolves around Twitter  “business users”.  To prove their relevancy and win over companies hesitant to jump into the Social Media world, Twitter posted a “Twitter 101 for Business”.

Every day, millions of people use Twitter to create, discover and share ideas with others. Now, people are turning to Twitter as an effective way to reach out to businesses, too. From local stores to big brands, and from brick-and-mortar to internet-based or service sector, people are finding great value in the connections they make with businesses on Twitter.

Twitter 101 for Business offers:

• What is Twitter
• Getting started guide
• Learn the lingo
• Best practices
• Cast studies

Twitter’ guide does a good job of going over the basics and should be used by any company who has questions about how or why to use Twitter. However, the guide can only take a company so far - they need the internal resources and knowledge to put a solid Social Media / Twitter Marketing plan into action.

Visit the site for more information or download the slides here. Also, check out our own take on how companies can use Twitter and ideas on Twitter monetization.

There are two main questions I hear over and over again when it comes to Twitter…both of which revolve around the same theme of how do “I or we” use it? From a individual  perspective the question becomes more about what the person is looking to gain. From a business perspective things get a bit more complicated but the objective becomes clearer.

I have heard plenty of positive stories and have had my own success using Twitter from a business perspective. Whether for pure traffic generation, customer service, revenue or just general communication - it is clear Twitter is a powerful took every company should be taking advantage of.

Below is a quick list I put together of  ways companies can utilize Twitter (in no particular order).

• Coupon Promotion. Have a coupon or discount code? Why not put it on Twitter and let your fans become your marketers by retweeting and posting. An even better idea is to generate a Twitter exclusive coupon.
• Promote limited time offers. “Only 3 hours left to save an extra 25% off our top products!”
• Online Reputation Management. By using Twitter Search you can monitor mentions of your brand and address any potential issues.
• Customer feedback / reviews.
• Out of stock alerts. Have a hot product that is selling well? Let your followers know there is only a limited quantity left.
• Job recruiting.
• New product alerts
• Shopping advice. Who doesn’t love a good “Here some of our favorite  summer shoes” type links?
• Be the expert. Proactively engage the Twitter audience through Twitter Search. If you are a sock company and someone is asking about socks - answer their question! Not only will you gain a follower you might gain a customer as  well.
• General company news and announcements
• Message testing. Before launching an advertising campaign why not get instant feedback / reaction from your followers first?
• Company fun / random facts.
• Tips and advice related to your companies business.
• Links to new content / blog posts.
• Question & Answer sessions.
• Company stock quotes.
• Market research
• Customer Service
• Promote email
• Promote profiles on other social media services.
• Direct communication from company executives.
• Interesting news and articles not from your company but related to your business.

Should a company take on everything listed above? Of Course not. But, every company who has a Twitter presence should at least be doing a few.

What are some of the other ways companies can use Twitter?