I’ve had some interesting conversations recently with companies wondering if they should be using Twitter. After explaining how Twitter works and why it has grown so much over the past year, I quickly recommend that companies, especially consumer-facing entities, should absolutely use Twitter.
To me, the question of whether or not to adopt Twitter is not that much different than the process that many companies went through about blogging a few years ago. These days, blogs are seen as an important part of a company’s communications and marketing arsenel – and, in time, Twitter will likely follow the same path from reluctance to acceptance.
Like any social media tool, companies need to use Twitter in the right way if they want it to be a success.
By “right way”, the focus needs to be on the audience a company wants to serve/reach as opposed to Twitter being used a blatant marketing or sales tool. When a company posts something on Twitter, they need to ask themselves “Is this adding something of value?”. Value can be defined as news, new features, links to useful information, etc.
While it seems like a straightforward approach, many companies are struggling with Twitter on two fronts.
One, they’re struggling with how to use Twitter, and what kind of things should be posted on it. It’s such a relatively new tool that the rules of engagement haven’t been well defined yet.
Second, companies are also trying to deal with why Twitter has become such a dynamic communications tool, and how the Twittersphere operates. There are many mechanical/operational issues that companies need to get their heads around such as who should handle Twitter (marketing, sales, public relations?), who/if to follow, etc.
Over time, these issues will disappear and Twitter will become another corporate branding tool. In the sh0rt-term, companies should get over their reluctance to get involved with Twitter. Within the social media world, experimentation is a key part of the process, and the sooner companies dip their toes in the water, the better.
Question: what companies are really taking advantage of Twitter, and what makes them successful.
Update: Paul Dunay has a post looking at companies that are using Twitter.
Twitter as a Branding Tool
I’ve had some interesting conversations recently with companies wondering if they should be using Twitter. After explaining how Twitter works and why it has grown so much over the past year, I quickly recommend that companies, especially consumer-facing entities, should absolutely use Twitter.
To me, the question of whether or not to adopt Twitter is not that much different than the process that many companies went through about blogging a few years ago. These days, blogs are seen as an important part of a company’s communications and marketing arsenel – and, in time, Twitter will likely follow the same path from reluctance to acceptance.
Like any social media tool, companies need to use Twitter in the right way if they want it to be a success.
By “right way”, the focus needs to be on the audience a company wants to serve/reach as opposed to Twitter being used a blatant marketing or sales tool. When a company posts something on Twitter, they need to ask themselves “Is this adding something of value?”. Value can be defined as news, new features, links to useful information, etc.
While it seems like a straightforward approach, many companies are struggling with Twitter on two fronts.
One, they’re struggling with how to use Twitter, and what kind of things should be posted on it. It’s such a relatively new tool that the rules of engagement haven’t been well defined yet.
Second, companies are also trying to deal with why Twitter has become such a dynamic communications tool, and how the Twittersphere operates. There are many mechanical/operational issues that companies need to get their heads around such as who should handle Twitter (marketing, sales, public relations?), who/if to follow, etc.
Over time, these issues will disappear and Twitter will become another corporate branding tool. In the sh0rt-term, companies should get over their reluctance to get involved with Twitter. Within the social media world, experimentation is a key part of the process, and the sooner companies dip their toes in the water, the better.
Question: what companies are really taking advantage of Twitter, and what makes them successful.
Update: Paul Dunay has a post looking at companies that are using Twitter.