Twitter for Business

Twitter started to provide friends with a way to communicate as a group:  This sort of social banter is still very common but so is business activity.  The average age of Twitter users has risen to 31, it had 10 million unique browsers in February 2009 and is growing at 10 million per month and accelerating.

Companies are using Twitter for numerous purposes - monitor comments about themselves, develop alliances, provide customer service, find suppliers, gain information and developing relationships with prospects.  It is critical to have a planned usage and measure results.

Twitter itself has few features but it has an open interface which has allowed other companies to develop a massive range of applications.  Two of the most commonly used to improve productivity and help essential time management are:

·        Tweetdeck, which provides the ability to segment the messages sent by those being followed and monitor all messages for a few search phrases

·        Tweetlater, which allows a group of messages to be entered at one time but sent at set times in the future

Credibility can be build with the content of sent messages - be generous and give away useful information to demonstrate expertise in your field.  Direct messaging allows the development of 1:1 relationships. 

Customise the background to your Twitter account to provide more information about your company.  Encourage people who follow you in Twitter to connect in more rich environments – offline or perhaps in a social networking site such as Facebook, Linked-In or Ecademy.

Some ‘rules’:

-         don’t repeat messages (often)

-         don’t try to sell in Twitter unless you’re as big as Dell

-         learn about the conventions for using RT, @ and #

-         large imbalances between following and followed are not allowed

Some thoughts:

-         you can have multiple accounts for different purposes

-         make use of Twitter’s RSS feeds

-         find relevant opinion makers and befriend them

-         for most ‘quality’ of followers is far more important than quantity

-         keep messages to 120 characters so they can be retweeted

There is growing interest among search engines and other social sites to compete with Twitter for up-to-the-moment information:

-         Facebook has a beta with an emphasis on improving real-time search features

-         Internet Explorer 8 launched with real-time social search features

-         Google Wave offers integrates components of Twitter and other platforms into its search results

-         Topsy, an independent search engine, determines the value of real-time discussions based on how often they're repeated

-         There are add-ons to incorporate real-time Twitter search results into search engines like Bing.

Examples of businesses currently in Twitter – Dell, Financial Times, Ford, Asda, BBC,  Easyjet, Pizzahut, Bucks Free Press, Rightmove

Useful article:  http://www.copyblogger.com/grow-business-twitter/

Tony Thornby

Living Streams (Internet) Consulancy UK Ltd

www.twitter.com/coffeemate49

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