Building on Twitter's growing success many companies have built applications using Twitter's API to help use Twitter more efficiently than it's current model allows. There's applications that let you schedule Tweets so you don't have to be online 24/7, analytical tools and search tools to help you measure your reader reactions, there's even tools that report back to you every time your business name or whatever search term you use appears on Twitter. Bing, Microsoft's new search engine is even offering a Twitter search tool.
Companies such as Starbucks, Whole Foods Markets, and many more have gained new customers and repeat customers using Twitter to tell people what they're promoting, run coupon codes, and stream messages. Information Week Online even published an article (June 12, 2009) reporting "Dell (Dell) saying it has surpassed $3 million in sales attributed to Twitter at @DellOutlet which now has over 800,000 Twitter followers. This opportunity is golden!
So what is Twitter and how do I get it?
Twitter is a free messaging service that lets it's users send out 140 character messages. Each user has the option to "follow" as many other twitterers as they choose so they are able to see those specific user's tweets (messages). The more users you follow the more messages you will see in your Twitter homepage. If the user you are following decides to follow you back then you are now "friends." Whether you as a business gain more from being friends is up for debate but as a business you definitely want as many followers as you can get. the more users that see your tweets the further your message reaches. Get the picture?
Getting a Twitter account is easy once you figure out a name for your account. Just got to Twitter.com and sign up. Once you've got your account you're ready to go!
Your first message can be as simple as "Hello world. Company ABC is now on Twitter." but would capture a lot more interest by saying "Great News! ABC Company is now on Twitter and we can't wait to tweet with you!". Remember, Twitter messages are only 140 characters long and it helps to be direct and error on the side of being positive. Think about how easy it is to misunderstand the tone in someone's email when they are being brief. You need to make sure you're company isn't being perceived as always negative or curt. You can attract more bees with honey.
Interact with users. Although many companies are on Twitter that majority of users are still people and people like to get to know you on a somewhat personal level. They want to know you are human and have a personality. It helps them trust you and make them feel like you (and your company) are a good company to do business with. It's a matter of building trust.
KIS or Keep it simple.
Thankfully although tweets are limited to 140 characters there's a lot you can do with that amount of space. If you have a link that takes someone to a coupon or explains a policy then you can save space by shrinking that link using a URL shortening service like tr.im, BIT.LY or TinyURL.com.
Want a picture or photo in your tweet? Many services now offer space for you to share a photo on Twitter. This is especially useful when you want to send a picture from your cell phone. A few of these services to try are: twitpic.com, tweetphoto.com, brightkite.com, and friendfeed.com. Don't forget, all these photos are publicly viewable.
To aid in keeping messages short people started using an abbreviated language when Instant Messaging and SMS messaging began and it has carried over to Twitter messaging. A few of these words are: L8 = late, C U L8R = See You Later, BRB = be right back, RUOK? = Are you OK?, BCNU = Be seeing you, 2DAY = today, = why, and more. For a better list of abbreviations just use a search engine to look up "Messaging Abbreviations" or visit AIM's Acronym Dictionary @ www.aim.com/acronyms.adp.
As you can see there's plenty of opportunity for business use on Twitter. All it takes is some planning, research and someone who enjoys connecting with people. Start using Twitter and B4 long U'll quit Bing a noob in no time!
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