Not too long ago a colleague told me about this web application called Twitter. He described it as “a simple tool to let people know what you’re up to”. I signed up, looked around and at the time I had just started my business and my leisure time quickly evaporated and replaced with proposal writing and other administrative tasks. With limited time and no clear business case to use Twitter, I decided I needed more convincing and I deleted my account.
A couple of years later the digital world turned upside down. Flash was out, Search Engine Optimization was in and just about everybody was screaming, mobile, hyper-local and a host of other buzz words.
By now it should be obvious that I did eventually return to twitter and almost immediately I knew I was going to stick around. I quickly noticed that Twitter grew somewhat of a multiple personality. Letting your friends know what you’re up to evolved into deep thoughts and spur of the moment status updates all tightly packed into 140 characters.
Twitter’s other personality was much more engaging (to me at least). Tweeting along side writers, poets and your everyday person were big brands like Dell, who had great success as an early adopter arguably helped push twitter to the masses.
Younger more agile brands started getting their feet wet. Twitter is the marketers experimental laboratory, it’s used to engage customers and prospects, help existing customers solve problems and be an all around fun and engaging community to be apart of.
OK, so Twitter has become the social media pot of gold for marketers, now what?
In the case of Dell, they succeeded by taking a risk, being a pioneer out on the frontier and talking to their customers (and making new ones) where they spend their time. They succeeded by engaging people in an organic and meaningful way.
For smaller brands and individuals with a message or a product to sell, the approach is similar. The overall message here is that in today’s noisy, hyper local, mobile and generally jaded world, customers need to feel special. They need to feel exclusive and rewarded for participating in your brand narrative.
Based on my personal experience there are few brands taking advantage of Twitter. Companies like @TazaChocolate who actively engages their audience by letting them in on the process of chocolate making. @Sixpoint, a Brooklyn New York based Artisanal Craft Brewery, who polls their fans and followers on which logo design they like best.
The lesson here is that Twitter has become a viable marketing tool, and if you’re a new brand of hyper local small batch whiskey, or a family-owned dry cleaning business Twitter should be on your company’s radar.
