Twitter Tips for Businesses

Recently I took the plunge and signed up to Twitter, the hugely popular micro-blogging site. Even though I had known about Twitter for roughly 2 years, and even used it for other purposes I thought I was time to sign up with my own account (@ksflyinghigh). Straight away I set about following interesting people and companies, and discovered plenty of interesting information that everyone was sharing (links, images, breaking news, current events etc). Luckily most of the companies and brands I was after had a great Twitter presence, but I also understand there is a few companies who:

• Are still evaluating Twitter’s uses and advantages and don’t have an account yet.
• Have a Twitter presence, but not a very good one.
• Have chosen not to use Twitter.
• Haven’t heard about Twitter, or decided it wasn’t important enough to follow up.

For me this is disappointing. As a consumer, Twitter is one of the ways I want to engage with companies online. And on the other hand, as an Enterprise 2.0 advocate I can see some compelling reasons for businesses to get involved on Twitter. So in an effort promote adoption I’m sharing a few practical ways businesses can use Twitter, and I’ll point out some of the benefits along the way.

First of all I’m making that assumption that you have an idea of what Twitter is, and know a little about how it works. If you’re not sure, check out this short introduction video. Also, I’m aiming this article towards businesses that interact with the general public (the main audience on Twitter). Other business styles could still benefit from Twitter, just possibly not to the same degree. For those businesses I will briefly introduce internal use of micro-blogging later on…

Why Twitter?
The two features that separate Twitter from most other forms of media is that messages (tweets) must be 140 characters or less and that everything is viewable by the public. By limiting tweets to 140 characters Twitter keeps messages to manageable bite-size pieces, making them more likely to be read (versus lengthy messages). TechCrunch has summarised my thoughts exactly in an article about the length of tweets, well worth the read. Secondly the advantage to having everything done in public is that everyone can see what anyone else is doing or thinking. Sure, users have to be careful what they post, but the end result is an amazing continuous stream of freely available communication, thoughts and resources.

Businesses on Twitter
What is an example of a good Twitter strategy? Firstly let’s have a look at VAustralia, a new airline part of the Virgin group which flies internationally from Australia. They regularly post news and event information for the destinations they fly to in a bid to promote tourism and indirectly sell seats on their flights. Their tweets are usually informative and friendly, and none of them heavily promote their products. They occasionally post company news like menu changes, new destinations and improvements to their service. The key thing that VAustralia understands is that Twitter is not all about pushing the company’s agenda, it’s about engaging with, and giving back to the community (and their customers). By being there to answer questions and engage with the wider Twitter audience they are building value in their brand. While it may not result in instantly increased seats sales, it can influence public opinion and result in increased sales in the long term. British Airways is another example of an airline with a good Twitter presence.

Another strategy VAustralia employs is their use of metrics. They use URL shortening service budurl to analyse which tweets are generating traffic, and where (geographically or virtually) that traffic is coming from. They can use that data to better focus their Tweets, campaigns, or even company direction in the future.

Twitter has a few interesting case studies on their site showing how a few of their business members use Twitter, and the benefits they get from it.

Strategies Gone Wrong
Most companies on Twitter have got the right idea and have a good strategy in place, however things ain’t always that rosy. Revolution Magazine has compiled a list of 8 big brands that got their Twitter strategies wrong. In summary here are some of the common mistakes they made:

• Using Twitter purely to advertise blog posts or push their own interests. Twitter is a two-way media, so companies should make an effort to give something back.
• They failed to leverage their core business on Twitter. If you offer an online service (eg. EBay, Amazon, Yellow Pages), consider integrating your services with Twitter. If you sell coffee, then look into taking orders via Tweets, etc…
• Didn’t tweet often enough.
• Didn’t field and resolve customer service issues.
• Didn’t tweet anything relevant to their business.

Now you know what to avoid, how can your business leverage Twitter?

• Make an effort to engage with the community. Answer their questions, thank them for their support, acknowledge their criticism, and take onboard their suggestions. Maybe get the customer service team doing this for you. If you do act on suggestions, make sure you tweet about it. Customers love to see a company that listens and does something about their suggestions.
• Use Twitter to promote special deals, competitions, or product releases. It’s much faster than the usual lead and distribution times of printed or visual media. Be careful not to become too “spammy”. Make sure you only promote your products at appropriate times; Twitter users will quickly switch off if it becomes a regular occurrence.
• Aim to gather a sizable group of followers. You can do this by not only tweeting valuable or interesting content, but by commenting on tweets from people in related industries or in similar situations. If they like your tweets odds are they’ll follow you too. Not only does more followers mean more eyes on your company and products, but they may also re-tweet (share) your content with their friends.
• Twitter provides a simple way to evaluate and measure your company’s public image. Try running a simple search on your company name and see what the masses are saying.

Lastly I want to stress that Twitter shouldn’t replace your current Web 2.0 strategies, but rather complement them. Try setting up a Twitter account, tweak your home page to match your company’s branding and nominate someone to look after the account. Start using tools such as Google Analytics or bit.ly to gather some metrics on how you’re doing, and act on those metrics as necessary.

Twitter Tools
There’s some great dedicated Twitter clients built for business use. CoTweet and HootSuite are two examples of Web clients, or if you’re looking for a desktop client try TweetDeck. Often these clients will make it easier to track public sentiment, reply to tweets, share the tweeting responsibilities between multiple team members, and gather metrics on your tweets. Other tools such as TwitterGrader measure your tweeting performance, and can help give you an idea on how you are going.

Enterprise Micro-Blogging
In a slightly different league to Twitter are enterprise oriented micro-blogging services such as Yammer and SocialCast. These services allow companies to use micro-blogging internally as a productivity tool (nothing is posted publically). Mashable have posted a great article about enterprise micro-blogging by detailing ideas for internal use, and comparing some of the products and services available. If your company chooses to head down this route make sure that you still have a Web 2.0 strategy in place to engage with the public.

Wrapping it Up
Twitter is a practical way any business or individual can get involved in the online community. The learning curve is fairly gentle, and the benefits are great. I would recommend any company not already on Twitter to jump in and have a go! For those already on Twitter, make sure you have those metrics in place to measure your performance, and try to balance promotional tweets with ones that engage the community.

I’d love to hear your thoughts. Have you got any good Twitter tips or strategies for businesses? Any experiences you’d like to share, thoughts, comments…

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