Does Twitter chatter matter?
I was speaking with a high-tech company’s social media guru yesterday. To fill dead air, I asked, “You guys doing anything with Twitter?” I didn’t expect much of an answer. To be honest, Twitter kind of annoys me. It’s like reply-to-all on steroids, with an extra dollop of vanity (canceling my meetings, taking my Ferrari for a spin along the beach). The handful of people and companies I should follow would be buried by the twitter litter of others I should maybe cancel.
“Absolutely,” the guru replied. “Twitter is our number one way of spreading news online these days.”
Wow. Yes, I’ve heard the celebrated stories of giant companies putting out fires with angry consumers via Twitter, but I gathered they were the exception proving the rule. Maybe not. Here’s what the guru’s company is doing:
News: The company as an entity tweets from time to time to let followers know about events, training opportunities, updates, offers, cool Web pages and the like with links to more details. All the bloggers who follow the company and many of their traditional media counterparts are on Twitter, pretty much all day. With one click, the bloggers can break the news to their followers, and so on, until the word is out fast, in a big way.
Customer relations: Many of the company’s customers are on Twitter, too, and are picking up on the news as it’s announced. Web site copy and news releases still have their place, but in a lot of cases, you heard it first or got the link from Twitter. Customers are also picking up on valuable tidbits not really worth trumpeting over any other medium.
Access: Several of the company’s key employees and execs, one of whom is an industry rock star, are on Twitter. Followers are delighted to have access to him, as well as the other company reps, on an ad hoc, sometimes real-time basis.
Listening: The company learns things from its customer base it would never learn through a formal feedback process: suggestions, modest proposals, gripes, observations, etc. Worthy ideas are captured and go to product developers or whomever will make use of them. The company also uses Twitter to toss out an occasional sounding board question to the community – e.g., what would you like to see at our annual event?
Good will: The ability for customers, bloggers and others to have Twitter conversations with the real, caring humans behind the brand reminds everyone that there are, well, real, caring humans behind the brand who are open to ongoing personal relationships. That really means a lot. “There’s a sense we’re out there listening and participating versus throwing out marketing messages from afar,” the guru says.
Final thought. Our social media guru thinks of Twitter as something far more appealing than reply-to-all on steroids:
Imagine a cozy bar in your neighborhood open 24/7. You and your friends were first in the door when it opened 20 years ago on opening day and grabbed the best table, a large one, and never gave it up. None of you live at the bar, but you have enough friends coming in and out around the clock that your crowd always has the table. Everyone’s having conversations everyone else can overhear, but if you need to, you can pick one person out and whisper.
I think I’m starting to get Twitter. Is Twitter paying off for you?
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Dec. 29, 2008 update: CNN names "Ascendance of Twitter" a top tech trend of 2008.
We've created an ADD generation so a communication vehicle that supports this (realtime, pithy content and reparte) would seem to fit. I do wonder if anyone has the concertration to get more impactful work done though.
Anyone care to comment on this is welcome. I also teach college so I see positives and negatives of this.
So far it's an investment of some time and no money. I'd be lying if I said even that meager investment has truly 'paid off' - but considering how quickly Twitter is growing it makes sense to continue watching.
I also recently joined the board of a beverage company - given that they are (obviously) consumer-focused I've been strongly encouraging their marketing team to engage.
Bobbie - now you got me thinking about focus. Can always use that.
Peter - long time! Thanks, sounds like Twitter is at <least> strengthening relationships with an important partner, and that's worth a lot.
Chris - appreciate the clear-eyed analysis.
Since the post, I've concluded just about every customer-facing organization should consider blogging in some way, shape or form,
and Twitter is one of the easiest and lowest-risk ways to do it. Of course, it depends on whether your target audience is there. Unless something changes, it probably
will be sooner or later.