Social Media and their Strategic Use II - Twitter

The current second largest social media is Twitter. This microblogging service, which began in 2006, allowed users to send out messages (Tweets) to ones friends (followers). Today, twitter is ubiquitous in all industries and a must-have tool for business. Let's explore what Twitter has to offer for your company. 

What is it?

Twitter is a social networking service that allows its users to send out "tweets," which are text-based messages up to 140 characters. According to the creator, Jack Dorsey, the literal definition of Twitter is "a short burst of inconsequential information." With this, the social media grew to 500 million existing accounts and 500 million tweets sent per day.

How is it used?
Unlike other popular social networks out there, Twitter allows business to perform real-time marketing. This type of PR is eye-catching and enables business to attract targeted customers groups at the right time. From local stores to big companies, Twitter is a great tool to build your brand and maintain customer loyalty.

Unlike other social media out there, Twitter is extremely simple to set up. Present your business by creating an account and linking the page to your other online presences. Increase your network by "following" other Twitter accounts and starting Tweeting away. Make sure to use # and @ sparingly to interact with your audience.

Since Twitter accounts are simple to use, let's study the effective use by looking at 5 examples of popular brands using Twitter:

1. Dell: Dell maintains multiple Twitter accounts, each meant for different promotional tweets, in order to target specific groups of customers @Dell @DellSMBnews @DellOutlet @DellEnterprise
2. Starbucks: Starbucks constantly offers new promotions to their Twitter followers @StarbucksStore
3. JetBlue: JetBlue Airways alerts any schedule changes or turbulence updates on their Twitter account @JetBlue
4. Comcast: Comcast offers customer support on Twitter. Although many companies also offer customer services via Twitter, Comcast is unique in that they have detail profiles on the customer support staff @comcastcares 
   
5. American Express: The credit company partnered up with Twitter to allow customers to purchase items by Tweeting. Users can type a special hashtag (i.e. #BuyAmexGiftCard25) to make the purchase @AmericanExpress