social media for business part 4 the art of twitter

Social Media for Business 101Part 4: The Art of Twitter

February 25, 2009

Steven Fisher

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• What the Hell is Twitter?

• Interesting Uses of Twitter…so far

• Why and How Could Corporations Use Twitter

• Corporations Using Twitter

• How Network Solutions Currently Uses Twitter

• Twitter Do's and Don'ts

• Setting Up Your Own Twitter Profile

• Additional Resources and Take Aways

The Art of Customer Service with Twitter Agenda:

Interesting Twitter Facts:• Twitter receives over 6 million

UMVs, doubled from Sept 08 with an average daily growth of approximately 10% from September to January 2009. An average of over 50% of Twitter traffic are repeat visitors.

• According to Time Magazine, males make up over 60% of the Twitter demographic.

• Usage is 40% in the United States and of the remaining 60%, 39% of that is in Japan

• Twitter's largest age demographic is 35-to-44-year-olds who make up 25.9% of its users.

Source: (This is up from a Jan 2009 Compete report)

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What the Hell is Twitter?

Twitter is a microblogging platform composed entirely of 140 character answers to 1 simple question: “What are you doing?” or rather , “What are you interested in right now?”

Interesting Uses of Twitter …so far.

Free yourself from an Egyptian Jail.

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Report on a hurricane or earthquake… while you are in the middle of one.

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Upload the first pictures of airplane rescue on the Hudson River (with TwitPic)

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Up to the minute reporting of Terrorist Attack in Mumbai

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Campaign for and Elect a President.

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But don’t try and spam…

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You will be reported…

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And you will be deleted…

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Why and How Could Corporations Use Twitter? • Tweet company news in short,

manageable pieces – an effective strategy for reaching multi-tasking customers with ever shortening attention spans.

• Tweet special offers or discounts for your Twitter “followers” to drive sales.

• Tweet from company and industry events to provide real time updates.

• Tweet questions or ideas about your business to get immediate feedback from customers following you.

• Seek out customers tweeting about good and bad experiences with your company. Thank your happy customers and try to resolve negative issues.

• Tweet about things that interest you, and have fun with it! Your customers might appreciate getting to know you as a real person, not just a brand.

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At Dell, for example, they’ve generated more than $1 million in sales by posting consumer, SMB and DellOutlet offers on Twitter.

TIP: Be sure to create separate Twitter accounts for sales- generating activities and general company or employee news.

Why and How Could Corporations Use Twitter? Other Ways:• Customer

Relations• Crisis

Management• Corporate

Reputation Management

• Event Activation• Issue Advocacy• Product

Promotion and Sales

• Internal Communication

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@comcastcares

Frank Eliason at Comcast started @comcastcares in April 2008 in response to the customer conversations he and his team found on Twitter through monitoring. Offers customers specific troubleshooting tips, online resources, new product info and a key customer relations personality (i.e. Frank’s).

How Network Solutions Currently Uses Twitter

• Customer Service• Customer Feedback• Customer Outreach

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@netsolcares

Shashi Bellamkonda at Network Solutions started @netsolcares in Sept 2008 to provide a new customer service channel


• Customer Service• Customer Feedback• Customer Outreach

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@netsolcares

Shashi Bellamkonda at Network Solutions started @netsolcares in Sept 2008 to provide a new customer service channel


• Sales Offers• Expired Domain

Alerts• Domain Tips

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@domains_feed

This was recently set up to post expired domains for sale.

How Network Solutions Currently Uses Twitter• Blog Post Announcements• Drive Traffic to NetSol Blogs

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• Personally promote sales or deals

Twitter Demo

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Twitter Do's and Don'ts

DO:• DO see what other businesses are doing on Twitter• DO use Twitter search engines for keyword searches

around brands, products and topic of interest. • DO follow Twitterers with similar interests to establish a

brand presence within conversation • DO use Twitter to start a conversation• DO be dedicated to Twitter. Having more than one

employee on Twitter will ensure an ongoing company presence.

• DO ask questions and get feedback from your followers• DO engage consumers in co-creation and get constructive

insights for future company developments or publications

19 Source: Ogilvy Twitter Webinar

Twitter Do's and Don'tsDON’T:• DON’T use Twitter to push ads or brand messaging. Don’t just

Tweet but also follow others to join in or start a conversation. • DON’T use Twitter to tell your everyday tasks, make sure your

Tweets are resourceful, entertaining and/or valuable to your followers

• DON’T be boring! • DON’T panic if you are “Twitter-Jacked“, where other

Twitterers use your identity within their Twitter handles, instead contact the Twitterers and find out their reasoning before taking action (they could turn out to be your biggest fans)

• DON’T I REPEAT - DO NOT Tweet anything about clients, co-workers, friends, etc. that you would not want them to see - this is a good way to burn bridges and lose customers (not to mention make a bad name for yourself)

20 Source: Ogilvy Twitter Webinar

Setting Up Your Own Twitter Profile

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Additional Resources and Take AwaysGREAT TWITTER APPS:

Twitter Search

http://search.twitter.com

Twirl

http://www.twitter.com

Tweetdeck

http://www.tweetdeck.com

TwitPic

http://www.twitpic.com

GREAT LINKS:

How to Use Twitter for Business:

http://www.flyte.biz/resources/newsletters/08/06-twitter-for-business.php

50 Ways to Use Twitter for Business:

http://www.chrisbrogan.com/50-ideas-on-using-twitter-for-business/

Advanced Twitter for Business: Conversation, Community, and Profit--140 Characters at a Time

http://oreilly.com/pub/e/1207

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Questions?

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