The Business of Twitter

Many colleagues ask “Should my company be using Twitter?”  Last week, Marketing Profs published survey results showing that 41% of professionals using Twitter today think it can provide real value to their businesses.   The respondents, mostly small business employees, rated Twitter’s value lower than corporate blogs (52%) but higher than LinkedIn (25%) and Facebook (17%).  You can see the study here:

http://tinyurl.com/marketingprofsstudy

While surveys are great, examples of successful business use of Twitter seem to be popping up more and more frequently.  The short, immediate nature of the platform lends itself well to building ongoing relationships with customers, without requiring a major investment.  Communications can take the form of promotions, customer service, news updates, time-based offer alerts and more.  Check out how some major corporations like Southwest Airlines and the NBA have integrated Twitter into their marketing and support efforts:

http://adage.com/digitalalist09/article.php?article_id=135576

 And how some small businesses are tweeting to drive revenue with local audiences:

http://adage.com/digitalalist09/article.php?article_id=135576