Ideate

The business case for using Twitter

by Andrew Smith on 23/05/08 at 9:38 am
3 comments

Despite our families thinking that we are the ultimate geeks, most of the Ideaters are not the earliest-adopters. For example, we’ve only been “Twittering” for about a week now.

Here is some info from the Twitter FAQ:

What is it?
Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?  Bloggers can use it as a mini-blogging tool.

How do I use it?
Tell us what you’re doing in 140 characters or less!  Send your thoughts, observations, and goings-on in your day. Whether you’re “eating an apple” or “looking foward to the weekend” or “Heading out of town” it’s twitter-worthy.  Join us here.  All of your personal information including your phone number is, of course, confidential.

But… what is the point?
As it turns out, your best friend is probably interested in knowing if you’re “loving the new Radiohead album.” And yes, your Mom may want to know if you’re “skipping breakfast in favor of a latte.”  You might want to know if your significant other “feels like taking a roadtrip.” Find out what your friends are doing; keep each other abreast of your quotidian rituals.

Here’s a nice introduction to Twitter on Fin24.

I like the description of Twitter as being “Micro-blogging”. Instead of having to write a full blog post describing a new web resource you’ve discovered, you just send out a quick Twitter post, and everyone who is “following” you receives the message. Think of it as a simple group-SMS service, with the messages appearing on your friends’ browser, IM program (I use Google Talk to send/receive to Twitter) or even on their cellphones.

You’re probably still wondering what the point is, particularly from a business point of view. I personally don’t tell my followers that I’m “eating an apple now”, or “just been to the loo”. But I do believe that Twitter can be a powerful business tool. For example if Mike Stopforth, who has 320 people following him, was to send a message saying “I’ve just written an article about X over here”, and included a link, he’s just made use of the most targeted and free online advertising available, almost guaranteeing traffic to the article he wrote.

Not impressive enough for you? Have a look at Kevin Rose’s Twitter profile (the founder of Digg.com)- at last count he had 34,954 followers, all volounterring to receive 5 or 6 message from Kevin per day. Show me a marketing manager in the world who wouldn’t give his left arm for a branding channel like that… for free!

Of course, you won’t grow a big following by spamming your Twitter feed with blatant personal and corporate advertising. Like all other Web 2.0 micro-publishing (including blogs like this) you build an audience by providing valuable information for free. You could use your Twitter account to share useful websites you find during the day, spread industry news and invite people to events that you hear about. All of this raises your profile as an “expert” within your field, and provides plenty of opportunities for subtle “selling”.

To start “following” the Ideaters, you can find our profiles here:
Shane
Fred
Andrew
Jon

Now I need to get back to telling my 26 followers about the breakfast I just ate a fantastic new e-commerce marketing resource.

Andrew Smith is the pedantic systems guy behind Live Alchemy, a SA e-commerce company. Andrew writes for Ideate in an attempt to make the world a more efficient place. View more articles by Andrew Smith.

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