Although Twitter is still working on a way to profit from their free service, there is a way for your business to use it for driving sales. For those who have never used Twitter, the service is a form of micro-blogging. It allows a person to post small 140 character message that populate a twitter page (example: http://twitter.com/krefting). These entries, known as tweets, are viewed by other people who visit the twitter page or subscribe to the person’s account.
Twitter is a great way for businesses to market products and services to interested followers, but what if they want to reach new potential customers? At first glance this seems impossible because tweets are only viewable if the user searches for them or follows the company. With this being a passive way of interacting with customers, it may not produce the results a business needs.
To take an active stance on marketing with Twitter, a company should find customers that may be interested in its products. This can be done by searching the Twitter world for tweets that pertain to the company’s product or service. If a person is tweeting about a problem he is having with a widget, and I sell widgets, he may be a perfect sales lead for me to pursue.
With this valuable subset of potential customers to contact, a business can send direct messages to advertise the product or service it is trying to sell. @replies can also be used to communicate with the customer, but be aware that they will be publicly viewable.
For easy searching of tweets check out search.twitter.com or tweetgrid.com.
#1 by Mike Templeton on July 6, 2009 - 9:34 pm
The only problem (or issue) becomes whether or not that person wants to be “sold to” on Twitter. Some of the cold medicine brands used tactics like this by searching for people who said they had a cold, then offered them coupons for their products.
In one sense, it was very smart, and probably got some good engagement from those with colds. However, at the same time, the cold medicine brand probably did not garner many followers, as most of their tweets were all just coupon offers to users with colds.
What you mentioned in your post about Twitter being a passive sales tool is right on the mark, in my opinion. For the most part, people are looking for conversations, value and good resources, not a product pitch. If your company can demonstrate that value and encourage further interaction from the user, you are doing it right. If you are making users angry by “bullying” your way into their stream with sales pitches, then you probably need to reexamine your strategy.
Overall you’ve made some great points about how companies can dive into this space and leverage the network they build to the advantage of their brand.
#2 by Kevin Krefting on July 10, 2009 - 9:35 pm
Mike,
You make a very good point. The idea of contacting people via Twitter based on their post content starts to get into the telemarketing realm. On one hand it can be a successful sales tool if done correctly with an accepting audience. On the other hand it can be very disruptive if done to much or without tact. The key is to provide a clear value proposition to a group of customers who’s current train of thought directly ties to your product or service.