Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that enables its users to send and read messages known as tweets. Read on to learn how to use Twitter for online marketing campaigns and sales promotions.

What’s in a tweet?

‘140’ was the most talked about number during the last year or two. A new entrant to Indian politics, Mr. Shashi Tharoor, has been in the spotlight of media attention more than some other seasoned politicians. These two seemingly unconnected statements are linked by one common factor. That factor is ‘Twitter’ – the latest web 2.0 phenomenon. Twitter is fast emerging as the most commonly used medium for social and business networking, branding and marketing. It has changed the way we think, and it has done so with a limited number (140 to be precise) of characters.

What is Twitter?

Twitter is a social media networking site that allows its users to update their status in real time. These status updates, called ‘tweets’, are restricted to 140 characters and appear on the person’s Twitter profile page. A person may have many people following her, and each time she posts a tweet, followers are updated with the latest tweet in real time.

		Twitter allows you to personalize your profile page and enter tweets into a text field. Unless your tweets are protected, they appear on a “public timeline” page, which displays all public tweets in reverse chronological order, like a series of “microblogs”.

Twitter plays in the micro-blogging space while simultaneously planting a foot in the social networking landscape. These spaces are dominated by three players - Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. Twitter’s year-over-year growth was a whopping 1,448%, growing from 3.4 million users in Oct 2008 to 23 million one year later, and now nearly 40 million users worldwide. As of date, Twitter is the 3rd largest mobile social networking site in the USA with 4,131,800 users, behind Facebook and MySpace, according to Neilsen.

What sets Twitter apart from the crowd?

		The Facebook v/s Twitter Debate Twitter has quickly built brand awareness and a loyal following, especially among the technically adept; bloggers, online marketers, evangelists - anyone with something to promote seems to find Twitter extremely valuable. Facebook on the other hand appeals to people looking to reconnect with old friends and family members or find new friends online; the mash up of features like email, instant messaging, image and video sharing, etc makes Facebook an easy and enjoyable application.

What makes Twitter different from host of other social networking sites across the Web is the facility to update one’s status in real time as well as ease of use. Twitter is a unique online application that is part blog, part social networking site and part mobile/IM tool, designed to let users answer the question “what are you doing?” It is a far cry from the cluttered and crowded social networking websites which offer a host of activities ranging from online quizzes to games and chatting with friends. Twitter’s simple and open platform and first-mover advantage gives it a leading edge over other Web 2.0 applications.

How can Twitter be used effectively by companies?

As the internet and social media continue to dominate a huge part of our personal, social and professional lives today, it becomes imperative for companies to adopt this new medium. Twitter has proved to be a great cost-effective tool in branding and marketing initiatives for products and services by influencing behaviour, creating awareness, and analyzing customer trends. Twitter works as a perfect channel for branding and marketing strategies of companies. Most companies use it as a medium to have a real-time conversation with multiple customers, collecting feedback, gauging customer reactions, tracking competition, launching of new brands, and extensively marketing existing brands.

Companies can get started by simply creating a Twitter profile and providing updated information about themselves, new product launches and important notifications etc. These titbits are followed by their “followers” and other interested or potential customers, thus creating an opportunity to develop an effective dialogue. In case of start-ups, they can record every development in the growth of their new products; and by offering more transparency about the company’s activities, ensure more branding and trustworthiness.

		Twitter is a fantastic tool in giving your brand a voice and a personality. It’s important to remember that Twitter is about conversation and breaking news.

The Georgia Aquarium raised $43,000 using Twitter while Dell has made $3 million over two years by using its Twitter stream. Dell achieved this by tweeting promotions, deals and discounts to people who sign up through Dell Outlet. This is followed up with a conversation in real time with customers using the Twitter account and providing further links to special deals that lead you onto the main Dell website to buy. It is a simple and clear system that works beautifully for Dell.

But the most famous and innovative example is the case of the business “Kogi Barbeque.” Kogi BBQ is a Korean Barbeque-to-go, sold in a food truck, that travels around Los Angeles County. L.A. Times has called Kogi BBQ “a taco truck brought to you by Twitter.” @KogiBBQ has over 25,000 followers on Twitter. How did they do it? Apparently it was all achieved via word-of-mouth, or viral marketing. They had no way to publicize the Kogi BBQ truck’s next stop, so Twitter was just a practical solution for real-time updates. It took hold, and people began following them from one location to the next, all based on Tweets plus word-of-mouth texting between fans. The Kogi trucks draws in about 300-800 people at a single location alone – all thanks to a single tweet!

Parting shot

In a nutshell, Twitter is a powerful tool to stay in touch with clients and colleagues and to always stay ahead of the curve. It is instant access. You can talk to your people. It can connect you to influencers in any discipline. You can reach out to whoever you want to. It’s the quickest way to spread information and get your message out there. And, for now, it’s free.