Is Twitter an effective Internet Marketing Tool?

It’s just been announced that Twitter usage in the UK has risen 10 fold according to Hitwise. But what does this mean? Who’s using Twitter? What are people using Twitter for? Is it a fad, used by techies? Do real people actually use Twitter? Can it be used effectively by businesses?

Let’s look at the first question – Who’s using Twitter? I have to admit that about a year ago I thought it was a social network used only by those who had way too much time on their hands and had a constant need to be heard. I had it nicely labeled and in its box. It was a silly thing, not much use in the real world and certainly not useful in the real business world.

Ok, hands up! I was wrong. The people using Twitter are the people I need to connect with. They are the people at the cutting edge in communications. It may have started as (and still may be in some cases) all about  – ‘I’m going for a shower’ or ‘Taking the dog for a walk’ or ‘Time for bed’, but that’s changed.

Today, in my industry at least, it’s a place where you can connect with people, and in the business sense, connect with potential new clients.

I’ll share with you an example of this. I placed a news item on the IIA’s website recently promoting our latest advanced competitior analysis functionality.

A business saw the news item and promptly signed up for a free trial. A day later I got an alert from Twilert, a free service that notifies me by email if someone has mentioned a keyword that relevant to me on Twitter.

I was then able to see that the reference to our keyword was by the company who had signed up for the free trial. I was able to contact the person from the company and start a conversation.

It was much easier to connect this way than through email or a phone call. It’s hard to explain exactly why, but connecting through twitter seemed less formal – more genuine?

This example may be old hat to Twitters who’ve being using Twitter for a while now, but what about all those newbies out there who still think it’s a fad and will soon be consigned to the scrap heap.

Well, I’ve news for you, this social media website is a whole new way of engaging with your customers.

I recommend you jump in straight away!

But the way, it’s also a great way to meet people in your own industry – just search on a keyword and find people all over the world who have a common passion for what you do.

What has your experience of Twitter been? Have you used it in your business?

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