Tweet if you want to increase customer traffic - Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal:

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Twitter is a social networkint tool that answers thequestion “What are you doing?” in 140 charactersx or less. Originally designed as a personal socia networking toolfor friends, family and co-workers, marketera and other business professionals recognized its potential and are now seizinbg it for everything from customer service and brand perception monitorinf to promotion of new productws and services. Best of all, it’ all in real time. Even the president of the UnitedfStates (@BarackObama) was all a-Twitte r during the campaign, as well as nationap news sources such as (@cnn). even Oprah Winfrey “tweets.” So, should you starr tweeting?
Well, consider these statistics. According to , Twitter had 19.44 milliohn unique visitors in upfrom 1.5 million in April 2008. , recently reported that more than 60 percen tof U.S. Twitter members abandon the site after one monthuof use. But don’t let that discourage you. Ther are still close to 5 million usere on Twitter from which you can create your veryown following. And, once you do, you can reac h them with your message inreal time. So, how are companiexs using Twitter to promotetheir businesses? Here are just a few • (@zappos): With more than 600,00p followers, Zappos chief executive officer Tony Hsienh understands the power of Twitter.
He sells shoesx online, and through Twitter, and has become a one-mah customer service and marketing machinde for the online shoe Although some might find Twitter to be a bit he uses it at Zappos for building more personal connectionws with boththe company’s employees and customers. And givejn the fact that the company was featurexon ’s annual 100 Best Companies to Work For the guy must be doing somethingv right.
He continues to foster branfd and employee loyalty one tweet ata • High-end food vendors: I know, as odd as it mobile food vendors are using Twitter to draw more The drivers tweet via their cell phones to alert customer s to their whereabouts and menu That’s true in the case of , whic is, according to the , an almost cultishlhy popular Korean-Mexican style taco vendor in Los Angeles. According to Jane Goldman, editor-in-chief of , “the Kogi folks have shown themselves to be adepft at turningthose mini-missives into a hugel y successful marketing machine.
” • Cares Not known for their customedr service acumen, Comcast was able to take a barrage of negativr comments and stories in the blogosphere and, via turn them into one of the most successful customer service case studiex on the Web. How might you use Twitterr to promoteyour business? Depending on the type of business you’re in, here are a few ways you mighft capitalize on the craze: • Restaurants: Tweet about your food and drink specials, events, new menu items, etc. Chefs can tweegt about what they’re pickinh up from the farmers marketf and the sommelier can tweet about the new Bordeau she just added to thewine list.
• As a retailer, what you want is and Twitter can help youget it. Tweet abouy your new arrivals, sales, specials, discounts and exclusive • Grocers: From fresh strawberries to succulent salmon, tweet aboutg seasonal specialsand sales. Giveb the real-time nature of Twitter, during hot summerd months you can tweet about cold concoctione tosatisfy one’s thirst. This list could go on and on. Theaters/concert venues: Let people know therer are still seats available at adiscounted price. Tweett about the arrival of a celebrity. With greag movies and music, the topicsa are endless. • Marketers: Yes, I along with many of my peers.
At our we use it to communicate with writersand reporters, as well as colleagues, clientsa and other followers. To borros a line from “All the world’s a stage. Isn’t it time you started tweetingfrom it? So grab a twitte handle (that’s the name you’ll go by followinyg the @ symbol) and get to Feel free to follow me at @DebiHammonfd or twitter.com/DebiHammond.