How to Tweet Effectively and Meaningfully

So you’ve finally bowed to social peer pressure and opened a Twitter account for your business. Great. Now what?

One of the things companies struggle with is how to most effectively use social media in a way that reflects what their business is and what their customers want from them in this arena. TheBigMoney.com recently released its list of the Twitter 12, the 12 companies “that are using Twitter most efficiently”, and it provides interesting insight into how different types of companies use the service to interact with consumers. Criteria included choosing companies that had at least one million followers, those who grew their followers the fastest between September and November, and number of tweets per day.

The list represents an interesting mix of Twitter usage, and serves to demonstrate the importance of giving deep, strategic thought as to how you as a company should be interacting with existing and potential customers. The New York Times topped the list, with over two million followers and around 40 tweets a day. Not surprisingly, this feed consists mostly of headlines that link back to its own website. But as a news organization, this is what its followers want from NYT, and it’s following reflects that.

Whole Foods, coming in at #5 on the list, uses its feed almost as a digital call center, fielding questions from followers, offering suggestions and directing people to individual store’s feeds. Craft e-tailer Etsy, an online site that acts as a virtual craft store where consumers can browse and purchase items handmade by other users, highlights both new contributions on its own site and directs followers to great crafts found elsewhere on the Web. #11 on the list, Dell Outlet, pushes out a mere two tweets a day but offers special discounts not found anywhere else, thus providing a powerful incentive for its followers to keep up with the feed.

It can be tempting to use your account to simply promote, promote, promote. But remember, your company’s Twitter account is not for you; it’s for your customers. Take off your marketing hat for a moment and put yourself in your customer’s shoes. What do you want to see? What’s useful to you? What will keep you coming back day after day?

When it comes to Twitter, you don’t always have to be unique or out of the box. Sometimes, it just pays to be useful.

Tags: air marketing, Social Media, Twitter