5 Reasons to Jump into the Twitter Stream

Twitter is one of the major outposts in the social media platform lineup, and a tremendously powerful marketing tool when used correctly.  Here is a guide to getting your feet wet, while subsequent posts will focus more on using it for marketing.

If you are used to the polite pace of Facebook chatter, then jumping into the Twitter stream may feel disorienting at first.  It’s a bit like driving down a busy stretch of 95 in New Jersey with the CB radio on, or at least the way I remember it when I did it back in the mid-90s.  

(No, I wasn’t a truck driver, although I did drive a diesel and have the utmost respect for the professional drivers among us on the road.  It is just that CB radios were far more effective than radar detectors in letting me know where the ‘bears’ were taking pictures or hiding in the grass!)   

Yes, it will feel like dozens of people are jaw jacking, screeching ‘breaker, breaker 1-9,’ and none of it may make sense or feel like a cohesive conversation.  That is normal.  Hang in there for a spell, and you’ll be yakking back in no time at all.

Just like CB radios, Twitter has a lingo all its own.  “Thanks for the RT,” might mean as much to you as hearing “nice seatcover,” when a truck driver passes you by, but it is worth learning the vernacular!  (Both are very kind comments.)

The premise of Twitter is simple.  One question, “What’s happening,” and enough space for you to answer that question in 140 characters (even fewer once you take away the number of characters in your name). 

But why go through this learning curve?  Here are my top 5 reasons:

Your competition is on Twitter

No matter what industry you are in, your competitors are using Twitter.  It is a brilliant tool to stay current with your local competition, similar businesses across the world, and what is happening in your industry in general.    

Unlike Facebook, where the connection between two people needs to be reciprocated, with Twitter you can follow people even if they don’t follow you back.  You can listen in on conversations your competition and other industry groups and associations are having even if they don’t give two hoots about your comments!

 Your customers are on Twitter

Customer service is emerging as one of the top benefits of being tuned in on Twitter.  Scratch the letter writing and long hold times on the phone; people want access to businesses on the same platforms that they are engaging on with others. 

And a tweet for help is a public one, so woe to the business that isn’t answering their Twitter line!  On Twitter, every plea or call for customer service is recorded for Quality Assurance.  The difference is that the tapes are no longer proprietary to your QA Department.  The Twitter universe is evaluating them.

Even if your direct customers aren’t on Twitter, there is still an immense opportunity for you.  Imagine a scenario whereby someone posts a negative comment about your competitor.  Your swift response may just get you a new customer. 

I saw that happen one day when someone complained about Subway’s stinginess with meat on their sandwich.  A Quizno employee swooped in to assure this Twitter user that Quizno’s “had his meat.”  It makes for a positive and memorable marketing message delivered in a very personal way.  Powerful and sticky!

Interesting people are on Twitter

Interesting is subjective.  You may find Shaquille O’Neal fascinating, while I hang on every word uttered by Christopher Kimball (from Cook’s Illustrated), Fine Cooking magazine and Irv Gordon (my personal hero who effortlessly put 2 million miles on his 1966 Volvo P1800, while I labored to keep my 1964 road-worthy for a decade).  That is the beauty of our personalized Twitter experience! 

Find your people!  Converse with them! 

A source for breaking news

Perhaps you have cable or a subscription to a newspaper.  I don’t.  But even if I did, I would never be able to see pictures streamed by bystanders in New York City of Times Square being shut down as it is happening and before camera crews arrived on the scene.  People with smart phones who tweet are the new camera crews now.  They may not have the whole story, but they can convey a message with unprecedented immediacy. 

Fabulous local connections

If you’re like me, you’ve been to networking events more awkward than a hundred blind dates.  They are usually held before hours, when people are still half asleep, or after hours when people wish they could be asleep.  Not always the best of circumstances.

And, in my view, the basic premise is flawed; it is based on having conversations with people because they inhabiting the same physical space as you are; like seatmates on an airplane. 

Sometimes it works, often it doesn’t.  And I say this having logged millions of miles in the air, most of them alone on business and in the pre-iPod, iPhone and inflight wireless service era, with only a book or my seatmate to pass the time.   

Now, imagine the same networking event where you meet people you have already ‘met’ on Twitter.  An awkward meeting is suddenly transformed into a reunion of sorts!  So much easier once you have already established a baseline of shared humanity.