The following is a post from TIG Global Manager of Sales Operations, Kristen Poillon.
Everyone is talking about Twitter these days, and even more importantly, everyone seems to be talking ON Twitter…about anything and everything. This new form of social media has revolutionized the way in which people are currently communicating. As the site grows in popularity, many businesses are asking themselves how they can get in the game and capitalize on this growing word-of-mouth venue. The following excerpt from a recent New York Times article discussed this very topic, citing the many ways in which businesses are evolving to extract value from the chatter:
“Corporations often use Twitter for sales pitches. Intuit, the maker of QuickBooks and TurboTax, monitors Twitter for people writing about Mint, a personal finance Web site that competes with its Quicken Online. Intuit then writes to them and offers its service.
Even small businesses find Twitter useful. For example, Mary F. Jenn, of True Massage and Wellness in San Francisco, twitters when masseuses have same-day openings in their schedules and offers discounts. The spa is often fully booked within several hours.
But Twitter’s most productive use has been for businesses that want to peer into the minds of their customers, reading their immediate reactions to a product. Dell noticed customers complaining on Twitter that the apostrophe and return keys were too close together on the Dell Mini 9 laptop. So Dell fixed the problem on the Dell Mini 10.
Some developers are creating tools to help companies keep an eye on the buzz. Akshay Java, a scientist at Microsoft, is trying to figure out a way to identify which experts are most influential on given topics by automatically analyzing the content of their tweets and who is in their Twitter network. Companies like Microsoft could use that information to figure out which twitterers they should contact to create buzz about a new product.”
This new generation of social media sites is novel in that it essentially levels the playing field and provides visibility to companies ranging from mega corporations to the local corner store. It has become increasingly important for businesses to tap into this resource as a tool for improving client service, product development, and sales and marketing techniques. In the past, using a traditional means of marketing, the tendency has been to pitch to a wide audience and capture interest from only a percentage of that audience.
In terms of the travel industry, Twitter turns tradition on its head, providing the opportunity to reverse the process and hone in on groups that have already expressed an interest in specific travel locations, services, and activities and market directly to those interested parties. This approach stands to allow businesses to cast a much smaller net and gain much greater returns. It will be interesting to see how this site, still relatively in its infancy, will develop and gain greater traction in its business processes.
Interested in ramping up your social media strategy? TIG Global offers a full suite of social media services to generate buzz for your business. Click here to learn more, or give us a call at 301-841-4700.
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A quick and meaty post, Kristen. Thank you. I, for one, believe Twitter is nothing new. What I mean is, the principles behind Twitter (quick, connectivity, relationships, sharing, etc.) have been around since the beginning of time. As far as business and the travel industry, you are absolutely right. There is unprecedented access to people who are specifically seeking your product or destination. It is a new and wonderful world for a marketer.