Anytime I mention the word Twitter in a conversation I get one of
two responses. The first response is “Huh???”. The second response is
“I signed up for Twitter, like, a year ago and I didn’t really ‘get it’
so I quit using it.”
When given the first response I become the Twitter evangelist that I am, preaching the virtues of this fantastic tool (without mentioning the constant technical issues the Twitterati face on a daily basis). When I get the second response I typically give the “I know how you feel…I felt the same way when I first started using Twitter.”
I’ve run across many posts about the benefits - or the lack thereof - of using Twitter. I even ran across a pretty funny video called “Twitter Whore” on YouTube today mocking the Twitterati. I thought I would give my reasons for being such a huge Twitter fan.
1.) Connect-ability
I’m a pretty social guy. If most people that know me were forced into describing me in one word, I’m pretty sure it would be “connector”. I love to connect with people and help others make connections. I’m a firm believer you should, as Keith Ferrazzi puts it “Never Eat Alone”. With Twitter I’m able to keep a constant eye open for people in my area (Detroit) using the tool and then I typically will “follow” them to stay in touch with other social media junkies in the area. Since using Twitter I’ve received several resumes from potential new hires, received some solid business plans for start-up ideas, met potential new customers but most importantly connected with some great new friends.
Not only was I able to connect with people online but we’ve taken the party offline through the Detroit Tweetup Network - a monthly(ish) meetup of Detroit Twitter users. Social Media Guru Chris Brogan - @chrisbrogan - was a guest at a recent Detroit Tweetup, using the tool to connect with fellow Twitter users while visiting our fair city. No question, Twitter is an amazing way to find new ideas, new hires, new business, and most important new friends.
2.) Twitter as a CRM Tool
When meeting a potential new customer and sharing tools like Twitter with those that don’t have a clue what I’m talking about, I often take them to Summize.com to show the Twitter posts about their brand, industry or even themselves. At lunch today I looked up the term “tea” to a online tea distributor. The query returned thousands of “tweets” with the word “tea”. I began to reiterate how amazing it is to find tea enthusiasts (the vast majority of tweets went something like “just woke up and having my first cup of tea” or “I love tea” or “If I don’t drink my tea soon I’m going to explode”) in such a targeted form. People are basically identifying themselves as tea fans.
I’ve done similar experiments with a top marketing official with the State of Michigan’s Travel Bureau - Travel Michigan. I posted the question to my network “does anyone have a question to ask Travel Michigan rep” and within a minute I had several responses. “Where’s the best place in Michigan to find wine or visit wineries?” “Where do you recommend young professionals visit in Michigan?” “How does the construction surrounding the Ambassador Bridge in Detroit impact visitors to Port Huron’s Bluewater Bridge?” Needless to say the fellow I was with was stunned at the speed of the responses and happily answered all of their questions. How many ways can you think of to directly identify likely or like-minded consumers who want to engage in a two-way conversation about your brand?
3.) Twitter as a Knowledge Base
Another group I follow on Twitter is the global Social Media elite. Following the likes of Chris Brogan, Robert Scoble, Jason Calacanis, and Joseph Jaffe is like getting the “Social Media Journal” delivered to my front door. The wealth of information of cool new sites, cool new gadgets, new techniques and theories on using social media, etc. is phenomenal. And unlike receiving their RSS feeds in an aggregator I can reply back to have an immediate dialog about their tweet.
4.) Twitter as my new E-mail System (well, not really, but kinda)
I love to DM (Direct Message). Why hassle with e-mail when I can direct
message people I need to contact. For private messages DM is great. For
the “I want to say something to you but I don’t really care if the
world knows it” replies work as well. The obviously great thing about
Twitter as a messaging system is that it is 100% opt-in. No DM’s from
pill manufacturers or princes from Zimbabwe wanting to leave me a
million dollars if I would only send them an e-mail back. For groups or
virtual companies (like mine) Twitter is a great way to keep people in
the loop either publicly or privately. Twitter will never replace my
e-mail account but it does serve the direct messaging niche well.
5.) Public Relations through Twitter
Twitter can be a great way to communicate out your press release, your most recent blog post or if you are a publisher, your latest news, events, etc. Again, the people following you are doing so because (ideally) you have something of value to them. The opt-in nature of the medium means it’s not only acceptable to pass along information, it’s expected. Obviously abuses may and do occur, but as far as push mediums go, Twitter is probably the most news friendly audience you’ll find anywhere.
6.) It’s Free
Not alot to say here except…well…it’s free. You can’t beat that. And as for now it’s ad free as well. Uninterrupted opt-in two-way conversations brought to you commercial free. Sounds like the future of media to me!
7.) The Open API
Twitter not only has an open API but the creators go out of their way to encourage apps, new websites capitalizing on the tool, hacks and mashups. I don’t even use the Twitter website to keep tabs on my “tweeps”. I use a third-party client called Twitterfox (a Firefox add-on) to manage my twitterverse. This openness has ushered in a whole new world of cool sites and applications using Twitter as the web 2.0 “telegraph system” as quoted by Nicholas Carr, Author and Technologist.
8.) The Vernacular
I love saying things like Tweets and Tweetups and Twitterati especially in a room full of Twitter newbies. Some of my favorite Twitter jargon from the glossary:
- Dweet - a drunk tweet
- Tweeps - my Twitter homies
- Twittastic - something fabulous
- Twittard - a Twitter retard
- Twitterrhea - the act of sending too many tweets
- Twype - to type a tweet
- Twoogle - Twitter as the human Google
- Twouche - someone acting like a big fat jerk via twitter
9.) Simplicity
While other microblogging sites are emerging with new capabilities, pretty graphics and timelines and the ability to add emoticons (read Plurk.com) Twitter works because it’s just so darn plain. Yes, you can customize your profile background but that’s about as custom as it gets. With the open API Twitter has kept their tool pretty bare bones leaving the creativity and ingenuity to the developer network. Twitter makes it so simple to post and receive updates via SMS and IM, as well as place your personal timeline on your blog or website. The ease of use and the power of the tool makes Twitter one of the most exciting web 2.0 tools available.
10.) 140 Character Limit
A friend of mine once said “Sorry for the long letter…I didn’t have time to write a short one”. The art of getting straight to the point has been lost on the ubiquity of bandwidth and webspace. Even this blog post you’re reading should have been cut off about 5 paragraphs ago. Twitter encourages users to get right to the point. It even allows you to enter urls and with the right tools will shorten the link for you so you can get it in under the 140 character limit. Hopefully, being forced to capture your thoughts in 140 characters or less will trickle over to e-mail, phone conversations and lectures from your significant other (accept for my tweetheart, of course).
So there you have it. The 10 reasons I Love Twitter. If you are a marketing or PR professional and you would like to learn more about how you can use Twitter or have questions about other social media strategies, techniques or terminology, we’re here to help. Please send inquiries to ecedo @ braingainmarketing (dot) com.
