Twitter Advocacy

2 February 2008 Ken Yeung View Comments

It’s kinda interesting talking about this as I’ve found myself over the past couple of weeks mentioning Twitter to several different audiences. One being to someone on the cusp of social media, a group of Generation Y students from college (who you would think are most prone to social tools), and to the public relations audience. Basically it all came to a head with a simple question:Â What is Twitter?

After explaining in hopeful simple terms of what it is, I felt it was needed to further explain the possibilities from a marketing perspective. Sure, you can tell folks about what you’re doing, but from a person to person point of view. But when you look at how it can be used to market your products or start an ideavirus (thanks Seth Godin), then I think you need to take advantage of it. Obviously it has applicable value to news outlets like CNN, the New York Times, and also for other blog outlets like the Social Times, Mashable, TechCrunch, etc., but for those folks with a lot of information to convey in simple text blasts, then this can be a good way to incorporate web 2.0 into your site.

Think about it this way…you have a group of consumers who love your product (whether it’s tourism, retail, or something else) and you should try and convince them to follow you on Twitter. Integrate it with your WordPress company blog or something. I like to see it as similar to a online registration module where you can send out simple text blasts via Twitter and it’ll pop up on their Twitter profile. That way you can keep your “Twitter-scriptions” abreast of patches, new features, sales, news, etc.

I’m sure that Twitter may not be applicable for all companies. Is it better to have technology just for the sake of having technology? Of course not. Even though Twitter is free subscriptions, you really should think about what you’re doing with your site and your marketing strategy. But if your strategy is delving into the world of social times, then Twitter is perhaps the fastest growing media now that you should jump on board and experience its potential.