To tweet or not to tweet
Who isn’t talking about Twitter these days? From small-time freelancers to Fortune 100 companies, everyone is on Twitter. Are you?
If you’re not, you’re probably at least curious about what the fuss is all about. So, let’s take a quick, high-level look at Twitter.
What is Twitter?
Twitter is all about connecting us with our audience – whether it’s our target market, clients, friends or anyone else that we care about. It’s a public forum to represent who we are and what we do.
And, more importantly, it allows us to keep our fingers on the pulse of what matters most to our businesses. If you engage the Twitter community, we’ll see market trends, hear feedback and engage with our target audience. This is powerful stuff.
How does it work?
Twitter is a very simple messaging system that allows us to send and receive messages to one another. These messages, called “tweets,” are limited to only 140 characters.
Here’s what a message could look like:
forge3
We’re ready to launch the new Forge3 website. What would you like to see on it?
This message is automatically sent to everyone on Twitter that cares about what we’re doing and has chosen to “follow” us.
But, Twitter is really about listening. So, anyone can send a “reply” to us using the following format:
clientABC
@forge3 I’d love to see some information on how to use Twitter.
The @forge3 part of the message is telling the system that the message should be sent to Forge3. It’s as simple as that.
Some real-world examples
OK. Now that you know the basics, why should you care? Here are a few real-world “tweets” to get kick-start your creative thinking.
JetBlue was one of the first big brands to use Twitter. The following example uses shortened links (from a service called bit.ly). This allows us to stay within the 140 character limit.
JetBlue
Our Sample Sale is going until 11:59 p.m. MDT today only. http://bit.ly/samplesale Mobile users: http://bit.ly/mobilesample
JetBlue also listens to messages written about them. And, more importantly, they respond publicly, like this:
JetBlue
@matthewfong We will honor the lower airfare & issue you a JB credit if your flight prices drop before departure :)
Should you use Twitter?
Absolutely! Why not?
- It’s free
- It’s an easy way to keep up with the latest news and trends concerning your business
- It offers a direct channel into your target market and your customer’s minds
- It provides transparency and breaks down the barriers between you and your customers
- Everyone else is doing it – if you’re not, the perception is that you just don’t get it
And, be sure to follow @forge3. We’ll see you on Twitter!
