Using Twitter for Business Promotion, Publicity and Public Relations

What is Twitter? 

If you’re part of the business marketing world, you’ve probably heard of Twitter even if you’re not yet certain what a “twitter” is. While it may seem like an unusual name, Twitter is the social media networking site taking many marketers by storm. Some of the largest companies in the world are using if for customer service, customer retention and even crisis management.  

Twitter is a free microblogging service that allows users to write short messages (up to 140 characters long) directly in the Twitter site or via their third party applications like Facebook.

Understanding the Terminology

If you’re going to use Twitter, it will help to understand the terminology.

The name Twitter comes from the fact that the flow of updates is much like the chirping of a bird. Each time you choose to send an update, it is called a “tweet”.

People who are sending updates are referred to as “twitterers” or “tweeters” but not twits. If you decide to rebroadcast a message that has already appeared at an earlier date, by you or someone else, this is called a “retweet”.

Finding Your Own Place in Twitter

When you first sign up for Twitter, you are given your own page where your updates will all be published. This will be based on your username, which you can of choosing when you sign up. Your page will also show you the details of your friends on Twitter so you can keep up with what they are doing.

Just like other social networking sites, you can add friends and see what they are doing as well as send them direct messages if you want to chat. You can also mark favorites making them easier to find at a later date. The basic interface is simple so there is very little to learn.

Creatively Using Twitter for Business

Twitter can be very beneficial to a business or non profit organization when you learn how to use it to your advantage. It can even become a crisis communications tool to help smooth over problems and to maintain nearly instant access to information.

You can also use Twitter to help you promote your website, articles and blog posts and to keep updates on new ones. You can also use it to help promote your new products or services or to keep updates on a newly launched business product.

You can use Twitter to respond to media coverage, to follow journalists and other people in your field to see their opinions. You can use it to see what your target market likes and dislikes. You can even use it to see what people are saying about you and your brand.

The possibilities are practically endless, and as you use Twitter more you'll discover ways you hadn't even thought about before.

Why Twitter Works

When thinking about how to use Twitter for your own business, it brings up questions about why it is so popular in the first place. Twitter is successful for many reasons but one reason is that there are many different methods of posting updates so people who use it can be more versatile.

For example, you don’t have to use only the Web-based version of Twitter. You can also upload from your mobile phone or instant messaging to send messages back to your Twitter home page. There are also services called “Twitter mashups” which enhance the basic interface of Twitter.  

Related articles: Using Facebook for Free Advertising, Using MySpace for Business Promotion.