It’s safe to say that if an organization hasn’t at least experimented with Twitter by now, it has missed the proverbial boat. Since 2007, when the microblogging platform came of age at the South by Southwest festival, it has grown exponentially, and forward-thinking companies got on board early in the game—leveraging the new platform to build communities, integrate into customer service programs, announce product launches, reach the media and more.
But three years have passed, and as Twitter and the countless applications built for it have evolved, so has organizations’ use of the platform. PR News recently spoke to a quartet of social media strategists across nonprofit, B2C, B2B and agency functions to find out how their own Twitter efforts have evolved, and how they are moving the business needle with the tool.
Danielle Brigida, social media outreach coordinator for the National Wildlife Federation, has been using Twitter since 2007, “right around the time that bloggers were using it,” she says. For the NWF, Twitter has evolved from a one-person program (Brigida) to 70 people. “I slowly recognized that it wasn’t the best thing for me to be answering every question asked by the public,” says Brigida.
Twitter now allows the NWF to engage with members and supporters in a direct and very quick way, says Brigida. “It’s an extension of the engagement ladder, like a phone call before the first date,” she says.
Meanwhile, at popular travel site Travelocity, Joel Frey, senior PR manager, says initial conversations in 2008 regarding Twitter involved questions like “What is this?” and “Why is this important?”
“We had a much bigger stake in MySpace than we did in Twitter,” says Frey.
It soon became evident that Twitter would become a key customer mouthpiece, and eventually an indispensable customer service tool. “Travel is one of those things that people get highly charged up about,” says Frey. “ When you have a budget for one big trip a year, everything has to be perfect.”
Twitter’s evolution at Travelocity isn’t ending with customer service. Frey and his team are looking to be more strategic about their Twitter presence—opening brand regional accounts where main pages will be less cluttered with customer service messages, and offering more information on travel destinations and deals tailored to that region.
The next challenge over the long term? Frey says it’s making Twitter a key revenue driver.
BE A RESOURCE FIRST
If Twitter is still not driving revenues at an online B2C company like Travelocity, can it for a regional B2B company like Oklahoma-based United Linen & Uniform Services? Not quite yet, according to Scott Townsend, the company’s marketing director. Twitter had humble beginnings in 2007 at United Linen: “We used it to post the baseball scores of the local team we sponsored,” says Townsend.
Today, Twitter provides the company with a comprehensive look into the restaurant industry, and is a key driver of lead generation. “Through food bloggers on Twitter, we can find out about new restaurants that are opening, and our sales staff can follow up directly on those leads,” says Townsend.
The company also monitors hot restaurant industry topics such as legislation, smoking laws and healthcare issues, says Townsend, who touts geo-location as the next big thing for them. “In our business, restaurants are jumping all over that, and we’ll follow them,” he says.
Why should a B2B company use Twitter? “We wanted to stay relevant in the marketplace,” says Townsend. “We may be a 74-year-old company, but you can teach an old dog new tricks.” B2B PR execs take note: Twitter usage is higher among B2B companies than B2Cs (see accompanying graphic). Here are Townsend’s Twitter tips for B2B PR executives:
• Help others solve their problems.
• Don’t use Twitter as a general e-mail account.
• Make relationship deposits first. Before you try selling something through Twitter, add to the conversation.
• Position yourself as a resource. Be ready to send a relevant article or video to potential customers.
Townsend stresses that Twitter has evolved into a long-term communications strategy. “I’d encourage B2B companies not to be discouraged because they don’t see short-term gains with Twitter,” he says. “Our potential customers have contractual agreements with other vendors, so we have to hang in there, engage with them and be in it for the long haul.”
MULTIPLE USES
The long haul an outlook that John Carter, VP of account services at Shift Communications, fully agrees with. He cites client Club Med as an example: “For them, Twitter is a way to extend the customer relationship,” says Carter. “They keep them engaged and thinking about travel throughout the year.”
Carter believes Twitter has evolved into a tool that serves multiple goals.
“There’s no one way to use Twitter anymore,” says Carter. The tool serves Shift’s clients in a variety of ways, including:
• Industry scanning
• Distribution channel
• Deals and promotions
• News and tips
• Brand building
• Questions and surveys
• Thought leadership
• Customer service
• Response and interaction
Carter notes a key mistake companies make in setting up Twitter programs: Big gaps in content. “Set a week-to-week editorial calendar that shows what you’ll tweet and when,” says Carter. He adds that metrics goals should be included.
Carter believes the myriad applications now available for Twitter aptly illustrates its evolution, and to keep pace he strongly recommends that organizations become familiar with them. To do so, he recommends Twitter tools site oneforty.com. “It’s a treasure trove of add-ons and applications that cover monitoring, analytics, networking and more,” says Carter.
WHAT’S ON THE TWITTER HORIZON?
With the distinction of topping 10 billion tweets earlier this month, the Twitter juggernaut continues. And while the frequency of those tweets has slowed some, Carter expects Twitter to remain a PR force. “We’ll see more applications that are tightly integrated with the tool,” he says. And, perhaps in the next few months, the long-awaited Twitter advertising platform will become a reality. PRN
CONTACT:
Danielle Brigida, [email protected]; Joel Frey, [email protected]; Scott Townsend [email protected]; John Carter, [email protected].