Twitter (www.twitter.com) has quickly grown from being something only known to a group of early adopters, and those at the leading edge of the social networking community, into a phenomenon.

Twitter is essentially a social networking forum that allows you to state what you’re doing, thinking, or say anything at all that you want in 140 characters or fewer. This message is then relayed to your ‘followers’. These are the network of other Twitter users (Twits) who have chosen to follow you and read what you have to say. You can also follow other Twits, who may be people you know or don’t know. As a rule you can only see the tweets of other Twits you follow and vice versa. If, after reading another person’s posts (Tweets) you would like to respond or add to you can reply using an ‘@’ response and engage in direct conversations.

So in its construction Twitter is much like any other social networking site, such as Facebook, My Space or Linkedin, in that you can choose both the people you connect to and those who connect to you. The difference is that you have only 140 characters in which to say what you have to say.

This brevity of communication gives Twitter potential advantages over other social networks when it comes to business. You can communicate with people quickly, informally and about any topic that maybe of interest to you, (commercially or otherwise). Also, because Twitter is real time, it allows you to track what’s being said about a product, a service, or your company, whether that’s good or bad, right now.

Twitter has been used as a way to raise and resolve service issues since its very early days. Mozilla, the company that develops the Firefox internet browser, uses Twitter to make users aware of new software updates. If a user is experiencing problems with their Firefox browser they can tweet or direct message Mozilla explaining their difficulty. This is then treated by Mozilla as a signal to get in touch with the user. This type of interaction can often turn a complainant into a promoter of a brand when they see such a proactive response to a problem.

However, the beauty of Twitter in this area from a cultural perspective is that as an organisation you don’t have to set up a “Twitter watch” department. At ntl:Telewest Business the customer issues are picked up by employees who spot “stuff” when they are on Twitter as individuals. They are acting as “real people” who want to help resolve customers or at least point the right people at the problems. Many other companies are starting to adopt this viral “let’s look after our customers and our brand” approach on Twitter

When it comes to selling to consumers, online brands have also been quick to recognise the effectiveness of using Twitter as a customer service tool. The fashion brand, ASOS.com is an excellent example in this space. Not only does it use Twitter to make company announcements and distribute discount codes, but it also has a separate @ASOS_HereToHelp identity devoted to resolving customer problems. Twitter’s real time search capability means that ASOS’s customer service staff can proactively monitor the site for mentions of ASOS in relation to lost deliveries and poor service. When it encounters complaints, its workers then tweet back to ask how the problem can be resolved before taking action.

Some companies are claiming that using Twitter can now be measured at a bottom line level, computer manufacturer Dell, for example. It uses its Twitter feed to advertise promotion codes and special offers on its products; it recently estimated that doing so had brought in $3 million in extra revenue that would not have come in through other sources.

The potential commercial power of Twitter extends beyond its use as a sales promotion tool for recognized online brands. Its ability to provide an instant view of particular keywords being discussed and by whom can be invaluable, especially if you use Twitter via a desktop application such as Tweetdeck, which allows you to spot trends and keywords automatically.

For example, someone might ask their followers about their experience of purchasing software or corporate networks and if this is what you sell it’s a golden opportunity to offer help or ask a couple of qualification questions. A word of warning though, notwithstanding the fact that you’re (hopefully) not going to attempt an unsolicited 140 character pitch on your product, there is an etiquette on Twitter, (or should that be Twetiquette), which it is best to observe. Think of it like being stood at a hotel bar, you can say hello to someone and attempt to start a conversation, if they engage then great, if they don’t want to talk then it’s best to move onto someone who does.

As Twitter’s profile increases, the downside is the rise in the sort of stuff you see being attracted to any growing part of the internet, Gurus of all persuasion, life coaches, people offering to write your CV and invitations to connect to sites of a dubious nature are on the increase exponentially, but then again you can choose not to follow or you can block them from following you if you want to.

However, whilst Twitter is not designed to, nor do I think it aspires to be a business to business sales channel, it’s the smart companies, the smart (sales) people and those with a real sense of engagement with their own organizations that are spotting and acting upon its real time, “customers in your face right now” potential to solve problems and seek sales opportunities.

So if you’re looking for something that will be a magic bullet to hit your sales numbers, then Twitter isn’t it. What it is though is somewhere you can find out what people are talking about right now. And if that happens to be your product, your competitor’s product or a problem you could help solve, that’s well worth knowing.

By John Cunningham
Director of Business Markets ntl: Telewest Business
Follow John on Twitter @johnpc

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