Building Your Brand – Manage Twitter Like a Pro

Some may contest it, but I think Twitter is a fantastic medium for lead and sales generation when you look at Social Media as a whole.  It’s undisputable for its position as a tool for reputation and brand management.  You can guarantee that as the behemoth known as Twitter grows in popularity, you’ll find more and more of your customers actively using social media (like Twitter) to discuss products and services within your industry.

If they’re talking about it, then you should be also.

The question to ask yourself, is if no one is discussing your industry, products or services then is it worth attempting to start the conversation?  Is this platform the right channel for what you’re offering?

If the conversations aren’t there for your company, then establishing that new presence on sites like Twitter will help you gain great exposure for your brand.  Being able to quickly launch your marketing team into action (even if that’s just you) will provide quick and cheap accessibility that should be leveraged.

Here’s a great example:  On a number of social media sites, users can examine which companies their friends have started to follow and then decide to do the same.  This occurs without the company even having to target that specific person.

Word of mouth is probably one of the best forms of marketing and while it’s been around for ages, it has been effectively digitized by social networks like Twitter.  If it plays out like we want it to, that scenario creates a viral branding tsunami around your company that generates a fantastic base.  What’s better, is that you can directly communicate with them.

Actively engaging your customers and potential customers through social media is a great way to manage any incidents that might pop as well.  Of course that means engaging them in a positive manner (way to go Nestle).  Reviews these days are extremely important when it comes to business, especially with the availability of the internet.  One bad review could wind up on the first page of Google faster than you expect.  That is why utilizing social media to engage your customers is so important.  It enables you to build links and contacts that can push negative reviews quickly out of the way in the SERPs.  Not to mention, the opportunity to directly handle the negative review in a web 2.0 platform.

If it’s mismanaged or let to run around the web in chaos, a negative review could have devastating financial impact on you or even your clients business.

In instances like these, Twitter can be used for online conversations to improve the experiences your customers have.  For example, a friend of mine recently grumbled openly about some trouble he was having with a vehicle purchased from General Motors.  Shortly after he posted the Tweet, a customer service agent got in touch with him to rectify the problem.  If they hadn’t responded quickly, then they ran the risk of others seeing the negative post and adopting that same view.

Actions like this allow a company to showcase a commitment to customers, something that every one of us should be striving for on a daily basis.

I’m a strong believer in the power of Internet marketing channels, especially social media.  When you consider the fact that it is free, and internal costs to run watchdog campaigns online are minimal if done properly, you open yourself up to stay abreast with everything that is being discussed about your company, industry, products and services and you have the opportunity to respond accordingly.

With social media, we have the ability to interact with customer on this level and improve that customer experience.  We can actively improve our brand perception for less than the cost of a Twinkie.

Related posts:

1. Social Media Romp – GM Leads by Example
2. Spiking your Local Impact with Twitter
3. Keeping your Finger on the Industry Pulse
4. How To – Linking WordPress and Twitter
5. Reputation Management – Replying to Reviews

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