How Twitter Helps You Relate to your Customers

As the world is being transformed by the Internet and social media, people judge a business by accessibility and transparency. Social media is more important to customer relations than ever before.  Social media is a medium where businesses can reach customers on their own terms.

Twitter is a social network that, along with Facebook, has changed the way people communicate and expect businesses to communicate. The future of a business’s success in five years depends highly on its ability to communicate with the consumer on this level.

Twitter is a micro blogging platform. According to Wikipedia:

Microblogging is a broadcast medium in the form of blogging. A microblog differs from a traditional blog in that its content is typically smaller in both actual and aggregate file size. Microblogs “allow users to exchange small elements of content such as short sentences, individual images, or video links”

Twitter more than most networks promotes sharing. Sharing is easy and content being shared is what contributes to content going “viral”. Twitter has several features that promote sharing:

- Retweet: Takes something you read on Twitter (from someone who’s Twitter feed you follow) and repeat it for all of your followers to read.
- Favorite: Allows you to save tweets you found interesting. The more times your tweet is favorite the more Twitter promotes it as a popular tweet.
- #Hashtag: Allows you to search topics and tag people who you think could be interested in the post.

One perfect example of taking Twitter the extra mile is Dell.  They have found ways of getting people to know about their new products and making everyone know why they are better connected than other companies.  Dell has also given tweets about how they care about events around the world.  This helps consumers relate and see how a company’s focus is more than just their products.

Stay consistent in your messaging. This allows the consumer to search your Twitter feed and get to know your business. Consistency and participation with your consumer base on Twitter will allow them to feel connected to your business. Trusting that connection will help them feel confident enough to make a purchase on your site. Every business should use Twitter in order to maintain the image of their company.  Twitter can create energy, a “buzz” around your business, something no one else can do.  You can control and maintain the image that your customers have of you.