What are you doing?

Well, you should be reading a blog on the Business IT Guide web site. For some people the answer to this question is using Twitter, a micro blogging service designed to answer just this question. Twitter was created to allow people to send short updates about their daily life and activities to their followers – people that have signed up to receive these micro blogs.

Of course the vast majority of these micro blogs are inane updates about what a person is having for lunch or going to see at the cinema. On the other hand some businesses, such as Starbucks, Sun Micro Systems and the Daily Telegraph see Twitter as another way to interact with their customers.

From a small business perspective Twitter is an interesting “Web 2.0” way of updating your clients about new products, innovations or offers. Carried out effectively, as part of a bigger marketing mix, Twitter could show that you are well attuned to new ways of communicating to your customers. Primarily used by younger people Twitter is gaining attention in older age groups – Stephen Fry is a famous proponent of Twitter. Successful Twitters can have 50,000 or so followers.

Twitter messages are limited to 140 characters, a bit like SMS messages on mobile phones. You therefore have to be succinct and to the point when you are “Twittering” and of course you need to send a message your users are actually interested in hearing. A good example may be to send out details of your last minute offers or updates on product deals that are about to expire. Another example may be to send out succinct comments regarding industry news relevant to your user community.

What ever you choose to Twitter about remember that you are representing your business. Your followers should be aware of this as well, and would have signed up to hear messages that may well also contain a sales pitch.

For more information on utilising blogs, why not read the following guide:

Using Blogs

To sign up to Twitter visit their website

Mr BITG

The Business IT Guide