Building Customer Loyalty: Using Twitter® to Improve the Customer Experience

A lot of fuss is being made in the media about Twitter (www.twitter.com), the microblogging service and social networking tool whose name stands for Typing What I’m Thinking to Everyone Reading. The truth of the matter is that tools like Twitter are not just a passing fad, and a modern business with an online presence should at least be aware of the ways Twitter can help or hurt a business.

Accessible via the World Wide Web or the latest generation of smart cell phones, Twitter® allows its users to type quick entries (140 characters or less) that are updated in real time. These are called “Tweets”. Users may follow the tweets of other users, and receive these updates as they are added. Many popular tweeters, such as celebrities, news services like CNN®, and other high-profile bloggers have thousands or tens of thousands of followers being updated on every entry they make.

Businesses use Twitter for a number of purposes. Advertising new products or service offerings, reputation management, and responding to customer queries (a Canadian service called Bluefur even does technical support via Twitter) are all made easier through the quick connectivity of the Twitter service. For a small- or medium-sized business, there are three keys to using Twitter to improve customer experience:

• Being Available - Creating a profile and establishing a recognizable presence
• Being Proactive - Using the search function to locate potential customers
• Being Reactive - Addressing less than favorable information in a positive way

This article will explore briefly these three avenues.

Being Available

To take advantage of Twitter, a business should have a profile. There is a link to join from Twitter’s homepage, or you can skip straight to https://twitter.com/signup. You will need to provide the following:

• Full Name (Company Name if not an individual)
• Username (Should be related to Company Name)
• Password
• Valid Email Address

Once you have joined, you will be taken to a page to fill out your profile. There you can add a location, a URL (great place to link to your business’ current website), and a bio (a great place for company info). Once your profile is set up, you can begin Tweeting, as well as following other Tweeters.

Being Proactive

One of the major benefits of Twitter is its powerful, real-time search function. Located on the right of your Twitter page once you’ve logged in, the search will pull up the most recent Tweets containing the keywords you’ve typed in the search bar. Below the search box “Trending Topics” are listed. These are the most popular topics on Twitter at the moment, and are often marked with a # sign, (e.g. #michaeljackson). This is called a Hashtag. When writing about a specific topic that many people might be searching for in your Tweets it is good to add the # and topic to the end of your Tweet. For example, a review of the new iPhone might read as follows: “Like the new interface, but unhappy with the speed of my connection. #apple”.

You can use these searches and trending topics to locate potential customers. Once you have, follow these customers, and they will likely follow back. It is important, if you have set up a profile, to begin Tweeting regularly, or else you may look like a spammer. Do not just Tweet advertisements for your products; provide useful information to your client base as well, for free. This will enable you to gain trust.

Services like Twilert (www.twilert.com) and EasyTweets (www.easytweets.com) are popping up all over the Web, offering the ability to track searches of your name, brand, products, and relevant keywords. Using these helps you track the “noise” about your particular business or market, and you can respond to current and potential clients in real time.

Being Reactive

Once you have begun Tweeting, providing information to your clients, RTs (retweets) of relevant news articles, and links to your products and services, you are in a position to begin managing your online reputation via Twitter®. Gauging the “noise” about your brand on Twitter is made easy using the search function, trending topics, and services like Twilert and EasyTweets. But if that noise is bad, how do you respond?

Often, reputation management in the past has not been about directly addressing critiques, but in today’s profoundly social Web 2.0 world, directly and honestly addressing critiques is exactly what you should do. Reply (using the @ symbol) to Tweets that negatively portray your business. Honestly answer questions that are brought up about the way you do business. Speak to potential buyers in their language. Do not attempt to use trickery: On the social Web, this will quickly be recognized and will likely result in more bad noise.

Furthermore, respond to negative thoughts about your business by earning the attention of your current and potential customers by providing links to relevant, helpful information free of charge. This goodwill will come back to you tenfold if done properly.

Conclusion

This is just the beginning. Many businesses are still working out how best to use Twitter to their advantage. For more information, here are a few helpful resources:

• 35 Twitter Tips from Twitter Users - http://www.problogger.net/archives/2008/01/25/35-twitter-tips-from-35-twitter-users/
• TwiTip – Twitter Tips in 140 Characters or More - http://www.twitip.com/
• 25+ Incredibly Useful Twitter Tools and Firefox Plugins - http://www.noupe.com/tools/25-incredibly-useful-twitter-tools-and-firefox-plugins.html

There is a lot to keep in mind. Contact your expert at Network Solutions® for help any time.