Wednesday, August 15, 2007

How do you use Twitter? Count the ways....


I know a lot of people just don't "get" Twitter. And that's ok. No Twitter-Hater-Bashing here. Like many, I registered for a Twitter account (twitter.com/dennissmith) and didn't even log in for months.

I'm far from a fanatic, but I do see practical application - especially since I read this answer (below) to a Twitter question on LinkedIn (click HERE to go to the question on LinkedIn - I'm sure you'll need to login first).

Here's the question:

I registered for Twitter, but don't understand how to use it. Can anyone help? (Articles, links, brief explanation.) I'm particularly interested in learning how other marketing or communications professionals are using it, and how much time they're spending on the site.
Here's an excerpt from the long, but insightful answer:

Twitter is a great medium for sending free sms messages. For those reading this not involved in the mobile industry, sms is expensive, both in terms of cost, and time to set up.

We here at TwelveHorses.com consult to businesses about mobile messaging, Twitter, and how to integrate with these technologies. Here are some ideas that we've seen, and some that we've pitched to clients.

Use case 1: In your Restaurant, you have a "For coupons and info, send Follow MyRestaurant to 40404 from your cell phone" Then on Tuesday evenings, when things are slow around dinner time, you Tweet "Free desert with dinner tonight if you mention this coupon."

In this respect, you hit all your interested customers, right at the dinner hour, wherever they are.

Clint Goudie-Nice
Arcitect / Senior Software Engineer
TwelveHorses.com

Nice answer. Clint gives five more scenarios just like this - check it out by following this link.

And here's a link to the TwelveHorses Blog (HorsePower Blog). Good stuff.

Now, I realize Clint has a vested interest in answering this question in great detail. Hey, he just might land some business for TwelveHorses. But I'll tell you this...this guy has some insight....and one day, if I'm ever running my own business, this is the guy I'm going to call for some Twitter-smarts.

Dennis

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