Dip a toe into the waters of social media with Twitter.

Think back–way back–when the commercial Internet was new to most folks. I’m talking mid-nineties. More and more companies started to put up Web sites–every TV and magazine ad mentioned a URL–and ever-increasing numbers of people who were not on the Web started jumping on to see what it was all about. It looks much the same today with social media. Today we’re told to follow our local news station or retailer on Twitter, or to become a fan of various companies on Facebook. There is definitely a groundswell here. Popular social media platforms have staked claim to the time and attention of hundreds of millions of subscribers, and more are connecting every day.

Social Media Mayhem

If you are in charge of Marketing at a smaller broadband provider, you may not be sure what to make of all of this social media stuff. You may wear several hats in addition to marketing, and probably have a hard enough time keeping up with traditional media needs. The good news is, if you’re reading this post, you probably have already considered putting a toe or two in the water, and getting fully immersed is not that difficult if you follow a few simple steps. Today I’ll be covering how you can use Twitter to provide better service to your subscribers, and promote your business. Tomorrow’s post by Paula Glover will discuss how you can use Facebook as another way to connect with your customers.

First, for those who are clueless on some of this, let’s talk a little about the sensation called Twitter.

What is it?
Twitter is a micro-blogging site. The micro part describes the amount of content. No verbosity allowed. You are limited to 140 characters per tweet, which is what a message sent via Twitter is called.  While that doesn’t seem like much, there is quite a bit you can say in 140 characters, especially if you mention links to other content. The blogging refers to the type of content. Tweets often express the opinions, likes, dislikes and personality of the people who send them.

Who sees your tweets?
Anyone can come across your tweets, but those who “follow” you are by far those who are most likely to see your updates. That’s why it’s good to find ways to encourage your customers to follow you on Twitter. Once someone is following you, it’s much easier to interact with them. One of the best ways to gain “relevant” followers is to provide valuable content in your tweets that is “relevant” to your followers.

What can your business do with Twitter?

If you are a broadband service provider, or any organization for that matter, there are a number of benefits to becoming active on Twitter. Here are just a few things you can (and should) do.

• Listen: Just as in any conversation, listening is an important first step, and you don’t even need a Twitter account to listen. You can easily search for your company on Twitter and hear what people are saying about you. You can also check out your competition, or view the tweets of any Twitter user. All you need to know is their user name.  You can see my tweets, for example, at twitter.com/RickYuzzi.
• Engage and Support: To make the most of Twitter, you need your own account. For example, Comcast has used Twitter very effectively with their @comcastcares personality to offer a higher level of support to their customers. In addition to listening to what customers are saying, they are able to respond appropriately through Twitter. This strategy has done a great deal to improve their reputation among customers who have been helped through Twitter. At ZCorum, we also make @24HourSupport available for the end users of our affiliated broadband providers. We offer support tips and also monitor that account for customers that may be having trouble.
• Add Value: In addition to providing another avenue for customer service, you should find other ways to add value for those who choose to follow you on Twitter. On ZCorum’s Twitter account, for example, we tweet regularly on industry issues or forward information that we think would be of interest to broadband providers.
• Promote: It’s okay to use Twitter to promote your business. However, you don’t want to look like you are spamming on Twittter, so keep self-serving tweets that are promotional in nature to about one or two out of every ten. People will forgive occasional promotional tweets if you are providing other interesting content. However, if you spend most of your time promoting your business, people will stop following you.

How to get started

• Set up a Twitter Account: Go to Twitter and create a free account. Simply complete your profile information, upload a picture or logo, and you’re about done. You can also change your background image and colors, or you can upload a custom background if you like, but the basics of setting up a Twitter account are pretty easy.
• Follow Others: Find out some organizations or people you’d like to follow, like @ZCorum, @FCC, @CiscoSystems, etc. This will help you get a feel for the type of content that is tweeted, plus you will come across good content to tweet or retweet.
• Start Tweeting: You can start tweeting and retweeting any time, but take some time to “lurk”, and get a feel for what Twitter is all about. It’s important to remember that all messages sent on Twitter are immediately in the public domain. While you can delete a tweet from your Twitter page, you cannot remove it from the “Twittersphere”. It can still be searched for and found later. Does this mean it would be better to just avoid Twitter altogether? Of course not. Whether you are active on Twitter or not, your company and brand can and will be discussed for better or worse. It’s best to be actively engaged so you can respond appropriately if necessary. Just do it right.  Following are some helpful links for doing just that:

Best Practices for Businesses on Twitter

Ten Easy Steps for Twitter Beginners

Twitter’s guide for businesses