9 Comments

Twitter Proves Its Value for Small Business

May 20, 2009
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After reading Guy Kawasaki’s article on Twitter as a Twool and mulling over attention diva Jason Calacanis’ search for more fame on Twitter, it really has finally sunk in that Twitter really is useful for businesses. If you have customers, products, or trade in your personal fame as a source of income, then social media can really be a leverage/broadcast point for your business.

I’ve been looking for an example with positive results to show how social media can pay dividends. I finally found one worth discussing.

Advertising Age has a short, but solid case study/article that should be required reading for marketers interested in the potential power of social media. In case you don’t have the time, here’s a quick summary and analysis of their point.

Basics: Two small businesses user Twitter to develop their follower list. They announce time limited, tracked offers to their followers who get a discount or freebie if they come in and prove they are following the business on Twitter. In the article, Naked Pizza reported that a Twitter specific promotion accounted for 15%  of business the day of the promotion. Done.

The key to this success lies in the adoption of sound choices by companies interested in functioning in the fluid and interactive world Twitter operates in.  These implementation choices include:

  • Advertise their Twitter account at the store and encourage followers.
  • Provide clear value to followers – in this case discounts and freebie.
  • Require ‘proof’ – in order to avoid the coupon photocopy disaster of KFC while increasing the virality of WOM online.
  • Setting up tracking mechanism to allow attribution to their campaigns.

Nicely done. There are other tips in the article worth noting – especially how not to just shout at customers over a Twitter broadcast. I encourage checking out the article yourself, it’s well worth exploring.

About Duane Kuroda

Business ninja, deal hunter, Internet marketer, and technology fiddler obsessed about growing companies and launching products. Currently at Peerspin, Duane’s past lives include Vice President of Marketing roles at companies leading micropayments, Internet video, and online communities as well as research and consulting for mobile advertising. Duane has spoken at conferences including Digital Hollywood and Digital Video Expo on topics covering monetizing online content and online video, has appeared on TechNowTV and KNTV, and has been quoted in various magazines. Follow Duane on Twitter: @dkuroda.

Filed under: Case Studies + Customer Relationship Management + Online Marketing + Social Media + Viral Marketing
  • http://www.jeffmolander.com Jeff Molander

    Hi, Duane…

    I respectfully disagree and am calling 'bull' on Twittermania. The success-value formula is illogical, backward (awareness and ability to drive transactions/interest does not equate to success as in 'profitable') & symptomatic of serious customer service PROBLEMS (ie. Comcast) — more often than unique successes (ie. Southwest Airlines). IMHO this needs to be discussed and has never been to my knowledge outside of a bright guy named Jim Novo (www.blog.jimnovo.com).

    You don’t need to be using Twitter. Large or small brand — either way you don’t NEED to be THAT worried about the social influence of customers on your brand. Why? None of this social marketing stuff is new, complex or urgent because the outputs, so far, are rarely (if ever) meaningful to businesses. The experts are not only wrong but most of Twitter’s “big success stories” are mostly overblown, illogical or actually symptoms of a broken customer service system. More… http://is.gd/BNxM

    Again, I respect your stance but disagree with the conclusion that you and so many others are drawing.

  • http://www.netspray.com/start Greg

    i was like you, unusre if twitter could help small biz owner and after reading a few posts about eatries embracing twitter, i am now a firm believer that twitter can help them out.

  • http://www.switched-on.info Poyel

    Sure there will be more spam and useless noise on Twitter. At the same time it is a no-brainer in generating more traffic and leads. It comes down to the time you spend and the result you get, which can be easily tracked. So yes, agree with your article. Thank you.

  • http://dealsidekick.com Duane Kuroda

    I think some readers get what is going on, while others may be resistant to change or new technology. Twitter has ALOT of spam and noise, no doubt, but so does email. Do businesses use email? Of course. Do they use it out of fear? No. For the opportunity minded, Twitter is another tool that users may leverage to get them more business or to increase their customer mindshare.

    I personally believe that businesses make their own luck and have to proactively find ways to leverage markets, customers, and technology to grow. It's easy to stay with the status quo and live withiin your comfort zone, but sometimes it takes courage, some risk taking, and foresight to gain exposure and seize a growth opportunity.

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  • http://www.sutralise.com Terrence Kommal

    I think that the great value of twitter is innately there! However, the market itself needs to be able to adequately use twitter before it can have a real ROI. In South Africa most tech-savy ppl use twitter, but most buying clients have no idea what it is! (yes they have heard of it but still have no idea how to use it effectively…)

    @twitter: terrence_kommal

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