What’s All This Fuss About Twitter?

Did you know that twitter is becoming so popular that companies are outsourcing for a ‘twit’? What is our world coming to? In this fast-paced environment where social media is allowing everyone to connect with everyone, it is becoming vital for businesses to get their brand out on the social networks and interact with their customers. According to an article in 4Hoteliers, several of Generation Y’s top values are:

• Connection
• Access to Information
• Authenticity
• Ongoing learning

As a product of Generation Y, I can attest to the reality of our changing world—brands can no longer survive without getting to know their clients and putting themselves out on the interactive web to participate in the give and take of information, trends and even passions.

Some of you are probably thinking, “why should I join twitter?” or maybe even “what is twitter?” Twitter is a social media network that is set up like a microblog. This means that posting on twitter is limited to 140 characters and is a way to let others know ‘what you are doing’ or what kinds of valuable information you have found. I recently joined twitter and one of my first questions was how do I gain followers on Twitter? There is a twitter search feature where you can search terms and find people that have similar interests and begin to follow them. Some will follow you in return; other followers you may receive after you become active on twitter. There is also an offsite twitter search feature where you can search specifics of your niche or business and find people to follow or interesting findings to retweet. Retweeting is probably the most powerful tool on twitter. Essentially, retweeting is repeating an interesting ‘tweet’ you came across and asking people to read it–it is really a call to action for people to read what you have retweeted. (Don’t retweet (RT) yourself as much as you RT others–remember, this is about promoting others even possibly more than you promote yourself: what goes around comes around). It is a way to build conversation and even gain new followers (if you are posting articles/links that people find worth retweeting, you will benefit greatly). All of your work on twitter will build conversation, and, if you are a business, it will give a personality to your brand.

The best way to become active on Twitter is not to simply make plugs for your company, but to share information and to engage in dialogue with other users. I admit I am still learning how to do this. If you are like me, you want everyone to know how much you love your company and brand and want to spread the word—but, don’t simply join twitter to tweet about yourself; make sure you are listening too and acknowledging the value of sharing information.

This being said, don’t wait to join twitter. With every minute that passes you are losing vital opportunities to connect with a new generation of professionals that no longer find paid ads and mainstream marketing persuasive, but they want to hear directly from you.