How Twitter Can Make a Difference for Your Company

Although I was first reluctant to create a Twitter account, it has quickly become my favorite social media outlet. Even if there are a few people I regret following in the first place but feel guilty if I unfollow them, Twitter is such a useful tool for thriving and striving businesses.

In my opinion, Twitter is the easiest way to connect to big businesses or celebrities by far than any other social media device. As said by Alex Lacey, "[m]ore so than any other tool, Twitter has provided a personalised outlet for customer feedback on products and performance" (p. 74). Customers are able to share problems they may have and tag the business or use a hashtag as a way to archive it. I don't think it gets any simpler than that for the customer.

Another important point Lacey makes is to make sure that your company is using this platform because if you don't, someone else will, especially in times of crisis. He then gave the example of the parody public relations account of BP having 10 times the followers than the official BP account did when the oil spill occurred (p. 74).

As my PR professors love to repeatedly say, public relations is now about making relationships with the customers. Being honest and spreading information yourself is much better than a parody Twitter account having 10 times the followers you do. They can post almost anything they want to, even if it's based off a rumor.

Twitter is a great way to become connected and build trusting relationships with customers. Those customers then tweet about how much they love your product and the fact that your company connects with them so quickly. In turn, their followers try your product and are equally as impressed. Honestly, doesn't that sound that sound like a win-win situation?

Lacey, A. (2012). Twitter: The unstoppable rise of microblogging. In S. Waddington (Ed.), Share This: The social media handbook for pr professionals (pp. 71-77). United Kingdom: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.