Twitering

As marketers and brands are still looking for ways to effectively utilize Facebook, another social network is taking hold in a big way. It’s Twitter. You’ve seen it in the newspapers, you’ve heard people talking about it and even the evening news is feeding parts of their discussions by utilizing Twitter.

For a brand it can be a bit overwhelming, Twittering, tweeple, tweets, what is a brand to do? It’s intriguing though; there is a lure here for many marketers and brands alike. Think about how amazing is it for a brand to have all these followers that hang on every word said? How could you go wrong?

Well, the answer is not that black and white. The big question you face is, does your brand need an active and daily dialogue with customers? Does it have enough to say on a regular basis? Can your brand even support that sort of dialogue and is it in your brands nature to do so? Twitter is not the equivalent of a dry corporate website it is VERY different. Twitter has the potential to be a lot more personal if used correctly.

Brands that have spent a lot of time successfully developing their brand personality certainly may have an easier time at it. Look at Jet Blue with 240,000+ followers. This brand dialogue didn’t start on Twitter, Jet blue simply uses Twitter as another natural extension of their brand and customers are eating it up. For the right brand under the right circumstances Twitter is a low cost way to communicate effectively. Indeed, there is massive potential to build brand equity and to keep fans and followers informed, but choose wisely and understand the hills and valleys before you start tweeting.

Mini, fun video.

Well at least they are poking fun at themselves here, I mean where else is there to really go?