By Randle Stonier
CEO, AddingValue
What Twitter provides and then some, a few thoughts from us:-
- “An alternative medium that lets you listen widely and communicate specifically.”
- “Transparency ensures people don’t hear the anonymous body corporate but listen to a specific individual making the engagement more personal.”
- “A place to share and consume where you can cut out the clutter and focus on the rich and relevant.”
- “A real-time search engine that lets you filter by specific sources of your choice and that you value saving you time and making the results richer and more relevant.”
- “A medium for listening and analysing that’s succinct, incisive and often rewarding.”
- “A traffic generator, helping to build your network of followers, prospective customers and promotional participants.”
- “A means to meet new people, to create new connections that helps expand your network.”
- “A way to talk about what you are doing right now, a feedback mechanism and a vehicle for discussion.”
And richer thoughts from them:-
5 ways I benefit from Twitter
50 ideas on using Twitter for business
Research by Vanson Bourne in 2009 surveyed around 500 SMEs and estimates 700,000 UK small businesses are now using Twitter (i.e. 1 in 6 of the total UK SME population):-
Nearly one in five (17%) SMEs surveyed said they were tweeting regularly, with more than a quarter (28%) of those signing up over the last 4 weeks.
According to the research marketing and recruitment cost savings are cited as the main benefits of the much hyped micro-blogging service. One in ten firms claim to have saved £5,000 by using Twitter and nearly a third £1,000.
In addition to the 74% who highlight cost savings and marketing advantages, small businesses found the service useful for keeping in touch with customers and suppliers (42%), monitoring competitors (34%) and generally feeling the benefit of being connected to other small companies (28%).
The simplicity of Twitter may also be seen as a plus. Four in ten say they are using it more than either LinkedIn or Facebook.
A video guide on how to get started on twitter – signing up and setting up.