Twitter as a Marketing Research Tool
by Charles Sipe
By now many are realizing the tremendous potential of Twitter as a marketing vehicle to communicate to a community that has given you their permission and attention. According to TechCrunch, Jason Calicanis just offered $250,000, just to be listed on the suggested Twitterers for 1 year, and thinks a spot on this prestigious list will be as valuable as a superbowl spot within 5 years. Even Facebook wants to be like Twitter as demonstrated by their new profile page. Twitter has appeared to have made it mainstream with Twittering celebrities like britneyspears, the_real_shaq, aplusk (Ashton Kutcher), jimmyfallon, just to name a few. The network effect means that as Twitter continues to grow it will become more valuable to each user, and thus more valuable to marketers.
One of the major applications of Twitter is in market research. Imagine having a test group of millions, that can provide real time consumer feedback at a unprecedented level. Companies will be able to release a new product and almost instantly find out what people think. Additionally they can get take the pulse of customer sentiment and then make changes to increase customer satisfaction. Twitter could also empower customers to get their complaints heard as unhappy customers will have a way to tell thousands of followers about their bad experience. All it takes is a short text message that gets retweeted and a brand’s reputation can be tarnished overnight. This could mean a stronger focus on improving customer experience to prevent a fiasco ten times worse than Jeff Jarvis’ infamous Dell Hell blog post. Optimistically, companies will be able to better understand the customer by listening more closely and using the data mined from the Twitersphere to create improved products and services that will increase customer satisfaction.
[...] The greatest value of Twitter is the direct communication channel to your followers. A Twitter update gets sent out to all your followers, instantly reaching many on their cell phones via SMS. Many brands such as Zappos and Comcast have used Twitter in this way to reach thousands of customers instantly and directly. Many marketers such as Chris Brogan and Scott Monty have built well known personal brands with 10,000+ followers. Listening to Customers Twitter can be tremendously valuable for companies who want to learn more about their customers. By using the Twitter search feature at search.twitter.com, you can monitor real-time data from the Twittersphere and see every time someone talks about your brand or about the industry. If you release a new product, you can get immediate feedback from people who are talking about it. People are more likely to talk about companies and brands on Twitter compared to blogs because it is extremely quick and easy. Follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/oneaccord Related articles Top 10 Ways Executives Can Use Twitter to Grow Revenues Twitter as a Marketing Research Tool [...]