10 Businesses That Know How To Use Twitter

Almost every business today has a Twitter strategy or is planning one. Not all of them do it the same way. Some are tweeting, some are just listening and some are doing both.

Direct

Many companies use Twitter as a marketing or public relations tool. They post accomplishments and distribute links that take people back to their web pages, press releases, and other promotional sites. You need to be careful about this – an authentic online community like Twitter doesn’t have patience for too many self-serving, self-promotional tweets.

Indirect

Other businesses use Twitter by letting their employees tweet. The thinking behind this is that a company's reputation is enhanced indirectly.

Some companies use Twitter internally to share ideas or communicate about what projects they are working on. This is OK as long as the information is not confidential.

Other businesses are Twitter "listeners.” Using search tools like search.twitter.com or apps like TweetDeck so they can keep track of what's being said about them or their industry as a whole. Here are 10 businesses that use all or some of the above mentioned methods and they do it in an effective and positive way:

If your company is thinking about jumping on the Twitter bandwagon, don’t do it blindly. Look what other companies are doing – and then develop your own strategy. The return of investment a business gets on Twitter has yet to be realized, but the low cost of a social media network like this and the positive engagement you have with existing and prospective customers is well worth it.