Social Media as a Business Strategy: Twitter
Successful business’s today all connect with their target market via the Internet and Twitter is one of the better known platforms that has changed the game for businesses around the world. Companies have increasingly been using Twitter as a large part of their business strategy for several reasons. Twitter has become an excellent tool for connecting and networking with others in any specific industry. One of this social media platform’s greatest benefits is the instant access to immediate feedback of what is being said about a given organization, people, products, and brands. Since twitter can be used to conduct back and forth communication, there is a steady stream of information that can benefit both the consumer as well as the brand. Guest of a Guest, The Museum at FIT, Asos, Ed 2010, and The Man Repeller are 5 companies who take advantage of the benefits of their Twitter handle.
Guest of a Guest is a global event company, covering, sponsoring, photographing, and promoting some of the most sought out exclusive events around the world. When a brand is debuting a product or a band is playing at a new restaurant venue, Guest of a Guest calendars the party and has every wishful hoping socialite at the edge of their seats the next morning looking for pictures to post on their blog etc. Using Twitter, Guest of a Guest sends out immediate event notifications. For someone involved in PR, news, or marketing and living in the popular cities such as New York and LA, this twitter handle is valuable to their knowledge of what is popular going on around town. Also, Guest of a Guest’s twitter is a place to find the new and the cool restaurants and going out spots benefitting youngsters in the city and the business’s that get plugged. https://twitter.com/guest ofaguest
The Museum at FIT’s Twitter is a credible place to find important fashion news as well as events going on at the Museum. There is no other platform other than the website to receive direct notifications about their events. The Museum has several connections and support from important people in the fashion industry and conduct seminars and workshops in which anyone can take advantage of. The trick is signing up in time, and their twitter followers are the first to know. https://twitter.com/museumatFIT
When it comes to online shopping there are thousands of sites out there. In retail, those fast fashion companies have quite the revolving door of inventory turn over. Asos is one of those companies and through Twitter, they have been able to update their consumers what the daily new products are. They also use twitter as a way to encourage connection to the company through sweepstakes and contests. Their best use of twitter is the Hashtag (#), which allows them to be searchable and reach more people when they are having a sale or event. https://twitter.com/ASOS
Ed 2010 is an online site that helps prospected employees and interns find competitive positions that are not usually advertised. Most of these positions are in fashion and all of them are in editorial and journalism. This niche information is so coveted by the potential employees that once a post goes up, there are quick responses to the job ad due to the competitiveness of it. Ed 2010 uses their Twitter to connect with their consumers in the timeliest manner possible. This time sensitive feed saves the consumers from having to visit the website several times a day, and allows them to quickly glance at the new posts. Ed 2010 also edits their Twitter handle in that they do not clog it with meaningless information, just important news updates. https://twitter.com/ed2010news
In many industries, bloggers have taken the world by storm. Some more credible than others, but once they have a following; companies can capitalize on the blogger’s power of voice and plug and advertise through them. The Man Repeller is a blogger that has caught much attention of fashion industry companies and consumers due to her original concept: her clothes are so fashionable they repel men, as they do not understand them. She uses her Twitter as a means to speak out and foster her followers. Her blog is quite good, but she gets people to view it based on the attention her controversial tweets receive. https://twitter.com/ManRepeller
Overall, Twitter can be used as a strategic business strategy in many different ways, as exemplified through the various companies above. When using Twitter a company has the platform to communicate with their consumers, promote a product/service/special, and foster a buss—all of which can be done instantly.