Twitter – Can Your Company Or Podcast Do It?

Twitter does not seem to be loosing any steam. Quite the opposite. Not a day goes by where I am not receiving several notifications from individuals who have requested to be informed as to, “what I am doing?”
Man, do I feel loved.
It seems like Twitter-mania is taking hold, and if I look at the river of Twitter that I’m subscribed to – or, as I like to call it: Permission-Based Stalking – more than a few “friends” are getting well beyond the, “Outside playing with my kid in the snow” and into snippets like: “Having mixed feelings about supporting Bum Rush the Charts… wished they’d picked a real podsafe track,” and “For those in doubt, BarCamp Boston is still happening at MIT today and tomorrow. Setup team is onsite now.”
Yep, real conversations, honest insights and up-to-the-minute news. The Twitterati is in full force and busy defining what Twitter is and, more importantly, how it will be used.
Another semi-new development on Twitter use came to my attention after listening to a recent episode of For Immediate Release – The Hobson and Holtz Report Podcast. Hosts Shel Holtz and Neville Hobson were discussing their frustration with frappr!, and how it is no longer effective in being able to see who has signed up to their visual map community. Shel and Neville decided to initiate a For Immediate Release Twitter channel to build their community.
It got me thinking: how can a company or Podcast or anything that is not an individual answer the question: what am I doing? My cynical, knee-jerk reaction was: “it’s silly and who would care?” Then I went polar opposite with: “if I were managing a large, medium or small brand, why would I NOT want people to know what we’re up to as frequently as possible?”
From crisis communication to news and updates to general brand loyalty, I can clearly see multiple reasons why Marketers need to be paying attention to Twitter – and tactics like it – immediately. Marketers spend most of their time looking at loyalty and retention, how to build their friends and family list and how to communicate with their consumers as frequently and powerfully as possible. Imagine having consumers who are raising their hands and asking to know what you’re up to as often as you’re willing to tell them? Imagine having a channel where you can communicate in a fast and short (140 characters max) way to your key stakeholders?
Like it or not, this micro-Blogging format is here. It is being used. So, whether or not you’re convinced is not as important as the companies who are trying it out to see who’s truly interested in what a brand is doing right now. Personally, I’m curious and encouraged to see how For Immediate Release and Monster.com use Twitter.