Twitter for business

If you use Twitter for your business (and there are many, many reasons to), make sure you read the very informative article offered by Twitter itself on the subject, Twitter 101 for Business - A Special Guide. The article points out that the most immediate benefit is...well, its immediacy. A restaurant goer tweeted that her party was having to wait longer than they liked for a table, and within a few minute a restaurant staffer found her, apologized for the wait and offered her party a free appetizer. Imagine getting immediate feedback from your customers and being able to respond that quickly!

The article also points out how Twitter lets you build a relationship with your customers, one in which they feel like they have an effective way to give direct input. That kind of connection can be a potent tool for creating loyalty. The customer feels like they have a say in how you do business, in how they're treated. That's something you're not going to get from an ad, no matter how effective it is.

YourBusinessChannel expert Mark Shaw has some advice about how to tell if Twitter will be useful for you as a business tool: