Why you need to embrace social media i.e. Twitter

OK, let be begin by disclosing: I am over 35 years of age. Not by many years, but I am. With that out of the way, consider the following: in the New York Times last summer, Tech analyst Andrew Lipsman of comScore, Inc. reported that the use of social networking by people aged 35-54 exploded 60% in 2008-2009. Adding, “Many of these users have been professionals that want to communicate specific ideas or Q&A surrounding marketing a very specific product or service.”

Let’s begin with the obvious; social media is not going away! Yes, it will evolve and change; however it is not disappearing from the landscape. As I recently mentioned to a Consumer Marketing and Branding class I guest lectured at New York University:

“What did us old folks do before the iPod? Well, we had the Sony Walkman, which used an ancient technology called a “cassette” and prior to that, well some carried around a “boom box” and before that, the AM transistor radio. The message; the technology may change yet the basic premise stayed the same, music and/or news on the go within your personal space (which many boom boxes truly violated and which added many “D” batteries to landfills around New York City).

Social Media is not much different, it is marketing which uses technology to:

• Truly target messaging to your audience
• Build a CRM platform
• Branding
• Name recognition
• Respectability
• Exposure
• Attract new prospects
• Retain and connect with existing clients 

Most interesting, it (social media) is actually cost-effective i.e. your ROI is decent as your financial outlay is minimal.

Using Twitter – Many early adopters of Twitter used the truncated messages to advise, “What I am doing now”. Intelligent marketing professionals have used the Twitter format for the distribution of their marketing message.

For example, I use Twitter as a vehicle to get a message out and “suggest” my followers to visit a specific web site or blog. I rarely send out a Tweet without a description and destination link. My followers probably do not really care that I am enjoying a Venti green tea at Starbucks while I compose this. Yet they may express interest in my latest tweet concerning a link to an article I composed concerning airline alliances and how the competition may assist those flying trans-Atlantic, the busiest air route in the world.

Hey, I am a creative; I know this, yet I have been introduced to a “mobile-restaurant” in New York and Los Angeles which tweet’s their location daily of their rolling restaurant each morning to their followers. I know others have used Tweets to send out time-sensitive promotions i.e. the 24-48 hour sale. A few savvy property managers in ski resorts used Twitter to send out a message concerning a morning colossal snow dump in the Colorado Rockies (which led to last-minute bookings for the weekend). Thus, consider Twitter and services like it as one more option in your marketing tool-kit.

BTW: My twitter address is: www.Twitter.com/JosephSobin