Stay Current with Digital Media

Twitter broke the news of Whitney Houston’s death 27 minutes before the news broke the story. Twitter is definitely on its way to becoming the number one source for news. If there are entrepreneurs and small business owners that still don’t see the value of Twitter, well then shame on them. Companies such as Bank of America, Verizon Wireless and Southwest Airlines can attest to Twitter’s effectiveness. Twitter set an all new record during Super Bowl 2012 with 12,233 tweets per second while Madonna’s Super Bowl half time show came in 2nd with 10,245 tweets per second. News of natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina and Japan’s Tsunami reached millions in just a matter of seconds thanks to Twitter users worldwide. In his blog, Jeff Bullas shares that Twitter is fast approaching 500 million users.

Twitter should definitely be included in any social media strategy. The reach potential is endless and it affords business owners with the opportunity to directly connect with clients. Twitter is less about self-promotion but more about relationship building and engaging with others. The relationships that you build on Twitter can potentially be worth more than investment dollars spent on print, television and radio advertising campaign.

Brands are actually directing their clients to their social networks. Imagine the impact you can have by connecting with clients in real time, decreasing the need for surveys and questionnaire's with the hope that customers will fill them out. Here are some tips that might help generate buzz around your brand:

• Identify your audience
• Listen to your audience
• Know the wants of your audience
• Engage your audience
• Build relationships
• Share information
• Be consistent with your message
• Tweet often
• Host a twitter party/chat around a product launch or event
• Acknowledge your followers often
• Launch a contest
• Tweet fresh content
• Link to your website

Don't Forget Video
At today’s Social Media Week launch, Ogilvy Digital Strategist, Kelly Ferraro shared that online video consumption grew 40% in 2011 v. 2010. With statistics such as these, companies should plan on incorporating video in their branding and marketing strategies.

Your customers are social. 800 million of them are on Facebook, 490 million are on YouTube and in a matter of days, 500 million will be on Twitter. Meet your customers where they are and watch your business grow.