Companies that are looking to embrace social networking as a business strategy are turning to Twitter. Twitter provides the opportunity for corporations to gain a pulse of what customers are saying about their products, services and brands with the ability to instantly respond. This provides a proactive approach to customer service, brand management and new business development. In today’s information age, customers and prospective customers demand access to information instantly. Is Twitter a tool that organizations in the mortgage industry plan to adopt?
Let’s start with what is Twitter? “Twitter is a free social networking and micro-blogging service that enables its users to send and read other users' updates known as tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length which are displayed on the user's profile page and delivered to other users who have subscribed to them (known as followers). Senders can restrict delivery to those in their circle of friends or, by default, allow anybody to access them. Users can send and receive tweets via the Twitter website, Short Message Service (SMS) or applications such as Tweetie, Twitterrific, Twitterfon, TweetDeck and feedalizr. The service is free to use over the Internet, but using SMS may incur phone service provider fees.” [1]
In essence, Twitter is a service to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing? At first, this simple question with the ability to only send posts of up to 140 characters does not seem to provide much business value. So why are so many companies Tweeting?
Well known companies are turning to Twitter as a powerful marketing and customer service tool, companies such as Zappos, Comcast, Dell, H&R Block, JetBlue, Kodak, Southwest, Woot, National Mortgage News, Reuters, CNN, Wired, Carnival, Delta, Apple, Amazon, Forrester, Deacons, and Ford to name a few.
From a marketing perspective Twitter provides the ability for companies to immediately reach their clients with special offers, promotions or breaking news at zero cost. This provides an engaging user experience for those that demand instant information. Could real estate agents post new listings as they happen? What about mortgage professionals providing rates changes as they happen? What about breaking news, new product launches or behind the scenes information that can be used to develop a stronger and more personal relationship with your clients and potential clients?
Delivering instant information when, how and where consumers want it, whether it is on their cell phone, desktop, laptop etc. Unlike an RSS feed which is a one way communication, Twitter is a two-way communication process which allows for instant customer feedback and insight. Information spreads quickly on Twitter. First to followers, then it goes to followers of followers, then moves on to additional Internet posts, to people throughout the community and then onto main stream media outlets.
Will companies in the mortgage industry embrace Twitter? Is this a powerful tool that can be used to engage customers and prospects instantly or just another website that people have to track? Can this provide real business value?
Share with us your Twitter experiences. How are you using Twitter in your business? What type of results are you getting?
[1] Wikipedia
