Building momentum
Twitter hardly rocked the international business community when it initially launched. Like many new technologies, the micro-blogging service took its time developing a presence. A study in April 2009 found that only 2 percent of European businesses have used Twitter as a marketing tool.
But like infantry marching across a battlefield, Twitter is steadily picking up the pace. Research by O2 found that SMEs in Britain are flocking towards the website in increasing numbers. Nearly a fifth of businesses surveyed by the mobile operator say that they now use Twitter, with marketing and recruitment purposes proving the driving factors.
The pace of take-up has quickened in Ireland as well. Irishblogs.ie, a blog aggregating website, is currently conducting research into the scale of Twitter's presence in Ireland. Previous research from the website found that between 1 January and 17 January this year at least 12,638 new Irish users signed up.
Comprehensive data on the number of Irish businesses using Twitter is unavailable. The study did however demonstrate a massive increase in the rate of uptake by new users. The flood of new accounts in January more than doubled the total number of known Irish users. And while Twitter has yet to explode on the Irish business scene, it has certainly upped the tempo considerably.
Down to business
Getting started on Twitter is straightforward, and this has helped many Irish businesspeople to test the water.
"It's easy enough to give it a whirl," says Kieran Murphy, director of Murphy's Ice Cream and regular Twitter user. "The strengths of Twitter to my mind are that you can build online relationships with experts, customers, and journalists, and it's a good way to spread word of mouth."
Not all business users are as confident about using Twitter. It's natural to be a little cautious about new technologies, but even wary users have come around to seeing the potential benefits.
"At first I was hesitant as I was already signed up for a number of online services, but eventually took the plunge," says Piaras Kelly, account director with public relations firm Edelman and a regular blogger. "I find it to be a very effective networking tool and it's also very useful as a research tool as many of my contacts share content of interest to me and my clients."
For some the decision to initially use the micro-blogging site was not the reason they committed to it for the long haul. "I'd heard people talking about [Twitter] so I decided to see if we could use it to sell our products," says Aedan Ryan, director of Puddleducks.ie and recent winner of the IIA Net Visionary's Best Online Trader award. Ryan's site sells waterproof clothing, primarily aimed at children. He started the Puddleducks.ie Twitter page last October.
While Ryan has sold some products off the back of the service, this hasn't been the primary benefit he's gained from using Twitter. "I've found it to be more of a networking tool. It's good for networking with communities of businesspeople, technical people, and people involved in start-ups like us. It's a way of sharing information with other retailers.
Top tips
As with any IT application, there are right ways to use Twitter and there are plenty of wrong ways too. To help you navigate what may be unchartered waters, here's a list of dos and don'ts for getting started with 'tweets'.
- Don't expect it to work miracles. Twitter will only work for your business if you take the time required to understand how your business can use it and benefit from it.
- Do listen. There's an old saying about humans being born with two ears and one mouth and that both should be used in proportion. It's good advice for using Twitter too. Try to talk to people, not at them.
- Don't bombard your customers. Users don't want you to drown them in information. Don't use Twitter to push out press releases; instead try to offer some kind of value with the information you give.
- Do register your brand name. Analyst firm Gartner recommends that businesses register brand names on Twitter so as to prevent others from doing so. Irish politicians such as Mary Harney have fallen foul of people setting up fake Twitter accounts in their name. Even if you don't plan on posting anything it's a good idea to make sure no one else can post in your name.
- Don't outsource your Twitter page. Using an outside firm to manage your Twitter profile will mean your tweets will lack the personal touch. Instead assign appropriate resources and time to have one of your in-house staff manage the page. This will lend an air of authority to your posts. And if you are tweeting under your own name, it's essential that the tweets are genuine.
- Don't get too personal. If you run a shoe shop or are a victualler, your views on the Lisbon Treaty and the Champions League final probably don't belong here. It's best to steer clear of topics that are either irrelevant or controversial when using your firm's Twitter account. If you want to discuss these topics from a personal point of view, consider setting up a separate personal account.
- Do stick with it. It takes a couple of days to get used to the service. Give it some time.