The social media frenzy has begun.
Small businesses all over the world have jumped aboard the cyberspace networking train.
Twitter is being used creatively to establish and promote brands, gather data, and network with customers.
Twitter marketing takes finesse though.
Resist the urge to sell your product or service to hard.
Fellow Twitter members want to receive information that is valuable and relevant, not a pitch.
Here is a look at some of the ways other businesses are utilizing Twitter with "tweets".
Promotional One of the most obvious ways to use Twitter to market your business is by tweeting promotional activities.
Sending out information regarding upcoming sales, VIP events, online coupon codes, or other discounts can be a huge benefit for existing and potential customers.
Twitter gives businesses the ability to put promotional information in a different set of hands.
Games Businesses are using Twitter for the entertainment value.
McDonalds twitted on their highly popular Monopoly game.
Such tweets promoted the game and received a huge customer response.
Other companies are interacting with their customers through trivia questions.
Followers attempt to correctly answer the trivia questions in exchange for prizes or other discounts.
Direct customer engagement if a marketing beauty.
Feedback All businesses can benefit from customer feedback, both positive and negative.
Twitter provides the perfect environment for organic customer feedback.
Businesses listen to tweets and can resolve conflicts immediately.
Having real-time access to customer input can help companies to make changes or improvements fast.
Monitoring the Buzz Companies are using Twitter to monitor what is being said about them on a daily basis.
When customers are raving or complaining about a particular product or service on Twitter, it can gather momentum.
Companies monitor the buzz and interactively engage within the Twitter community to "spread the word" or "put out the fire".
Announcements Twitter has become a platform for announcing company news.
It may be the newest flavor of ice cream available.
Update on the injured players of a sports team.
Announcing employee promotions or events.
Notifying customers of potential service downtimes, such as software or cable.
Or any other news that is relevant and worthy to customers.
Companies have also used Twitter to inform stakeholders of pertinent information.
Attracting Potential Employees Companies are using Twitter to post job vacancies.
Posting job opportunities gives employers massive exposure to millions of people via Twitter nation.
Companies also have the ability to attract potential employees with listing company perks such as benefits and bonuses.
Education Providing valuable information that pertains to customers is a Twitter plus.
Providing educational pieces should compliment other marketing tools being used on Twitter.
For example, if you own a landscaping business and you tweet about seasonal discounts, you should also provide customers with lawn care information.
Your objective is to have your followers continue to follow you.
Nothing will turn them off faster than useless information.
Customer Care The ability to take care of customer's using Twitter is a frontier many companies are using to their advantage.
Posting a Questions and Answers (Q&A) forum, where customers can ask questions freely and have them answered promptly.
For instance, a customer is worried about a food recall that may affect your product.
With, Q&A a business can respond to the customers worries as soon as they are posted.
Meetings Using Twitter for instantaneous meetings, or what is commonly referred to as a "tweet-up" has become popular among businesses.
Online GPS Mobile merchants are using Twitter to reveal their current location and where they are headed to next.
If you are in the mood for your favorite taco, you can log on to Twitter and find your taco trucks location tweets.
Flea market vendors can provide followers with event location and dates.
Companies are becoming savvy and using Twitter for networking and marketing through a value added approach.
Twitter has given companies the ability to appeal to a completely different market share, which may be ignored by non-tweeting competitors.
By staying current with new trends and providing people with valuable information, Twitter just may be a marketing revolution.