Twitter for Dummies - Laura Fitton [84]
You can sell-without-selling just about anything on Twitter. Whether you want to sell something large (such as used cars) or something small (such as shoes), you can probably find people on Twitter who need and want them. These potential customers have questions for you about your item, your company, your staff, and you — and you can let them talk to you on Twitter about their concerns. You’re in business because you solve problems and fulfill needs for people. Spend your time on Twitter being useful and informative about the types of problems you solve, and the rest really does follow.
One of the most popular examples of products and how Twitter can help sell them is @Zappos. Zappos has been a pioneer in business microblogging because a large number of its employees all use Twitter and all, in their own way, promote the brand and its products. Having more than 400 employees active on Twitter has improved communication and connection between Zappos’ employees, increased its visibility and reach, banked large amounts of social capital (potentially valuable connections with people who know you and care about your work), and led to extensive press coverage and speaking opportunities.
Zappos is fronted by CEO Tony Hsieh, who tweets about his life, including his schedule, his company, and his personal thoughts — he even operates a separate Twitter account for his cat. The Twitter community embraced Tony and Zappos early on, and in return, Zappos periodically offers Twitter-only bonuses to its followers, such as free shoe giveaways.
But Zappos isn’t the only company finding sales success on Twitter. @DellOutlet is another Twitter success story. We talk about Dell as a company that used Twitter to start reversing its reputation as a struggling brand with a poor customer image in the section “Customer service,” earlier in this chapter. But Dell, like Zappos, has also started offering Twitter-only promotions, tweeting links to deep discounts that have generated over $1 million in revenues. Most notably, you can attribute more than $500,000 in revenues to less than 1,000 followers — demonstrating that the coupons not only got passed along on Twitter, but that they probably also got passed along via e-mail to people not even on Twitter. The airline JetBlue (@jetblue) has also had great success advertising deals on Twitter: A special $14 cross-country flight offer was snapped up by Twitter users almost instantly, and retweets helped spread the word. This past winter, it was estimated that more than 1,500 coupons and offers appear on Twitter every day. Dozens of coupon-aggregating accounts (like @dealtaker) and even Web sites (http://www.coupontweet.com and http://www.cheaptweet.com) are emerging to organize these coupons and find the best ones.
Two women making exceptional use of Twitter for discovering gift-givers in need are Melanie Notkin (@SavvyAuntie) and GiftGirl (@GiftGirl). Those who sell any kind of gift resource can use Twitter to reach their audiences and magnify their impact. Notkin and GiftGirl have found unshakable niches with their custom gift-finding service. How to find the right gift for loved ones for birthdays, weddings, and anniversaries is actually a pretty commonly tweeted question. The advice these women provide on their Twitter accounts and the commerce they offer through their Web sites (http://savvyauntie.com and www.giftgirl.com), place them squarely in Twitter’s elite when it comes to product sales and knowledge contribution.
You can replicate their success be keeping these tips in mind:
Be interesting.
Be accessible.
Be genuine (mean what you say).
Be yourself.
Don’t hard sell.
Don’t link spam.
Follow the 90/10 advice — 90 percent unselfish tweets to 10 percent promotional tweets.
Promoting Bands and Artists
If you’re in any way in the business of creating, whether it’s art, music, film, photography, or what-have-you, Twitter can become a home away from