Twitter is a messaging service that lets you send instant, short updates posted online via the Internet, or any number of Twitter tools (Tweetdeck, Twhirl etc).

Twitter is quickly becoming a mainstream communication tool used by hundreds of brands and thousands of companies to connect with customers and colleagues, and to create brand awareness. In the age of Web 2.0, creating conversations online is key. Twitter helps facilitate the opportunity to communicate with customers, clients, colleagues, prospects and more.

The true value of Twitter is that is provides the ability to build lists with the power of instant messaging. Understanding how to take advantage of this is key for organizations looking to market themselves.

Getting started with Twitter is simple: sign up for an account at www.twitter.com. You can also deploy desktop tools, as mentioned above such as Twhirl, Tweetdeck, Nambu (MAC) and mobile tools such as Twitterberry for Blackberry which allow you to post tweets from your mobile device. This way you can tweet from anywhere.

The benefits of Twitter are vast. Here’s a short list of reasons why you must add Twitter to your business toolbox:

- it’s quick: with an upper limit of only 140 characters, updating your account daily (if not more) is achievable. The beauty is brevity – short, concise status updates are easily achievable in your busy day, and easily digested by those reading them. The ability to embed hyperlinks allows you link to longer thoughts. You’ll have to use bit.ly or tiny url to shorten the hyperlinks.

- it’s relevant: by sharing information about yourself and your company you are relating to people following you in a unique, and intimate, way. A touch of personal information lets people identify with you better and get you know you/your organization.

- syndication: you can use Twitter as a channel to promote your blog, so that everytime you post something to your blog you post the link on Twitter for promotion.  This isn’t recommended as the norm, as the very idea of Twitter is your status at this moment. But it’s okay to cross promote these types of things

- conversation building: the new way of marketing is focused on conversation building which facilitates relationship building. The Internet has dramatically changed how we access information, and the manner in which we receive it. Twitter is the perfect conversational tool. Tell follows what you think, your ideas, opinions, articles you have read, people you have met, achievements you have made, conferences you are attending, links of interest, tools of interest…all of this is what makes you interesting to your followers.

- PR: sending out press releases and communiques can be offset by updating the status on your Twitter account and watching the power of y0ur followers retweet the post and spread it virally.

- customer service: use a tool like Twitter’s Search feature to find out what people are saying about your company, product or service. Use twitter to monitor these conversations and respond. Set up a customer cares account and talk to those customers who are having trouble with your product/service.

- audience: every tweet you send goes out your entire list of followers, who have followers, who have followers, who may see your tweet.

- repeat: retweeting on Twitter is huge. Users will take an interesting tweet and retweet (repeat it) on their account, thereby expanding the number of Twitter users who see it. It’s like forwarding an email but to a whole community of people, as opposed to just one person.

- everybody is doing it: seriously, everybody is doing it. And I’m not referring to tweeners and text messaging. That’s not the demographic. Rather, Twitter is being used by business professionals and corporations to connect and stay informed. Where else can you be on the receiving end of a “thought train” by someone like Barack Obama and see who associates with and follows. Or Evan Mathews, Bill Gates, Oprah, Sarah Milstein…whoever you find interesting

Using conventional email, it’s not appropriate to email a list of business contacts a message about a movie you saw the night before. But on Twitter it’s perfectly acceptable. And although that doesn’t seem “business oriented” doing so simply acts as another mechanism for sharing with your followers. Allowing them to get to know and trust you.

You can keep your tweets completely business oriented and formal, or you can filter them with some less business news such as a corporate retreat, bar-b-que or weather status.

The idea is to get talking. There are people out there that want to know about you and this is your forum to tell them. Corporate press releases do little to generate a connection with people personally. Twitter allows this opportunity, because much like blogs, they are letting people in, but in a far more digestible manner. They are letting outsiders get a peek in your organization at things you may not normally mention. It is this subtle, yet highly effective, transition that makes Twitter unique.

For example, something as simple as tweeting about a conference the night before and thanking attendees for their participation goes over huge on Twitter, but isn’t something you would normally send a press release about. It is these little things, little messages, that create loyalty with your followers and provide insight into your organization.

In an age when email open rates are low, Twitter can be more effective at reaching target audiences. Installing a desktop client means you can be notified when new tweets are posted. And, at 140 characters, you can read the whole tweet instantly. You can scan a scrolling list of tweets in the same time it would take to read only one email. You can gather a lot of information in that time frame.

I use Twitter to stay informed. I follow a number of people I respect and admire and then learn from them. Their tweets are mostly relevant and informative, yet sometimes simply entertaining. I find articles worth reading, tools worth downloading, conferences worth attending and more Twitter users worth following. All of this helps me stay “in the know”. Something that is obviously very important in my industry.

I am also a huge believer in using Twitter to ask questions. You can generate considerable traffic and awareness by asking questions and answering questions on Twitter.

The LA Times used Twitter in Oct 2007 to send updates about the status of the wildfires in California, as did the LA Fire Department and Red Cross.  Fort-seven members of US Congress have Twitter accounts, and often tweet from behind closed doors meetings with President Obama.

Sarah Milstein talks about an organization called Crowdvine who monitored their activity on Twitter and found many a customer. One of the founders saw this messages and immediately responded, prompting a customer service channel that allows Crowdvine to receive and respond to these issues immediately. Interestingly, in between the tweets between the customer and Crowdvine,  a tweet appeared from a competitor telling the customer to use their organization instead of Crowdvine.

There are many examples of organizations and businesses using Twitter. This article touches on only a few. But it is intended to illustrate that Twitter isn’t new, it’s now. And you must start using it.

Once you get started, you will become familiar with Twitter Search, Twellow and other directories for finding people to follow, as well as retweeting, hashtags and more.

For a great overview of how to generate traffic via Twitter and Twitter tools, such as BubbleTweet, Tweetlater, TwitterHawk and more,  I recommend reading the following article called Twitter Traffic Tips Revealed.

Interestingly, as I was finishing up this article, the following article was released that might be of interest – Nine Twitter Tips for Business.

Now, go get started.

@FenixSolutions