Does Twitter still bewilder you and make you twiddling your fingers and scratching your head? There are still many businesses that are groping to make sense of the social networking platform. Even if it hits you as a hype or enigma, just consider this: many of your elite customers are already out there. You must stay a step ahead of them!  

Twitter already has millions of users and is fast turning out to be a free forum for budding businesses. Companies are employing the platform to engage in meaningful interactions and personalized messages – sometimes right to the mobile phones in our hands.

An effective way of accessing your prospective customers

Ultimately, the social media channel will offer such advertising avenues more broadly and widely. Until that point smaller brands can think of ways to employ the service productively to enhance their business prospects. What is the most effective way of reaching out to your customers in mere 140 Characters – mostly for free?

• First and foremost, learn to listen. Follow what exactly people are saying about your company and your brand?
• Remember, unlike those conversations by e-mail and phone, Twitter conversations generally are not private (in other words, they are public) and listening intently is fair game.

Leveraging Twitter to create business opportunities

One company, which has come up with a sophisticated and holistic listening post is Avaya. The global communications service provider based in Basking Ridge, N.J. makes use of third-party applications for tracking any mention of its brand name. It has automated time-bound alerts for several keywords for services, products and even competitors, as part of its social marketing strategy.

The firm follows up thousands of Twitter postings, many of them from clients facing technical issues. The company representatives keep track of them and follow up on them instantly. That is nothing but offering killer support and ultimate customer delight.

One day, a prospective client posted about the need for a new communication system. The help desk replied back, introduced the allied services and offered to put the former in touch with the company’s strategic consultant. “Within a matter of two weeks, the firm was able to convert that one ubiquitous tweet into a million dollar business opportunity.

This is how emerging companies can also look forward to sales leads and attractive business opportunities to replace immediate competitors.