Don't be a wallflower - join the Twitter party

You can debate the whys and wherefores of Twitter, Facebook et al until the cows come home. I am sure there are lots of businesses out there who fail to see any of the benefits of what they consider to be yet another internet "here-today-gone-tomorrow" fad.

Who knows, the same thoughts may have prevailed when Alexander Graham Bell first patented the telephone. And I know I wasn't the only sceptic when the World Wide Web first hit the public consciousness.

As with all new things, there can be a huge amount of over-analysis, and what works for one person doesn't always work for another. Let's just step back a bit and have a look at what Social Media can do for any business - it provides EVERYONE with an opportunity to engage with other people. It is the great big party where you can chat round the room finding people you hit it off with immediately, or who bore you instantly. It allows you to huddle in the kitchen with those people with whom you feel most at ease and share every bit of gossip you need to impart since the last time you met.

But this is not the party with just the people from your immediate vicinity. This a party of potential customers, clients, friends, influencers, celebrities, wannabes etc from all around the world. Some will bore you (no offence!), some will entertain you, some will provide you with information that educates you, some will give feedback to suggestions or ideas you might make. A melting pot with no bottom...

OK, so what?

Yesterday, I just did a quick snapshot of the way in which two companies are engaging with people on Twitter. How many of you have ever bothered to write to the likes of the large multi-nationals just to say that you weren't that keen on a new product? Would you really bother? And if you did, what would you get in return?

Below, I have picked out a couple of sets of Tweets between company and customer:

ASOS

ASOS: How's everyone's afternoon going? Loving the sunshine? x

CUSTOMER: @ASOS the sunshine is lovely, but the fact you wont respond to any of my tweets or my email- not so.

ASOS: @Julzy_Ramone Sorry to hear that! Where do you live? x

CUSTOMER: @ASOS Israel.lately the delivery is over 10gbp for *all* parcels.really expensive+my friend @Shelly_peleg was promised it will be fixed.

ASOS: Would you like us to do FREE Returns? Vote now, by commenting ‘YES’ on this post! http://bit.ly/freereturns xxx

INNOCENT DRINKS

CUSTOMER: @innocentdrinks Innocent smoothies have got worse. Why is this?

INNOCENT DRINKS: @Tim_Haig How have they got worse?

CUSTOMER: @innocentdrinks Well they don't taste as nice anymore and they are more watery with more bits which is the worst of all worlds.

INNOCENT DRINKS: @Tim_Haig Nothing's change in terms of the way we make them. Which recipe isn't working? Let us know and we'll get to the bottom of it

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CUSTOMER: @innocentdrinks Oh. YES. Would you do anything with pears? Or have you already done that?

INNOCENT DRINKS: @cosmicgirlie We're a bit weak in the pear department. Don't really know why. The secret thing that I tasted it didn't have pears in.

CUSTOMER: @innocentdrinks Thank you thank you THANK YOU for the banana free smoothie. Please tell me another is on the way...

INNOCENT DRINKS: @cosmicgirlie Another banana-free smoothie might be on the way - tested one the other day...

To me, this is extremely powerful stuff. A large company, talking about the weather, and sparking off a chat about one customer's dissatisfaction over the cost of delivery. Would this grumble ever have reached ASOS without Twitter?

Gauging the trends, ASOS then asks for its customers to vote on free returns - instant results and feedback that costs nothing and comes direct from their buying customers.

Would Twitterer Tim_Haig really have taken the time to write to Innocent Drinks to complain about the taste of his drink? Maybe, but probably not. He would have been more likely to have thrown the drink away and tried another brand, because that is easier.

How many customers really have the chance to chat to the decision makers in big companies to push for new flavours/styles/designs or air their individual grievances?

Despite Twitter being a technological creation, it is giving a human face to a business. A chatty, approachable human face with ears, as the above snippets demonstrate. These conversations show real engagement.

That is what Twitter is all about, as has been said time and time again. It is about ENGAGEMENT. As a business, you have this fantastic opportunity to engage with potential customers in a way that has never been available before. What you do with it is ultimately down to you. You can either stand in the corner on your own at the party, drink in hand, waiting for someone to take pity on you, or you can circulate the room, turn on the charm and win over a whole new group of friends.