More and more, smart marketers are scanning Twitter for mentions or creating Twitter channels for a brand’s “followers.” By microblogging, they can give consumers real-time company news, coupons, contests, etc. Some companies are even running customer service via Twitter. We recently came across a great case study on StyleITOnline.com, which chronicles a users’ actual experience:
Here we thought Anna, the Ikea avatar was helpful. The Jet Blue twitter isn’t just informative, it’s, well, human. Like a dressed-up Roomba, Jet Blue’s twitter is tapping people’s empathetic response. Their CEO’s Youtube video did the same thing–showed a more human side of the company. This is also why CEO’s are now see-through.
Today’s public has been serially disenchanted by years of corporate scandals and on-the-cheap customer service so inhuman it couldn’t pass the Turing test. “I think that most of the rage people feel toward these big institutions, like government or corporations or media, is that they feel they’re not listened to, that no one’s there,” says Shel Israel, coauthor of Naked Conversations.
In this vein, more and more companies are also offering support via instant messaging, or even setting up shop in Second Life. In terms of actual utility, though, Twitter trumps. It’s inserting a useful brand presence into an existing and active community. No need to input a URL or look up a phone number (typing and searching are still far from perfection on a mobile device.) Comcast and shoebuy.com are also engaging in this kind of “Tweetservice.”
It’s amazing how fast companies are now expected to respond to consumer’s concerns. Anyone under the age of 30 has little patience for even talking to people over the phone, let alone that awful hold muzak. They are used to communicating in 160-character spurts. The proliferation of channels through online and mobile is creating new touch points for brands to reach consumers, and to do so in a much more personal, relevant–and immediate–way.
