Twitter has been dogged by questions of how it will monetise the popular micro-blogging platform.<\/p>\n
Author: Colin Shaw<\/p>\n
It has recently introduced an advertising model, slowly rolling out features for brands to use. Prior to this, brands found their own use for Twitter. BestBuy has its famous @Twelpforce, where employees answer questions from customers, whilst others such as @Starbucks<\/a> offer promotions and occasionally answer questions.<\/p>\n Diane Clarkson has written a post on Is Twitter Living Up To Its Customer Service Hype? and postulates that:<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI believe there is extremely valuable market insight to be gained from listening to conversations on Twitter and a small proportion of customers who will be satisfied \u2013 occasionally delighted \u2013 by using the channel\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n At Beyond Philosophy we\u2019ve seen a number of different methods and strategies for brands using Twitter. Each brand has a different goal or role for the account and thus provides a different experience to the last. We believe that Twitter can provide an effective real-time arm of your customer service offering \u2013 but should:<\/p>\n 1. (Obviously) Not be your only customer service offering<\/em><\/p>\n 2. If you\u2019re going to use it as a channel, then actually use it! Don\u2019t let questions go answered because\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n 3. You\u2019re providing your customers with an opportunity to experience an arm of your service, ensure this is inline with your complete customer experience<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n When planning your social media strategy, think of an interaction with a customer on Twitter or Facebook in the same way you would if they entered your store or phoned a call centre. What experience do you want to provide them with?<\/p>\n