Social Media For Business News Roundup – July 2009
Some more news examples of small businesses using Twitter:
Local eateries jump on the Twitter train
“On the surface, we may seem very official, but we’re working as hard as everyone else to figure it out and put it altogether,” says June Thomas, who handles the Twittering duties for Nine Mile [in Asheville NC]. On any given day, Thomas might tweet out the daily specials, bemoan the restaurant’s problems getting its new menu printed and wonder aloud if the real Gordon Ramsay was behind the @RamseyGordo account.
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Nine Mile is widely acknowledged by local foodies as a master of the Twitter form. Thomas, who initiated the account back in March 2008—“I went to Aaron [Thomas’ husband, who co-owns the restaurant and serves as executive chef] and said, ‘This might be kind of nerdy, and I don’t know if it’s going to work”—is an indefatigable tweeter. She routinely runs exhaustive searches for terms like “Asheville,” which might lead to tourists wondering where to eat, which might lead to more customers.
[..]
Thomas’ innate understanding of technology and the restaurant’s commitment to transparency have made for a highly personable, funny and useful feed.
[Full article at MountainX.com]
Chicago Domino’s Owner, @DPZRAMON More Than Gets Social Media … He Breathes It!
Ramon De Leon, owner of several Domino’s pizza restaurants in Chicago not only GETS social media marketing, he lives and breathes it! Who do you know that keeps spare batteries in his pockets (at all times) for his cell phone and video camera to be prepared to take videos of any situation?
A couple of weeks, I met Ramon (@DPZRAMON) at a social media summit where he shared how he utilizes Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to increase exposure for his restaurants and THRIVE in this new economy. Let me tell you, he was the hit of the summit! The whole room was fascinated by his energy, passion and commitment to social media and pizza.
2 Comments
Jul 8, 2009 7:15 pm |
I’m really starting to doubt Twitter as a legitimate tool that can be used by businesses. Sure it has the user base, but i’m not sure that Twitter users really use Twitter for finding promotions, rather than content and news stories. And with the increasing amount of spam I’m beginning to sense that there will be a major movement of people leaving Twitter.
Another thing that I’d like to point out is the fact that businesses aren’t using Twitter for what it is. By this I mean that the only posts they Tweet seem to be a sales pitch for one of their products. For example, CNN and their anchors only post articles from their website. In my opinion, this is the wrong thing to do whether you’re CNN or a small business.
Jul 9, 2009 5:35 am |
There are plenty of examples of people using Twitter to find promotions. There are also plenty of small businesses that “get it” and are using it to promote daily specials, updates, and have conversations. More and more people are turning to Twitter for breaking news and product reviews every day. Mashable recently published an article identifying the threat Google is receiving from Twitter (instantly search able topical conversations on events, products, and entertainment) and Facebook (insane amounts of targeted data for serving ads). In my opinion, users will go where they get the most timely, relevant and useful information. As Twitter tools become more elegant I think you’ll see the barrier to entry for more users lessen and the user base continue to grow.
Regarding spammers, they will always be where there are lots of people. The tools will evolve to keep spammers out of the timeline as the pressure from spammers increases. It’s still a new medium, really. Give it time.
There are various uses for Twitter. It’s strength is enabling conversation and interaction. But it also works simply as a way to announce stories like Mashable and CNN do with their Twitter accounts. If you know what your end goal is for your Twitter account their is really no wrong way to use it (except spam) if it helps you reach your intended audience. The main CNN account simply lists stories, but dozens of reporters have Twitter accounts where they do engage in conversation.
Hope that helps. Those are my thoughts anyways.
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