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Jun 23, 2009 8:01 pm US/Central
Businesses Turning To Twitter For Free Advertising
FORT WORTH (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ―
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Tweets and blogs are buzzing, but not all reports on social networking sites are accurate?
CBS
Given the current economy many small businesses are finding it difficult to work advertising into their budgets. To help keep their businesses open, and their wallets closed, some companies are turning to social messaging/networking sites like Twitter to showcase their offerings.
Social networking is by far, no longer just for finding a blind date, or reconnecting with old friends. Some businesses are now turning to the websites to keep their companies afloat. "We've picked up about 20 new followers today," explains restaurant owner Mike Musgrove. "[Now] we've got a little over 600."
Musgrove's restaurant, Ovation, offers information about dining, live entertainment from musicians and bands, and even menu item specials. But the information isn't made known thorough traditional advertising; it's posted on Twitter.
Twitter has grown to include millions of followers.
While each company's "tweets" or postings on the website, may only be directed to its few hundred or few thousand members, social media expert, Shama Hyder, says many entrepreneurs are taking time out to Twitter and are getting positive results.
"They're finding that their prospects, customers, clients are on Twitter," she explained. "And yes, a lot of them are seeing fabulous results - especially in this economy, because it a free marketing tool."
Ovation Restaurant began 'twittering' a few months ago and Musgrove says he's seen extra customers and more money coming in because of it. One potential customer is Peter Nyamai. "I use my PDA a lot for just about everything, scheduling, and social networking," he said.
"We're just using it to gather followers at this point and keep in touch with them about things that are passionate to us which is gonna be music and food," said Musgrove.
But experts warn that while millions are on the Twitter 'tweet' bandwagon, some potential customers could jump off board, in a moment's notice. "If you abuse Twitter and you're out there and you don't know how to use it and you're putting out messages constantly, you can come off as a spammer and you can easily corrode the credibility and trust that you've worked so hard to build off line," said Hyder.
But if customers like to 'tweet' about their experiences, stores, restaurants and service providers just might meet a customer they otherwise wouldn't have known.
Customer Mary Beth Lambert says she gets a lot of information online. "It helps out a lot, because I would miss out on a lot if I didn't use the internet."
Business owners are advised not to over "tweet", offer specials or internet only deals to gauge your medium, and speak in a personal manner in your writing.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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