How to Manage Brand Identity Using Twitter

While nearly everybody's heard about Twitter, the micro-blogging service that is continuing to gain traction around the world, how does one leverage its power to manage brand identity?

Companies, both big and small, are finding tremendous utility in using Twitter to get inside the mind of the consumer. Companies can leverage Twitter to manage their brand identity, conduct instantaneous market research, facilitate damage control with irritated customers, and communicate special promotions.

Manage Brand Identity

Twitter's search engine, search.twitter.com, formally Summize, allows anybody to tap into the tweeting universe and search for keywords appearing in updates and tweets. Its easy for companies to eaves drop on the ongoing conversation about their brand. For example, somebody could keyword search "Southwest" airlines to monitor what is being talked about in relation to the airline. Are customers satisfied or angry? What are they saying about the new special promotion?Damage Control

Considering people are much more likely to tweet about somebody that irritated them compared to something that made them happy, it's easy to pinpoint and communicate with frustrated customers. Was the flight attendant on the trip to Atlanta rude, lackadaisical, or lazy? Southwest can pin-point somebody tweeting about this issue and send them a direct message offering them a complimentary ticket or discount on future flights. Forgot expensive call centers to deal with angry customers... go digital and fix the problem immediately by sending a direct message within seconds of the customer's gripe.

Conduct Market Research

Companies used to (and still) spend thousands, hundreds of thousands, and even millions of dollars to conduct expensive market research. While it's extremely important to get direct feedback from customers, there are ways to do it that don't break the bank. Brands can tweet specific questions to their followers, and get instantaneous market feedback. Southwest might ask the world:

"How can we improve cross country flights?"

"What should be added to the dinner menu?"

"Which airline have the most comfortable seats?"

"How satisfied are you with the overall Southwest experience on a scale of 1 (lowest) -10 (highest)?"

Followers will then send direct messages back to the brand's Twitter ID inbox.

Special Promotions

Running a new promotion... flight's to Vegas for $69? Promote special deals, discounts, and promotional campaigns by Tweeting about a special offer, including a link to a landing page with more information. Just like when doing an email marketing blast, increase "click through" rates to the link by tweeting creative and intriguing copy. Make the world so curious about this new promotion that they feel compelled to click through to the landing page.