Should my venue have a Twitter account?

 

I’ll be the first to admit I’m not making the most out of Twitter. I’m a novice at best. I’m okay with that, because in our business it’s just as important to understand the service as it is to put it to prolific use.

 

It goes without saying that consumers are no longer just consumers, but beacons of new interactive opportunities. Twitter (listed by Compete.com as the third largest social networking site behind Facebook and MySpace) is unquestionably one of those opportunities. We’ve watched as advertisers work their magic on the tool’s resources to create Twitter pages that not only reflect the essence of their brands but act as a direct line of contact with product advocates and potential customers. Much the same way that they use Facebook Pages as another facet of their marketing and communications efforts, they use Twitter to connect with savvy consumers in a more informal fashion.

 

Countless brands are doing great things with Twitter, but most fall into one of two categories with their approach. I’ll call them “organic” and “deliberate.” Both can work wonderfully well, depending on your overall marketing strategy and where Twitter fits into it. Here are two ways that take a vastly different approach to using Twitter to promote their brands.

 

Organic

This is great for promoters, hosts, nightclub owners and brand ambassadors.  Most people might never get to know a club owner or promoter until they meet them in person and develop a relationship with them. That is, until they spend some time with the person on their Twitter page.

 

When using an organic approach, you want to use the site when sharing one’s intimate (while still suitable for public consumption) moments and life musings, all cleverly phrased to fit within 140 characters or less. You can post regularly about where you are, what you’re doing, and what you’re eating — with the occasional visual aid. Use an everyman tone that every man (and woman) can relate to; were it not for his occasional talk of celebrity-filled parties and television appearances, you’d should be thought of as an average guy/gal.

 

There’s no hard sell; in fact there’s very little talk of your venue at all (when there is it should be engaging, like when you point to a YouTube video of a great event you just put together). There doesn’t need to be a push for products, because you completely embody the brand. While reading your posts, followers will likely find themselves thinking of your venue and will be just as eager to support it.

 

Deliberate

The approach of a deliberate strategy uses Twitter as decidedly un-organic, and couldn’t be more different from that of the organic approach. Frankly, this approach is bland and dull to read. That doesn’t matter, because you don’t want to use Twitter to entertain. You want to use Twitter to inform.

 

This strategy seems to involve answering every question submitted by its Followers. For example, you learn that your favorite venue (ABC Lounge) has a twitter and they use the deliberate approach.  You can actually learn a lot from reading the responses to others’ queries, along with news about new location openings and organic food offering information. The brand is great with keeping tweets fresh, as well as driving traffic to its Facebook Page, home to its richer promotional content.  You would want to mimic the ABC Lounge (this is a made up example) “deliberate” approach.

 

The real reason the discussion forum approach works for ABC Lounge on Twitter lies in its nature as a local hang-out in catering to consumers with special interests (house music lovers). A house music lover doesn’t want to mess around with “rumors” of certain DJs coming into town; he/she wants to know there’s a place where he/she can go to get the facts. Twitter, to that consumer, is a direct link to a brand that’s entrenched in her world and a major part of his/her life philosophy. Knowing he/she can get her questions answered quickly and efficiently means a lot.

 

Twitter as a marketing and advertising tool is here to stay, as exemplified by Twitter’s suggestion that it may soon charge for commercial accounts and work with brands to create exclusive features.  Twitter is not the end-all solution; it’s a complement to your already existing email, display ads and Facebook campaigns.

 

I look forward to your comments.

 

Follow Alex Miranda on Twitter