Building on “Twitterverse” a more in-depth discussion on the how-to’s of tweeting and building content is outlined below. Need a guide, follow this one.

Bringing 140 characters to life, Twitter has developed into a hotspot for social connectivity. Connections are built through following people or subjects of
interest, getting followed by those that find you of interest, as well as tracking topics that one cares about. Twitter newbie? Allow me to break it down for you.

Twitter: What’s the gist?

• Followers: Users that an individual tracks for content and updates.
  • AKA: People that you dig.
  • Follow: Users that subscribe to an individual’s succession of tweets.
    • AKA: People that dig you.
    • Hashtags: Keywords or phrases that individuals use to categorize those tweets and allow them to come up more frequently in search. Selecting a #[word] will show a list of all tweets using that #[word].
      • AKA: Words that you dig.
      • Helpful hint!
        • Don’t #overuse #hashtags as it can #become #distracting to those #viewing your #post.
        • Users recommended to limit hashtags to of 2-3 per post
        • Popular hashtags become trending topics and if relevant to the post, should be used within posts to gain maximum exposure to Twitter audiences

Celebrities, businesses, individuals, and average Joes form the almost 250 million active user base of Twitter. Whether using the service to share news, increase awareness, or connect with others, Twitter truly gives everyone a voice.  In specific, retailers are given a platform to extend their voice to customers. Ranking in the top 20, top brands such as Starbucks, Nike, Pepsi, McDonalds, and even Best Buy invest time and funds into  the Twittersphere.

Whether established or start-up, business born into a generation of technology must engage with customers in order to become trusted and relevant. In fact, some businesses such as Twitpic have even been built themselves as a company on Twitter itself.

Twitter Takeaways

 Listen up! Listening to conversations centred around your brand, engaging in topics relevant to your business, and becoming more aware of industry trends will enable your business to add value to your Twitter posts and content.

• “Adding value to tweets

Be content with your content! Insuring that posted tweets provide the viewers of the content with valuable information, facts, updates, and subject mater that is relevant to them. Simply posting for the sake of pointing won’t attract an audience that engages with you or your brand.

Following these few simple Twitter basics will build your Twitter universe, engage your followers, and create your brand personality.

Listen. Engage. Tweet. 

Tweet: a short burst of inconsequential information,” as well as “a chirp from a bird.”

Twitter is the platform, You are the voice. 

Twitter has not only revolutionized the way we view information and updates but it has created a category all its own through the voices of celebrities, retailers, businesses, and the average Joe. Primarily, Twitter truly holds its own personal meaning for whoever utilizes the service.  For instance, anyone from businesses utilizing it for creating consumer connections to individuals looking for fun tweets to brighten their day; Twitter is truly defined by the user.

Why use the Business bird? 

From a business perspective Twitter enables an open platform of communication to be established between a brand and its customers, followers, fans, and anyone who chooses to engage with a company. Primarily, by creating an online presence through Twitter, brands are able to voice their newest achievements, products, and announcements to those who genuinely care about their brand. More importantly however, Twitter creates a place where companies can listen to what is being said about them and convert the information into actionable movements benefitting their brand. Valuable insight on product/service usage, customer concerns, complaints, and opinions are openly available on Twitter for which companies would pay millions otherwise as market research studies.

Moreover, a key attribute of Twitter is the open and casual conversational form that all messages hold. Not only do contributors feel that brands are more approachable and open to engaging with them, but consumers also feel that brands become more real and almost personified. Businesses take on not only a theme or concept but also a voice that brings consumers closer to the brand itself.

Key Takeaways 

When addressing social media businesses should take into consideration:

• WHO they should talk to?
• HOW they should talk to them?
• WHAT they expect them to do?
• WHAT impact they will have on others?”

[reference: class discussion]
With Twitter’s almost half a billion-user base businesses must be aware of their audience. The audience’s likes, dislikes, tendencies, concerns, and areas of importance must all be considered when deciding what to write, tweet, retweet, or even who to follow. As well, it is vital to not underestimate the power of one person’s voice on Twitter, as whatever is said about the business is heard by a virtual audience and is therefore virtually unlimited in its viral capability. Twitter is a powerful tool. Use with caution.

 Final thoughts: Tweet away!

Email marketing has become an underappreciated segment of marketing strategy plans in recent years due to a funnel of attention being given to the social media frontier. However, companies looking to stay connected and maintain a long-term relationship with customers should look into revamping this category. Email marketing is truly is a diamond in the rough when it comes to pulling in new customers and building relationships with existing ones.

Primarily, as a regular touch point between the company and the consumer, an emailnewsletter can keep businesses connected to their customers. Promotions marketed through emails have the potential to become targeted campaigns geared towards specific leads. Wishpond’s Social Analytics framework can aid in the breakdown process of the leads themselves, contributing to your company’s greater success in meeting the needs of your customers.

Additionally, it is always key to keep in mind the end goal with any marketing strategy; driving potential clients back to the site, and converting them into a new, developing, and interactive clientele base. For instance, Wishpond’s easy-to-use Social Sweepstakes system can be utilized to engage an audience through a social campaign and ultimately capture a larger range of emails, and therefore potential clients from sweepstakes shared in the social-sphere.

Finally, as an exceptional yet affordable marketing option being both cost and time sensitive, email-marketing promotions must also maintain regularity to become part of the customers’ “inbox lifestyle.” Your company can gain exposure through Social Offers and develop key connections with new customers though regular emails. Ultimately, Wishpond helps you create a never-ending sea of opportunities for your company through a developed email-marketing plan. What are you waiting for, wish away!

Today marks the 10^th anniversary of the Vancouver based dessert phenomenon, Cupcakes. Building a simple product and name into a niche market success story, co-founders Heather and Lori have truly developed a noteworthy business and have truly tasted sweet success. Taking a plunge into their online personality, a viewer is easily able to pick up on the core attributes enforced by the brand on their website and social platforms.

Primarily, when taking the 7 C’s into consideration, content and context play a key role in establishing the personality of the customer interface. For instance, key consideration has been given to the choice of colours, photographic images, text, layout, and design of the Cupcakes’ website. To illustrate, a clear whimsical, nostalgic, and retro image comes across through their website interface. In addition, although commerce appears on the Cupcake website as a “shop” option, it is evident that it is not a primary area of concern for the business, as majority of the cupcake purchases are intended to be made in-the-moment, essentially as a crave item rather than a pre-planned purchase. As well, links to Cupcake’s Twitter and Facebook are available through the website, however there are no other forms of connection, community, or communication through the site, where it be site-to-consumer, or consumer-to-consumer. Finally, as Cupcakes is a niche market specialty product, they steer away from customization of their site to the customer, as their product is already very specific and targeted. Ultimately, Cupcakes channels their sweet side as they aim to charm new customers and maintain brand loyal fans.

Recently, the need for a new laptop took me to Future Shop, Best Buy, and the Apple store in search of the best option. A tech novice with relatively little knowledge of what aspects I should be looking for in a laptop. I stuck with my primary need of a lightweight laptop ideal for carrying to and from campus. Aching shoulders after lugging a heavy 15” Toshiba truly drove my desire for a laptop that solved the weight issue first and foremost.  My venture to “the big 3” in reference to Future Shop, Best Buy, and the Apple store was for one key purpose, test out the weight of laptops. However, my purchase intention was very low. I tested out a variety of laptops weighing one after the next and looking for simple features and a sleek design. After testing out laptops at all three stores, I walked out with…nothing, as expected. Ultimately, although Future Shop, Best Buy, and the Apple store all offered a great showroom of product, their overpriced merchandise in comparison to online shopping outlets for tech products or even the corporate websites themselves generally leads shoppers to use the retail stores as a “showroom” rather than a place of purchase. I later found out that my trip to “the big 3” is a common practice among a wide range of consumers who prefer the lower price point to the service benefits offered by large retail chains. Following researching the future prospects of Future Shop and Best Buy, it became evident that opening up large stores was not in their plans and lower retail sales as a result of this change in purchase behavior was evident. The biggest push of the change in purchase behavior, strictly disintermediation. Cutting down links in the supply chain brings the end goal closer to the consumer than ever before. Online distribution encourages disintermediation as they essentially eliminate the need for bricks and mortar businesses to supply product to the end consumer.  A first hand experience with the value of online versus physical retailers has truly lead me to believe that disintermediation brings true value to the end consumer.