Twitter is still new on the scene and it has us marketers scrambling to find ways to effectively use it as a marketing medium.
(For those unaware, Twitter is being defined as “micro-blogging service” where users can quickly update people as to what they are doing. Brevity, connectivity, and immediacy are key to Twitter as users can post text-based messages up to 140 characters long yet reach a wide swath of people using the service with their laptops, PDAs, cell phones, etc.)
The best use of Twitter I’ve seen as a marketing medium comes from Panaros, a Buffalo, NY restaurant. Panaros twitters its daily specials. Brilliant.
*** Kudos to the Brand Flakes for Breakfast blog for the hook-up.
John,
Thanks for picking up the story! You found a great example with Panaros - that's exactly where Twitter will be a marketing medium in the short term.
-Pat
Posted by: Patrick Schaber | May 22, 2007 at 03:27 PM
I like what Delta's doing, and I think Woot.com getting on board was brilliant (I actually pay attention to the woots every day now).
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johnmoore (from Brand Autopsy) responds...
Jake ... I didn’t know Delta was participating in Twitter. I just checked it out. Hmm … not sure what to make of it. I’d much rather see/read substantive blog postings from Delta written in a genuine and sincere manner than to see/read shorthand riffs. It feels like “noise” to me as does most Twittering. However, this little act by Delta has made the company much more endearing to the innovators and earliest adopters out there.
Posted by: Jake McKee | May 23, 2007 at 08:49 AM
John - don't you find Twitter more a fad then a long term service that people will use? Will people really stop to use it during bad economic times???
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johnmoore (from Brand Autopsy) responds...
Dave … Is Twitter the next big thing? I don’t think so. Twitter is bound to lead to something … what that something is … I dunno. Borrowing from Al & Laura Ries, I place Twitter in the category of a “Missing Link” brand. In the evolution of conversations as markets, Twitter bridges a gap between today and tomorrow. Will Twitter still be kickin’ five years from now? I doubt it. Something more dynamic and more intuitively useful will emerge from today’s Twitter leaving Twitter in the dust.
Posted by: Dave Forde | May 23, 2007 at 09:18 AM
Twitter always feels like noise to me... but I do love when I hear an idea that has real legs for Twitter to stand on. Panaros -- yes. Woot -- yes. Nice post, John!
Posted by: Ann Handley | May 23, 2007 at 11:14 PM
I haven't heard of Twitter yet. Thanks for making me aware of it.
Posted by: RV | September 12, 2007 at 02:43 PM