Tweeting Opportunity

Social media outlets do present many opportunities to companies if they are used properly. One of the mediums that presents the greatest opportunity for Rust-Oleum is Twitter. In future posts, other social mediums will be detailed. First, here is some background on Twitter:

Background and Opportunity
Since going live in August 2006, Twitter has had an explosive impact on the digital and social media worlds. In fact, in 2008 Twitter’s users grew by 900%. Yet, numerous companies and individuals do not understand the full potential of this medium.

Twitter has the potential to be a powerful tool used to disseminate relevant and timely information out to a company’s “followers,” who are a captive audience. As the medium continues to grow, more and more businesses will most likely join Twitter. First and foremost, businesses need to strategize and determine why they are electing to tweet. The reasons for joining Twitter need to align closely with their business goals. Twitter can help to create awareness for an unknown brand, promote a product or educate consumers.

The most compelling argument though for Twitter usage can be the fact that according to Performics and ROI Research, 48% of individuals who saw a brand’s name on Twitter went to a search engine for additional information on that brand. This is compared to 34% for other social networks (Sullivan, 2009). Learn more about this study and its findings here.

This is especially true for Rust-Oleum. Even though the brand is well-known in the home-improvement industry, many individuals do not know of all of the product lines that fall under the brand. For example, there is the Rust-Oleum Specialty product line, which contains products such as chalkboard paint, dry erase paint, paint for stainless steel and appliance paint, among others. View Rust-Oleum Specialty here. For the purpose of this analysis, the focus will be on the Rust-Oleum Specialty line because there is tremendous opportunity for this unique product line to showcase itself via social media outlets.

What Twitter Offers
Twitter affords Rust-Oleum Specialty numerous opportunities to engage its customer base. With a Twitter account, Rust-Oleum Specialty can provide its “followers” with product updates, usage tips, applications and specials. This is critical since these products are so unique, yet so cool. These are products most do-it-yourselfers may not have even thought about, but Twitter allows the brand to build itself and showcase capabilities to an engaged audience.

In addition, the brand can use Twitter as a customer service tool by answering customer questions directly from the site. Plus, with Twitter, the Rust-Oleum social media team or those who monitor social media for the company can also search the site to see what is being said about a particular product. This way the company can proactively reach out to customers and educate them about the product and offer other tips. Essentially, Twitter enhances dialogue between the consumer and the company.

The above are general brand building techniques Rust-Oleum Specialty can use via Twitter. Yet, with Twitter’s introduction of the “Lists” feature, there are even more opportunities. Twitter launched this feature on November 2, 2009. It allows individuals and companies to group together followers or find new ones (Catone, 2009). Rust-Oleum Specialty can use the lists feature to its advantage once it sets up an account. For example, the company can group together users of its various products to communicate with them about product-specific information. The company is also able to search lists to find people. In addition, the list feature also allows individuals to recommend pages to others. This means current Rust-Oleum Specialty followers could recommend the company’s Twitter page to those they know with the same interests.

Another cool tool to emerge this week for Twitter users, the introduction of Listi, which is a Web-based application that informs an individual of when a company name or brand has been mentioned in a tweet from a specific Twitter list (VanGrove, 2009). Think of this as Google Alerts for Twitter. With this feature, Rust-Oleum Specialty can further extend its customer service outreach by receiving hourly updates on what is being said about the brand on the site. Even though Listi is in its early stages, it is definitely an advantage to using Twitter for promoting a brand. Learn more about Listi at http://www.listi.com/.

Twitter provides a pulse of the world with 26 million tweets a day (Cohen, 2009). This also means that it presents a great opportunity for growth. In the next few weeks, Twitter is expected to unveil its “geolocation” feature (Cohen, 2009). This feature will enable users to indicate his or her location when posting a tweet. For example, Rust-Oleum Specialty can use the location feature to inform consumers of where they can purchase products in a specific area.

Twitter presenters numerous opportunities for Rust-Oleum Specialty. Once the company embraces all of its capabilities, it will be able to reach an engaged, targeted audience in a manner in which it never did before. From showcasing product tips, to featuring actual completed projects, Twitter can be a powerful tool for the brand.

Links to the articles mentioned throughout this post are located in the References section


References
Sullivan, L. (2009). Consumers More Willing To Share Brand Info On Social Networks Than Previously Thought. Media Post Publications Blog. Retrieved November 8, 2009, from http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=116866

Catone, J. (2009). HOW TO: Use Twitter Lists. Mashable Blog. Retrieved November 6, 2009, from http://mashable.com/2009/11/02/twitter-lists-guide/

VanGrove, J. (2009). Listi: Google Alerts for Twitter Lists. Mashable Blog. Retrieved November 8, 2009, from http://mashable.com/2009/11/05/listiti/

Cohen, N. (November 8, 2009). Refining the Twitter Explosion. New York Times. Retrieved November 8, 2009, from http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/09/business/09link.html