I was in Indianapolis in a very nice hotel and my kids had just gone to bed when I sent the above Tweet. I was shopping for a hotel room in Des Moine, Iowa on Orbitz, Travelocity, Kayak and Priceline. I got frustrated because for as many “deals” as I found I still felt like I was relying on computer algorithms and paid for placements than real people who had slept in the places I was sorting through. I sent out the message and other than a link to a similar travel search site’s results the only other reply I got was…
(Click here or the Tweet to see their link)
Twitter isn’t for everyone and in fact a lot of research shows that Twitter (for all the hype it gets) is mostly made up of nerdy, techy, younger crowds of people. That being said, I still love Twitter and I think it’s going to be a medium of communication for a long, long time. If you’re a brand and you’re not on Twitter then you might suck. Your target market might not be on Twitter and that’s valid. Sitting on the sidelines because you don’t like the game isn’t going to make Twitter go away though. When I got the above Tweet from Country Inns and Suites in Clive, Iowa I thanked them for their response and visited their web site. Then I screwed up.
I didn’t stay the Country Inns and Suites. I had already made a reservation by the time they had replied to my Tweet so I stuck with that decision. That decision was mostly based on price (rarely do good decisions take place when price is the major factor). Funny thing happened. The hotel we stayed in was bad. It wasn’t dirty necessarily, it was just tired. I saw more guests with dogs than guests without them. Most of the clientele was the highway crew working on the nearby road. Nice guys, but they were dirty dudes.
If you’re a business on Twitter your customers can;
1. Talk to you
2. Talk about you
If you’re a business on Twitter you can;
1. Follow customers
2. Listen
3. Talk
Is your business on Twitter and if so are you talking or are you listening? Country Inns and Suites of Ives, Iowa found me and now I’m really curious to see what their hotel is like. If they’re willing to put themselves out there on Twitter then they’re not afraid to ask for my business and they’re not afraid of me talking about them. So go to their Twitter account if you’re curious how a hotel can use Twitter.
If you’re afraid of Twitter it’s because you’re afraid of not controlling the conversation. The good news is if you perform well then you don’t have to worry about controlling the conversations. They’ll be good because you don’t suck.
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Great questions Erik. I don't think Twitter is a need for most people but
for those who own a brand I think Twitter is a great tool to monitor
conversations and find clients/customers. I sent my Tweet to my followers.
I have about 500. A few of them retweeted it to their followers...which
makes one message multiply to thousands very quickly. Country Inns in Ives
heard me because they have a tool for monitoring keywords in Twitter. Most
tools like Hootsuite and Tweetdeck have settings so if someone mentioned
hotel and Des Moines in a tweet the person monitoring would be notified
immediately.
I actually DID hit my audience with a question, not a complaint. I asked if
anyone knew of a good deal on a hotel in Des Moines Wednesday night. No
complaining there. Where you read a gripe?
Hope that helps. Let me know if you have more questions.
I am curious, Andy. I am not a Twitter user... yet. Not because I don't like the idea of it, more because I understand the need to use it properly and am "taking notes", so to speak.
Who did you send your Tweet to? Your audience? Do you have any idea how Country Inn "heard" your Tweet ? Would it have been better to hit your audience with the question of "anyone know a good hotel in the area?" versus making a gripe?
Just curious. Hoping to glean a little information.
Agreed Gregg. I actually get quite leery of companies with no Twitter
presence. (Zagg is one of them)
Twitter also unveils any secrets of your customer service sucking.....so it definitely keeps you accountable....
Let’s talk on Twitter
Take Permission Media Network
Twitter/Facebook are really great ways to reach your audience especially if your business is internet based. Thanks for the great article Andy!
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