All a-twitter

Is twitter just another distraction?

Maybe. But what if you thought of it as another avenue for conversation between your organization and it's patrons? Or between patrons? There are a lot of companies and some nonprofits already twittering, as Mark Silva says, in "What Twitter Means for Marketers" (via the Fuel4Arts' e-newsletter, What's New Monthly, June 2007) According to Silva, Fox used twitter to engage its fanbase for the series, Drive. Silva calls it a nano-release. Notice that, rather than using the site to broadcast promos for the show, Fox asked viewers to twitter an opinion on that night's episode.

Our people aren't early technology adopters, you say?

Well, do they use cell phones?

Even if they're not actively twittering themselves, they're certainly equipped to receive your messages. Why not use twitter for up-to-the-minute ticket availability or secret special offers?  If you have up-to-the-minute news that can be conveyed in 140 characters or less, twitter may be the ideal vehicle. Plus, on twitter, people CHOOSE to follow your micropostings -- how permission-based is that?

Live Earth is right now twittering SMS codes for tips on energy conservation, advocacy, and connecting to community. The Casa Grande Library in the Arizona town of the same name is twittering reading recommendations. The Philadelphia Museum of Art mounted a spectacularly successful show on Salvador Dali a few years ago -- what if they had been able to twitter outrageous utterances from the flamboyant Dali? If your organization has a blog, you can send your feed to twitter (as I've done -- you can see it on my new twidget on the right -- it has blog posts plus my twitterings on arts marketing), and your patrons can get your posts in bite-sized chunks.

How can you get creative with twitter?

More twitter resources:
Twitter Fan Wiki
Twitter Knowledge Books
Beth's Blog
Andy Carvin: Can Twitter Save Lives? (via Beth's Blog)

I'm sure there are more -- share them in the comments!

Comments

[Jeff]

Thanks for the mention of Casa Grande Library. It not only includes new books in the system, but library programs and other news as well. Any organization can do this if they create rss feeds. It is all automated!
Read more here:
http://gathernodust.blogspot.com/2007/04/twitter-update-or-how-i-was-able-to.html