The subject of how businesses are using Twitter in a smart way is one that's near and dear to my heart. I can count on my fingers the number of times I've ever clicked on an online ad, yet as a consumer I'm voluntarily following a few Twitter accounts used by companies to promote their products. Yeah, it's surprising to me too.
One of my favorites is Amazon mp3's Twitter account. They tweet once a day in the form of a Daily Deal. Each tweet lists an artist and album title, the regular price of that mp3 download, a one-day-only sale price, followed by the link to buy. Genius!
Their tweets put the title of an album in front of my eyes each day (a bonus for someone who is busy but obsessed with music), then give me incentive to buy right away. And what a tremendous promotion for the artist! The albums are often older ones, so I'm not sure how many artists pay for this kind of promotion, or whether labels are cutting deals with Amazon to promote their artists. Either way, it's a win-win-win: for artists & their labels, for Amazon mp3's business and for mp3 buyers.
I rarely purchase music these days - my Rhapsody subscription pretty much has me covered - but today's deal inspired me to grab Dolly Parton's Little Sparrow, a spare, bluegrass-inspired release from 2001 that features some interesting covers, including Restless Heart's "Tender Lie".
The people who are using Twitter creatively and successfully right now in these companies are true pioneers. I can just hear their higher ups, both in corporations and even in independent businesses, questioning the benefit of using Twitter and threatening at any moment to pull the plug on their "experiment". Right now only 5,487 people are following Amazon mp3's Twitter account, but if the plug isn't pulled, that number will only grow as more people inevitably catch on to Twitter. I hope they don't give up, because their efforts actually are influencing my purchases.
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