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A couple of weeks ago I wrote an article for you about social media and the new Web 2.0 world. Today I want to take the conversation a bit further and (re) introduce you to another fantastic social media tool, Twitter.

In essence, Twitter is a micro-blogging tool that allows you to post brief entries to be seen and interacted with by your “followers”. With all the new social media tools popping up in the marketing landscape, why should you use Twitter? Here are seven powerful reasons.

1. Get a lay of the land. A quick glance at the twittosphere can give you a sense of things in an instant. When some big announcement happens online, you can check Twitter to see if it is really important. Are people talking about it? What are they saying? This can save you hours of research and increase your competitive advantage.
2. Catch Up. If you go away for a few days, you have a quick 140 characters at a time, history of what you missed. Not only can you catch up when you want, you can catch up where you want (via web, mobile text or Twhirl reader) but also catch up with WHO you want to.
3. Fast Content Speed to Market. A tweet takes a minute or so to write. This article, over an hour.
4. Easy to Manage. You can both participate and lurk from your phone at the time and place of your choosing. When you need to be doing something else, you can ignore Twitter. When you’ve got moments (that don’t steal away from work or family or other priorities), you can jump into the conversation.
5. Increase Traffic to Your Site. You can send a link via Twitter for your articles, blog posts, products, services, etc. The visibility on Twitter gives you great traffic and an audience to examine what you’ve put out there… which brings me to my next reason.
6. Instant Feedback. You can post a question to your Tweeples (or people, get it?) and receive an answer back in minutes. You can receive technical help (did you know Microsoft and other major brands are on Twitter?), choosing software, even finding the directions to a local restaurant. You can also help answer others’ questions as well. Twitter is a two-way conversation tool, you know.
7. Relationship Building. Twitter allows you to start real conversations with your “virtual” friends. You can learn about someone’s new car purchase, upcoming promotions, recent divorce, birth of a child, coming travels, etc. So that your marketing isn’t just about “Here I am, buy from me.” But when you start building connections with peers in your field, with your target market, and with your competition (yes, connect with them too!), you raise your visibility, you engage more deeply, and you get your followers to know, like and trust you.

Are you convinced yet? Follow me on Twitter and you’ll see what I mean.

What are your thoughts on the subject? Please comment below.

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