Real-time: Google users can now see updates from sites such as Twitter and Facebook immediately on the Google search engine

 

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Google real-time: The screen continually updates with new information, without the need to refresh. Users also have the option to pause the scrolling action

Nicki Flouton asked:


When you actively connect with your customers, they remember you longer and are more likely to reward you with increased sales. When it comes to connecting with customers, many companies are turning to Twitter. But why?

Increasingly, companies are finding that they can tune in to consumer buzz about their brands through Twitter. Twitter’s ever-convenient Twitter Search allows anyone to monitor keywords and key phrases, including company name, to read what people are tweeting about, much like what Google Blog Search does in the blogosphere.

Companies like Comcast and Zappos have already delegated customer service representatives, or digital detectives, to hunt for and resolve customer complaints via Twitter. Ultimately, Twitter as a customer service platform has proven to be a success!

Of course, you can take advantage of this unique customer service angle as well…it’s not just for corporations! Follow these simple steps to bring your customer service into web 2.0!

Get on Twitter!

Of course, you’ll want to open your free Twitter account! (It will probably be the quickest account creation you’ve ever experienced!)

After that, your first stop in Twitterland is the very useful Twitter Search page. All day long, Twitter users tweet their experiences, interactions, and thoughts. Plenty of those users may be your customers!

Go to Twitter Search, run a search for your company’s name, products or services, and see what your customers are saying!

http://search.twitter.com

If you come across any complaints, or even positive comments, now is the time to make a connection with your consumers!

Create A Connection!

Twitter avails you a proactive opportunity to thank happy customers, and to help unhappy customers-it’s viral! Take your customers seriously, especially if they’re enraged and dissatisfied with your company…those are the customers you really want to listen to!

Take a lesson from Comcast, one of the major communications companies. A team of Comcast employees joined Twitter, and has 10,000+ followers that they keep up with! They listen to what customers have to say and respond with tweets to their solutions.

Their Director of Digital Care makes sure that each customer is satisfied. That’s the kind of customer care you want to make synonymous with your brand!

Establish a Twitter Strategy!

Once you’re on Twitter and are following customers, you’ll want to come up with a strategy for customer service. For instance, look at Zappos’ Twitter for inspiration…

Zappos displays a great example of Twitter conduct, with over 450 Zappos employees involved, and they retain plenty of repeat customers because of their stellar consumer relations.

Many people also follow Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh because he pays attention to his followers’ tweets and acknowledges their tweets through his own, which makes them feel more personally connected. Do you see the pattern?

Your strategy should not only include addressing concerns about your products or services, or resolving the issue at hand, but also should entail paying attention to your customers. Reply to an unrelated tweet once in awhile, or tweet a little something (nice) about them on your Twitter!

Is Twitter a Customer Service Breakthrough?

In short, Twitter is one of the biggest names in social networking, and can be used quite successfully as a customer service platform. Is it a customer service breakthrough? Not really, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t advantageous. In fact, it’s a great way to keep your finger on the pulse of your customers. Also, it’s not just for corporations…your online business can benefit from it too!

must have at least heard of twitter by now and I am also going to assume you have a twitter account already setup.

So how to start using #Twitter for marketing.

At first glance you would think that the market here on twitter is confined to media fiends ,early technology adopters,socila media practioners and those interested in future communications.This is certainly true but not comprehensive so how do you work out if twitter is where your customers hang out. Here is the best way of doing that.

1: Use Twitter For real time market research

Go to tweetlater.com and create an account.

There you can create a tracker for keywords about your business, these can be emailed to you there is also an rss feed you can plug into google reader.You will be amazed at what comes back.

This alone should give you some valuable insight to what people think about your business or product.

Twitter proves itself to be an invalubale realtime market research tool for any business.

2: Use twitter to promote your brand.

Now having done some research you can jump in and start interacting with your potential customers but wait there are seriuos pitfalls to overcome.

You have to have a strategy you have to decided what persona you are gong to portray online and this is where companies most often loose the plot.

You have to remember to succeed at social networking you have to be “Social and Network”

So don’t just plug your company, if your product or service solves a problem tweet about that first.

Run competitions offer advice and expert opinion in your field build trust first then sell.

Once you have them you will be amazed at what loyalty you can create online

SO jump in feet first but be savvy.

To save severe embarrassment online and possibly thousands of pounds in unforeseen damage to your company reputation see our other posts!

By: Tom Smart

googletechtalks asked:

Google Tech Talk April 30, 2009 ABSTRACT Presented by Laura Fitton Headlines alternately shout how Twitter is a Google Killer, and how it is a narcissistic flood of updates about what people you don’t care about had for lunch. How can something that looks like noise from the outside be so compelling from the inside? Laura Fitton – @pistachio – will explain how microsharing on Twitter and similar services can make the web feel warm and human, can give you real-time information on what …