This is a guest post Samir Balwani of the Internet Marketing blog Left the Box. He writes about social media strategies and how businesses can better utilize the web. Follow him on Twitter or sign up for his newsletter.

The post below features some pretty well-known case studies, but if you are new to Twitter for Business, this is a great place to start.

Twitter has become a popular business tool for everything from Public Relations to Customer Relations Management.

It’s an integral part of business social media campaigns but because of its youth, Twitter strategies are still vastly misunderstood. To better understand how people are using it I decided to explore the three corporate stars of Twitter. I asked each to describe how they’re using social media in 140 characters.

Zappos

One of the best things that Zappos did was create their twitter.zappos.com page. It shows their dedication to keeping in contact with their consumers, and gives people a rare look into the company itself.

What does this level of transparency bring? Trust. The less a company is perceived as a black hole the more people trust them.

When a business is no longer seen as a business but a friend, you overcome the distrust of online shopping. People feel safer using your site with their credit cards and know that returning something won’t be a hassle.

Not only are the Zappos employees easy to contact but the CEO is using it consistently. Tony doesn’t only push out press releases, but instead talks as if he were any other employee. He’s the point man for delivering discounts and conducting research for Zappos on Twitter.

Their use and the Zappos Twitter page has created an online fan base. Not only are they able to generate buzz quickly but they’re able to take care of PR problems right away. If you don’t think Twitter, along with great PR, hasn’t helped make Zappos what it is it now, you’re sorely mistaken.

Ford

Scott has taken Ford’s social media campaigns to a new level and have really used Twitter as a major part of the strategy.

Ford introduced multiple Twitter accounts based on what they talk about. You can follow @forddriveone, @fordtrucks, or @forddrivegreen depending on what you want. Not only that, but Scott has said before that each department will have a team sending out messages and chatting on Twitter.

They’ve used Twitter to create a strong customer relationship. Scott has been known to generate buzz about new launches (for example, the new Mustang) and is quick to track any Ford mentions.

The brand’s social media strategy spans beyond Twitter and is also targeted towards bloggers. For example, they have invited bloggers to events. Twitter allows them to keep in touch with these bloggers and the Internet-savvy fans of Ford.

Comcast

Comcast has taken customer service and super-sized it with Twitter. Frank is in charge of @comcastcares, which is the company’s response to some public relations mistakes of past.

Frank monitors Twitter for any mention of Comcast and works to quickly alleviate any issues. At the same time, he offers great customer service.

The brand uses Twitter for customer service, and with it, public relations. By quickly resolving any problems people might have, they save themselves from having an Internet public relations fiasco.

It’s smart because many of Twitter users are bloggers and business owners, and we know the power of bloggers and how a minority can make a lot of noise.

Twitter’s ability constantly monitor people’s feelings lets brands target aggravated (and happy) customers. You’re able to create a relationship based on helping them use your product and letting consumers know just who you are. Using it to mold and grow relationships means better public relations, more brand evangelists, and more customers.

Related:

• Motrin’s Twitter Moment
• Twitter for Business Reading List
• Let Pistachio Consulting help your business get started

Dirk Röhrborn is the founder of Communardo where he is involved with Communote, an internal microsharing application. In this interviewFAQ, he provides insights into the application and decisions for its implementation and execution.

Q: Why did Communardo develop a new micro-sharing platform?

A: We have worked extensively with quite a number of social media tools, e. g. open source and enterprise wikis and weblogs, in projects for our clients. We have been using tools like these also internally for many years. However, a lot of very important project team communication cannot be captured. People use (sometimes abuse) e-mail and instant messaging and many good ideas, reasoning behind decisions, risks, problem solutions etc. is buried in mail boxes and IM log files. We wanted to capture these parts of informal communication. We’ve got some very good inspirations from the Wordpress Prologue theme which is in fact a great tool, but we do need a platform with better manageability and scalability. Therefore we developed “Kenmei” which we will now offer as online-service at communote.com.

Q: Why don’t you just use Twitter.com?

A: We love Twitter for personal use and business networking purposes. There is no better communications platform around. However, for our internal project work we rather need a tool that is topic-centric rather than people-centric like twitter. Further, we need confidentiality. Don’t misunderstand me; we are enthusiasts about information sharing and knowledge exchange. But we are also bound to legal agreements with clients that demand confidentiality. Therefore we must use a secure micro-sharing platform either behind the firewall or at least as secured service private to our teams.

Q: Why should busy users use another tool for communications?

A: Good question. People say: “all these users generating own content takes up our time”. But, user generated content is nothing new. If you look at today’s companies you will find many people writing notes into large paper notebooks. Some changed these for a shiny new notebook computer or smart phones and type notes into files, email messages etc. This is all UGC. But it really takes archeological capabilities to find and share important information this way. So what we need is a tool that our colleagues can use to write down their notes into one space easily, ideally using the client of their choice.

Q: What makes communote.com different from other micro-sharing tools?

A: First of all, there is this topic-centric approach that in our opinion fits the needs of internal communication better than a pure people-centric approach. Second, we have invested heavily into the development of the tagging and filtering tools to make sure that every note can be found instantly when needed. Third, we make sure that micro-content can be exported for later processing. RSS can be used to integrate micro-content into news readers and web portals. Further, we added an access control feature as well as LDAP integration to meet enterprise requirements.

Q: How do you use Communote in your own company?

A: Well, mostly in project communications. However, other teams are catching up, such as sales / marketing, HR and finance. One very interesting use is the “IT systems log”. This is a microblog where our technicians are noting any system change and extraordinary event into a microblog rather than another logbook. This makes later analysis and sharing within the team much easier.

Q: When will it be possible to use communote.com?

A: Our team is currently busy with completing the platform and setting up a stable systems environment. We plan to start the public beta-test in November. During the beta-phase we will be introducing a number of new features. The release of the commercial service is scheduled for January 2009.

Q: What are your future development plans?

A: We are currently looking into the development of certain APIs to allow for better integration with other systems, e.g. instant messaging and email. Further, we are developing micro clients for mobile and desktop use right now. The next big thing with 6-12 months ahead will be dashboard applications that provide us knowledge workers with a mash-up of better personalized information feeds than today’s tools.

I admit that I’m a car guy; there’s nothing like a ride to help clear your mind and forget the drama of the workday. Several months ago I met Eric Miltsch, IT-Web Director for Auction Direct USA, a multi-state auto retailer focused on the used car segment. Eric was kind enough to share his thoughts and experience with micro blogging and how it’s helping to transform their engagement with customers.

Background

“Our unique selling proposition is communicated in a casual, yet professional way. We answer questions, share valuable information, and get instant consumer feedback about their experiences, habits and desires. Online car shoppers are looking for information without the fear of being aggressively sold something. They also have a powerful voice and aren’t afraid to use it when it comes to making a recommendation or comment.”

Twitter

JK: How did you get started with Twitter?
EM: Auction Direct USA discovered Twitter late in ‘07; however we didn’t start using it until early ‘08. Twitter needed to be tested to determine its worth. Our “A-ha” moment came once our follower base began to rapidly grow.  The positive feedback helped and the stats showed it was worth the effort.

JK: How are you using Twitter today?
EM: Twitter is one element within our unique online strategy. It lets us build depth to our social media reach by engaging new customer segments otherwise not tapped. We (try to) contribute valuable and relevant automotive items such as industry news, new blog articles and company specific updates. I feel it’s important to add the human element if we want to build any confidence - we’re not there to blindly sell product. The goal is to educate and inform the automotive consumer, while also getting their feedback. People are very willing to comment and review. I’ve asked for feedback on new design mock-ups and even conducted online polls.

I also use Twitter to share and contribute ideas. I’ve spoken with and met new people that I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to otherwise.

Innovation in Micro sharing and Engagement: Tweet and Greet

What caught my eye about Auction Direct was something called Tweet and Greet. I love the concept and how it uses Twitter to generate a common community interest.
JK: What type of results have you seen?
EM: I’m asking 10 simple car-related questions to get to know our followers better. The answers, and their feedback, are incredible; there’s so much detail. You can really learn a lot about people when you ask them about the vehicles in their life. It began by inviting 20 early followers to share their answers. I hoped for one or two replies. Nineteen people responded, some within minutes. I kept asking and they kept coming in, so I put up TweetandGreet.com. Once published, the individual posts are tweeted. Many even link back from their sites. The traffic to our used car blog and our used cars website is tracked very closely with analytics. Not only have I learned who our followers are and developed many new relationships, I’ve also learned from our followers. Most notably, we recently had our 100^th interview completed.

Measurement

JK: How do you intend to measure Twitter’s impact on your business?
EM: This isn’t meant to be a sales channel, Twitter is another communication channel for us. I’m still measuring the traffic to our website, blog and other online properties. The key factors are obviously traffic and conversions. Our conversion rates confirm its success so far as our conversion rates fill within industry expectations. However, I consider the comments, feedback, and relationships to be the most important factor in all of our online efforts, and that’s where the real impact is realized.

Lessons Learned Along the Way

JK: What advice would you give other companies that are thinking of using Twitter or something similar?
EM: The best lesson is to get started. I’m very happy we started when we did. It gave us a nice jump on our competition. I’m sure our follower count would rapidly drop if the value of our core messages also dropped. I wear my common sense hat and simply “Think Before I Tweet.” [Having the right person to deliver valuable content ranks high as well. Shameless plug.]

Essential Tools

JK: How do you manage the time spent on maintaining the account?
EM: Good question. Without a plan, one could lose days watching the public’s tweets. My list of must-have tools are:

• TweetDeck: Neatly organizes messages & groups making it possible to see items quickly.
• TwitterFeed: Automatically distributes new blog content and new inventory updates for our “Cool Whip of the Day” tweets. (Corny - but very well received.)
• TweetLater: Every follower receives a welcome message (I send a personal note as well).
• TweetBeep: Alerts notify us when specific keywords are mentioned.
• TwitterTise: Message scheduler with built in stats.
• FriendOrFollow: Manager your network by seeing who follows who doesn’t,
• TwitGrid: Track multiple keywords within custom grid views.

JK: Most importantly: That’s an RS4 in your twitter background, right?
EM: Ohh, so close. That’s an R8.

Summary

Do’h, so maybe I don’t know cars as well as I thought. What I do know, however, is Auction Direct USA’s understanding of micro blogging extends beyond Twitter and provides an example for other organizations to follow. It’s about engaging the community and storytelling; and it’s about creating an opportunity for customers to share their stories and be heard. How do you find the right story? Look at your organization’s focus and objectives. The rest is easy.

Jonathan Kash is Director of Web Services at a non-profit based in Washington, D.C., and writes the blog Fluent Simplicity. He also created the Social Media Brand Index (originally the Twitter Brand Index). Interests include brand identity, online reputation and strategy.

Mashable’s startup review for TigerBow has raised a few questions regarding the subject of privacy and security online. This is a service that will allow anyone to send a real gift (movie or book at this time) to anyone they want via an email address or social networking ID such as their Facebook name. The gimmick is that you’ll be able to receive things without having to divulge your actual address which is nice when it comes to security. However, something about it bothers some people. They feel a little uneasy about this prospect of allowing potential strangers to send you things with someone easily attained such as email addresses and social media names which are splattered all over blogs and websites everywhere.

Tigerbow isn’t the first to do this virtual to reality delivery trick. I remember SocialFlowers being one of the first services that allowed people to ship to unknown addresses from within social networks. The way they did it was by
being the middleman that brokered the deal, much like PayPal distributes money from the buyer’s real bank account to the seller’s real bank account. SocialFlowers did the same thing but instead of handling money, they managed the real addresses of both parties, providing the cloak of anonymity for both parties involved in the transaction.

There are other services now like You Got Beer that let you send things like beer to others across the country. There are also many Facebook apps that do the same thing, and not just beer but also other items such as flowers, candy and more.

This crossover behavior has infiltrated the microblogging world as well with services such as TrackThis which lets members of Twitter receive notifications in real-time of real-world shipment updates for packages. Also, as everyone has witnessed by the deluge of new followers, there are increasing numbers of brick and mortar establishments jumping on Twitter to setup shop. Rumor has it that we will be able to place orders on Amazon from Twitter directly with a tweet. The same will happen with all types of businesses someday soon.

Now that there are services such as TigerBow and SocialFlowers that have become in essence the middle man between the virtual world (social networks) and the real world (customers), then whose to say that a microblogging platform such as twitter couldn’t also be the broker for such deals? Companies took a leap of face many years ago when they allowed customers to place orders with faxes and then even riskier emails. Why wouldn’t they go a step further and embrace the current standards of communication (social media, social networking, microblogging)?

I firmly believe that we will be able to place orders not only with a tweet on Twitter for anything we want but also instant messages. As long as the social identities can be verified and confirmed and ultimately linked to some form of financial account (PayPal or bank account), then there shouldn’t be any problems with doing business with people on Microblogs, any instant messenger or social network. If they want to keep their real address a mystery to the business then so be it. As long as payments are made and products or services have been delivered then what does it matter?

The thin line between virtual and reality continues to blur and fade. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? What do you think? Does it matter if the sender knows your real address or not?

P.S. Earlier this year, a business partner and I came close to launching a service in ultra stealth mode where we planned to allow people to place orders for anything they wanted (pizza, coffee, flowers, etc.) via twitter or even instant messenger. However, we backed out due to several factors including not only the gloomy economy but also because we found a great deal of services that failed trying to let customers place orders online for one reason or another. I still believe without a doubt this type of service will succeed someday soon if done right.

Doriano, A.K.A. Paisano or Pai to his friends on Twitter and elsewhere, has been in the I.T. Industry ever since the MS-DOS 6.22 days. Besides his day job as an IT Admin he also writes for Mashable.com as well as his own tech blog (http://ThePaisano.com) and ocassional guest posts elsewhere. His favorite service is Twitter where you can find him as @Paisano (What else?)

This blog post was written by Erica O’Grady (@ericaogrady).

Twitter To Go?

When J.R. Cohen, Operations Manager for CoffeeGroundz (@coffeegroundz) Cafe in Houston, Texas first heard about Twitter from one of his customers, he was puzzled but intrigued. Today, he credits Twitter with almost doubling his clientele and with opening his eyes to a whole new way to build Community.

If you’re reading this article, then chances are you’re already on Twitter, and you may even have experienced the power of Twitter for building your own personal or corporate brand. Recently, more and more companies have jumped on the Twitter bandwagon to help manage their online identities making it increasingly harder to stand out from the crowd.

But Cohen and CoffeeGroundz have found a way to do just that. Shortly after joining Twitter, Cohen started following members of the local Houston Twitterati and in no time had amassed over 1000 followers. Cohen is a naturally charismatic, giving, and friendly guy - traits that make him a natural on a network like Twitter.

On Becoming The Purple Cow

Nothing can build your brand faster than being or doing something remarkable. Seth Godin, author of the recently released Tribes calls this becoming “The Purple Cow”. Cohen didn’t set out to become a Purple Cow - but with one brief 140 character message - that’s exactly what he’s done.

On October 31st, 2008 Sean Stoner (@maslowbeer) was hungry. As a regular customer at CoffeeGroundz he sent the following Twitter to Cohen:

Cohen quickly replied and Sean went through the drive-thru at CoffeeGroundz to pick up his burrito.

This simple exchange got a lot of coverage on Twitter and was hailed as potentially the first time that Twitter had ever been used to place a To-Go Order. Seeing an opportunity, Cohen started taking to-go orders via direct message from any of his Twitter Clientele.

CoffeeGroundz offers free Wi-Fi, plenty of outlets, and they serve beer and wine - making it a cross between a Coffee House and a Lounge. Today, customers can order beverages and tasty bites from the comfort of their seat using Direct Messages to @coffeegroundz. How cool is that? You don’t even have to stop working to walk to the counter and order a coffee.

Building Community While Making a Profit

Recently, CoffeeGroundz was the venue for a Houston Tweetup that Cohen nicknamed “The Great Twitter Party”. Nearly 100 Houston Twitterites spent a lovely Sunday afternoon there at the largest Houston Tweetup to date. And did I mention that they bought lots of food and beverages? So the next time someone tells you that you can’t make money from Twitter, tell them to think again!

Below is a quick video I shot on Ustream with J.R. Cohen of CoffeeGroundz Houston. It starts off slow, but Cohen is so charismatic that it’s worth a look.

Erica O’Grady is the #1 Erica on Google - Most days :o) Currently she is a Social Media Consultant based in Houston, Texas (the damn near finest city in the South). You can read her blog at ReinventingErica.com or follow her on Twitter.