Tweet or Die, Big Corp

18 | Posted In Social Media by David

Back in 2008, I was walking inside the Luxor hotel in Las Vegas. I was heading over to a party thrown by B5 Media inside one of the many restaurants inside Luxor. I couldn’t find it. I was straight-up lost.

Just to vent, I took out my phone and tweeted about it. Within a couple of minutes, I got a Twitter reply from the Luxor telling me where to find the restaurant. I was so damn impressed, I tweeted about it. They replied:

Picture 22

I am heading back to Vegas yet again (I seem to go there a few times per year for various conferences). I had reservations at Bally’s. Well, in following the #pubcon hashtag on Twitter, I saw the MGM Grand tweet about a special room rate.

I upgraded. I canceled my reservation with Bally’s (who has no Twitter account, BTW) and switched to MGM. Its a better hotel anyway, but I like how MGM is actually actively interacting with their clientele.

I’ve had other similar experiences with Twitter:

  1. I was bitching about AT&T Wireless a few weeks ago and I had one of their company contacts tweet me and help me via Twitter. I was impressed given the ineptitude of the people on the phone.
  2. Made a comment about Aweber on Twitter recently and one of their guys replied.
  3. Made a comment about the Headway theme on Twitter and it ended up with meeting the guy in person at BlogWorld and getting an inside demo of the new version.

I’m Impressed, But I Shouldn’t Be

I shouldn’t be surprised when a company replies to me this way. It should be normal.

Big corporate, wake up!

Your customers are talking about you out there. Monitor the conversation and interact.

The days of finding corporate success by looking big and official are over. We don’t like calling on the phone and ending up in a phone maze. We’re not a case number. Companies that throw up those kinds of barriers are obviously TRYING to avoid their customers.

I think its about time to say this: Big companies… you better get active on Twitter or your days are numbered. Tweet or die.

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  • http://www.jrgriggs.net JR Griggs

    Yeah it is a huge advantage to the company. I have had the same experience a few times now. Builds loyalty.

  • Anonymous

    Hey David,

    Great post. I have been writing about Major Corporation not having a clue about Twitter for some time now on my blog Twarketing.com The one thing I really don’t get is that major companies like Dell and Southwest Airlines get it so why is it that most of the Fortune 500 don’t.

    Again great post

    JB

  • ShannonOD

    I am still amazed that there are companies not using Twitter to better interact with people – I mean, you really do sum it up nicely, Tweet or die. In an age where adverts and media are no longer reaching the masses this is where communication and advertising are headed – personal social interactions :-)

  • http://comparehostingnow.com/ Kenny

    That's a great example of how companies should be using Twitter. Alas, too many think it's just another way of pushing spammy marketing messages onto customers/

  • http://erica.biz ericabiz

    Aweber is AWESOME — they continue to amaze me with their fast responses to just about anything I can throw at them on Twitter. Their online support is great, too.

    Some examples of big tech co's who don't do this: Google; Apple (despite being 2 of the most talked-about companies on Twitter.) Do you think they will die?

    -Erica

  • http://izzataziz.net/blog izzat aziz

    here in my country there are also some company using twitter to “connect” with customer.. but when i try to tweet about their services and even @theirname, no reply at all. they just use twitter to promote their product, that is no connecting that is promoting.

    good to hear some of your stories how they cater their customer using tweet.

  • msfreeman

    I am surprise AT&T is on Twitter and responding to customer needs. They and others have mastered the customer avoidance tactic. It is great to see that Twitter is a valuable counter measure.

  • http://bradleyaharmon.com Brad Harmon

    David,

    Utilizing social media as a listening post is such a great idea. I do not understand why big companies do not get this. It is almost a willful ignorance on their part to ignore what is being said about them via social media when it is so simple for them to monitor it.

    Brad

  • http://www.Frequence-Cosmique.com Gilles Vitu

    I will follow your advice… Thanks

  • TheInfoPreneur

    Its so simple to do, but your right companies just arn't doing it, replying gives the edge and shows they are invested in their customers. Good post David

  • http://nathanhangen.com/blog Nathan Hangen

    Amazing just how different a slight change in behavior can significantly alter perception. I'm with ya Dave, and the only response I have is that someone is going to make a lot of money teaching these companies how to do it right.

  • abigailjohnson

    huge company…….
    Tweet or Die, Big Corp…

  • http://www.webtrafficroi.com/ ZK @ Web Marketing Blog

    I think Dell is taking twitter very seriously and making more than 3 million.

    Have a look at this post for more details – http://www.webtrafficroi.com/twitter-marketing-dell-now-makes-3-million-via-twitter/

  • http://www.melvinblog.com/ Melvin

    True. It surprises me actually that some of the bigger companies here locally don't jump into Twitter thinking its retarded.. Twitter has been changing the game and not going with the flow is a big mistake

  • FreshFundraising

    Hey David,
    Tish and I are sitting here having our morning bowls of cereal and looking at your website. We just discovered you and got the Blueprint – WE LOVE IT! We learned so much from it and were relieved to see that we have put so much of your plan into action already (we are launching our site in the next couple-ish of days). So, with that said, we noticed your picture of a tweet in this post – we love it and want one just like it! How did you do it? We are newbies so please type slowly – seriously, we realize we are probably your only readers who see this as magical. Tweet or die back to you – Tish and Kerry

  • http://karrakinteractive.com/ Rachel

    I just came across your site via Income Diary and this post caught my attention. I actually used to work for Harrah's Entertainment in the IM department (they own Bally's/Caesars/Paris/etc). It's funny that Harrah's still spends so much money on PPC yet doesn't focus on any organic terms and have been late to the social media game – Caesars does an OK job on twitter, but I think it's because they took their IM in-house. Each of the corporate employees has their own personal twitter account, but they haven't done a great job of selling social media as a marketing tool to the properties they are supposed to be marketing. /rant Anyways, good job to MGM for being on top of things.

  • http://travelsofadam.com Adam

    I agree completely! I am constantly defending my appreciation of Twitter to my friends. So many people I know are so jaded by businesses they don't believe that there are actually some out there who DO reach out.

    I've gotten so many answers from companies & complete strangers. Twitter has its uses and its about time people realized it!

  • http://travelsofadam.com Adam

    I agree completely! I am constantly defending my appreciation of Twitter to my friends. So many people I know are so jaded by businesses they don't believe that there are actually some out there who DO reach out.

    I've gotten so many answers from companies & complete strangers. Twitter has its uses and its about time people realized it!