Although Twitter was originally intended for communication among individuals, a number of companies have begun to actively participate on the platform. However, Gartner notes that not all companies are using Twitter in the same way. Some are tweeting, some are just listening, and some are doing both.
"Despite the fact that Twitter is primarily aimed at individual users in the consumer market, many of those individuals work for companies and 'tweet' about business issues, leading businesses to explore how they could best use it," said Jeffrey Mann, research vice president at Gartner, in a statement.
"As Twitter is a public forum, employees should understand the limits of what is acceptable and desirable," added Mr. Mann. "It is good practice to remind employees that the policies already in place apply to this new communication forum, as well. If organizations have not defined a public web participation policy, they should do so as quickly as possible."
Gartner identified four ways companies are using Twitter so far:
Direct: Some companies are using Twitter as a marketing or public relations channel, touting corporate accomplishments and providing links back to corporate web pages, press releases, and other promotional sites. Gartner maintains that this approach "should be used with caution because uninteresting or self-serving Tweets could hinder the brand image as much as it could help. Responding to comments can be particularly risky, as the anonymous nature of Twitter can easily descend into a negative spiral."
Indirect: The second approach involves letting employees tweet. Gartner said, "Good Twitterers enhance their personal reputation by saying clever, interesting things, attracting many followers who go on to read their blogs...Twitter provides a way of raising the profile of both individuals and the organizations they work for, which elevates these companies that want to be seen to employ influential leaders."
Internal: Some companies use Twitter internally to share ideas or communicate about projects they're working on. Gartner does not recommend using Twitter or any other consumer microblogging service in this way, because so far there is no guarantee of security.
Inbound Signaling: Some companies are Twitter "listeners." Using search tools like search.twitter.com or desktop applications like TweetDeck, they keep track of what's being said about the company, its product names, or even the industry as a whole. Said Gartner, "Savvy companies use these signals to get early warnings of problems and collect feedback about product issues and new product ideas."
Discussion Questions: How do you think companies should be exploring using Twitter? What shouldn't they be doing with Twitter? How does the opportunity differ for retailers versus vendors?