Should You Add Existing Customers to Your Twitter?

September 20, 2009 by yelena
Filed under Articles, blog

A little while ago I read a blog post by @ReferralKey about whether a business should add existing customers and associates to Twitter. This post is short, to the point and I highly recommend reading it. It advises against adding existing business contacts to Twitter because

The reality is that your competitors can view your Twitter account and connect with the same people.

Right after reading Chris’s post I was forced to spend a couple of days without Internet access, so I had time to think about what he said, mostly because his advice went against my own Twitter strategy.

As soon as I got my hi-speed wireless connection back, I went over to Referral Key’s small business blog and started commenting. But turns out, I have a lot to say. So I might as well say it here as well (read Referral Key’s original post first to follow along):

I am not sure I’m with you on this one. Yes, the competitors can (and will) check and poach each others Twitter connections. But there are so many easier and faster ways of searching for targeted people to follow. Here’s an example – go to one of the Twitter directories (I personally prefer Twellow) and search using your keywords. In your example of two pizzerias (sp?), I’d narrow the search down to local using TwellowHood first. You’ll end up following many of the same people your competitors do, but without time-consuming picking-through of competitors profiles.

Second point I’d like to bring up is this – following someone on Twitter doesn’t guarantee them following you back. And if they don’t follow you back, you’ll be basically the proverbial tree in the forest – they aren’t going to hear you anyway. Nor can you DM them or build any kind of relationship.

Which brings me round to the next point – the relationship. I’m going to use your pizza example again. I mostly make my own pizza. But on the evenings I feel lazy, I order from my favorite place up the road (shout out to Gourmet Factory in Raleigh. Almost daily I get coupons, flyers and other ads (print, direct mail and online) from about 5-7 pizza joints, including some other non-chain local ones. In the last four years I bought about 12 pizzas from the Factory (I don’t eat out much) and none from the other guys.

On the other hand, I see several good points about staying connected with past and present clients on Twitter, most having to do with listening for:

1. Any complaints they might have about my services (or my competitors services)
2. Any opportunities I can glimpse from their conversations
3. Giving them another way to connect with me
4. One more way to remind them of my services
5. Great comments I get about my services (which I can promptly Favorite and then use as testimonials)
6. Sending resources (links or referrals) that my clients might like or find useful.

I think the same logic can apply to adding associates, JV partners, etc to Twitter.

Besides, if your existing customers or partners don’t see much value in what you offer, they will go to your competitors regardless of whether the competitor follows them on Twitter or doesn’t.

Finally, what would you do when your relations with one of your Twitter prospects moves to the next level and they become your clients? Would you unfollow them?

What do you think? Do you connect with your clients on Twitter? Why or why not? Have you had a bad experience when a competitor “poached” your client because you were connected through a social network (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, etc)?

Technorati Tags: small business, social networking, social media marketing, Twitter