TWEETING FOR FUN AND PROFIT

       Revolution in messaging has businesses studying how to harness the reach of Twitter to build brands and bottom lines.
       By Chadamas Chinmaneevong and Komsan Tortermvasana
       "Marketing through Twitter must be done seriously and continuously; otherwise, a brand will be at risk. At least, there must be a tweet a day NATHIDA RATTHANAWUT FOUNDER, MARKETINGOOPS
       ""Twitter can turn crisis into opportunity if you manage it right,"WOODY MILINTHAJINDA TV PERSONALITY AND TWEETER
       You may have heard of Twitter but how well do you know it?People may think that Twitter is for messaging. That is partly right. In fact, you can also use this social network to promote your business and even yourself free of charge.
       It's no surprise, then, that Twitter has become very popular very rapidly.Many big companies, such as Starbucks Coffee worldwide, and Thai firms, including Central Department Store and the property developer Sansiri Plc, are also using social networks as a marketing tool to communicate with their customers directly.
       Basically, Twitter is a social network and microblogging service used to broadcast comments and message people in short form. Users can "tweet"short text (not more than than 140 words)updates to their Followers and receive updates from people they are following.It is a one-to-many broadcast system that has attracted massive publicity and traffic ever since celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey began to discover its power. One of the world heavyweights on Twitter is actor Ashton Kutcher he has 3.4 million followers but is only following 215 people.
       In Thailand, Twitter only began to take off a few months ago when fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra began using it to keep in touch with his ardent followers.
       Nathida Ratthanawut, the founder of the MarketingOops website, said many well-known people such as politicians, singers, and TV hosts were now using Twitter to communicate with people in their networks. It also allows business enterprises to publicise their movements, launch promotional campaigns,directly communicate with customers and build their brands as well.
       Marketers and advertisers are expected to rush to embrace Twitter but to date the knowledge of how to apply it in the marketing context is limited and successful case studies are not widely distributed.
       "Marketing through Twitter must be done seriously and continuously; otherwise, a brand will be at risk. At least,there must be a tweet a day. Good and useful information can attract followers,"Ms Nathida said.
       According to Comscore, a marketing research company that provides marketing data and services to many of the internet's largest businesses, the number of Twitter users grew by 95% in March to 19.1 million - that's not one year's growth but one month.
       The most recent data for July showed 51.6 million users visited Twitter.com.In Thailand, there are more than 120,000 users who are mostly aged 20-30 years.Statistics from Alexa.com show that Twitter.com is ranked 43rd among the most popular websites in Thailand.
       With the rapid growth of users worldwide and in Thailand, there is no doubt that Twitter will be a convincing channel where creative marketers, as well as advertisers, will look to develop effective and connecting advertising communications, Ms Nathida added.
       At present, more than 30 companies in Thailand are using Twitter as a marketing tool but enterprises may need experts to advise them on the right ap-proaches to take with this new medium.
       For example, V Australia launched a marketing campaign by sending three "mates" to Los Angeles for "The Ultimate 72 Hours". The catch was that they were required to use Twitter to tweet every minute that they were there - all 4,320- to win round-the-world plane tickets.
       Twitter is also popular with media businesses including news agencies.Tweets from such sources (including the Bangkok Post ) come with links to the full stories on their websites.(Long web addresses are not a problem in the 140-character world of Twitter, which uses Bit-ly, a URL shortener, to make them bite-sized.)
       Ms Nathida said the number of corporate users of Twitter would probably double this year.
       In some countries, half of Twitter members use Twitter on smartphones,a trend that is certain to grow in Thailand as smartphone prices come down. Mobile usage could become the norm if 3G mobile broadband services become available locally.
       "To me, I think Twitter is great tool for building personal brands. I believe that many big music companies will use Twitter as their marketing tool to promote their artists to fans," said Ms Nathida.
       Thanyawat Chaitrakul, managing editor of MKT Magazine and an expert in brand management, said social networking and its power to reach individuals could not be ignored by marketing executives.
       Traditional media were now under threat by new social media, he said.Anyone can now create his or her own brand and reach a global audience.
       "This is a change from the earlier pattern in which celebrities typically were 'shaped' from TV or radio appearances," Mr Thanyawat said.
       He cited the example of Sukree or @sukree in Twitter. A computer programmer, Sukree was among the first Twitter users locally and now ranks among the most popular Thai tweeters.
       It's not unusual now for companies to seek out people with a large number of followers on Twitter (or friends on Facebook, for that matter) and offer them rewards to help promote brands to their followers, tweet by tweet.
       But Mr Thanyawat said that promoting brands by having prominent, popular posters advertise products and services could be dangerous.
       A product that failed to meet with expectations would generate instant feedback and backlash. Similarly, web icons risk their own reputations if it was found that they received compensation to tweet products or services that people didn't like.
       In any case, the power of social networking is too large to ignore, and companies would be wise to develop a strategy in how to monitor and manage their brands through the internet.
       Woody Milinthajinda, a leading television moderator and owner of Woody Born to Talk on Modernine TV, said he began using Twitter just last February and it had now become part of his daily life.
       He recalled how after tweeting about poor service from a local mobile phone operator, he received a phone call from an executive of the company to follow up on the complaint.
       "Twitter can turn crisis into opportunity if you manage it right," Mr Woody said.
       He said several brands had offered him money to tweet messages recommending their products but he did not accept unless they had proof that their products were really good.
       He said that if he tweeted something and the quality did not meet what was advertised, then he certainly could receive negative feedback.