Online Banking Review has outlined that very few banks in Australia are using Twitter despite a growing number of companies using it as a customer service tool.
CP Communication’s client Kate Carruthers, director of digital strategy consultancy Digital Business Group, was quoted as stating that the big end of town are starting to see it as a customer service channel.
For most companies Twitter simply isn’t on the radar, and for those that have been made aware of it, concerns about a lack of control are common.
Carruthers cites one example of a financial services firm she has consulted to: “Their whole problem with a lot of this Web 2.0 stuff, including Twitter, was ‘What if people say bad stuff about us?’
“They’re saying it anyway. At least if they put it on one of your Web 2.0 platforms you’ll see it and be able to deal with it.”Although some institutions have been using Web 2.0 tools inside the enterprise to successfully generate dialogue between employees, Carruthers says they simply haven’t been willing to conduct the same activity outside the firewall.
Most Twitter users reveal personal information about themselves to their followers, something Carruthers says companies could use to their advantage, rather than see as a threat.
“I see this as the next wave in marketing where we’re personalising the relationship. It’s an opportunity for the company to have a personal voice as opposed to a corporate voice.”
Carruthers says this requires marketers to think differently about how they communicate.
“I think Twitter is just one of many similar kinds of channels. We’ve opened up the floodgates with Web 2.0 and consumers are starting to expect a dialogue.”
For marketers considering engaging with Twitter, Carruthers says “The first thing I’d say to them is get on it on a personal level first so you can understand how it works and the culture”. How it will work for each company will be different depending on the company and the context. It’s only by understanding Twitter itself that you can understand what will make sense to your company.”
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