When I began this process, I didn't realize it would be such a testament to the power of Twitter, and more importantly, the effective use of Twitter by corporations, particularly Best Buy. This really shouldn't be about me. I believe it's truly a case study about connecting effectively with customers and solving problems.
There is a very nice article posted on Fast Company by Drew Neisser of Renegade about Twelpforce: "How Best Buy Turned Twitter into a Customer-Satisfying, Employee-Motivating, and PR-Generating Machine." Drew makes some very important points that I'd like to dig into a little more.
It's particularly interesting that Best Buy began by building an application, spy.appspot.com, to help them monitor conversations in social media. I'd be interested to learn more about how they might mine this resource and engage with customer issues when they arise.
If you dig a little deeper and visit Spy developer Ben Hedrington's blog, there's an interesting piece on how Spy helped stranded travelers in Europe after the recent volcanic eruption who used the hash tag #getmehome. This points to one of the reasons Twelpforce is so effective. Just like the stranded travelers, people are using social media tools to seek solutions to specific problems they have. It might not sound like rocket science, but it is a dramatic departure from common forms of Twitter usage by brands.
Take for instance, General Mills recent brand extension, Wheaties Fuel. Although I really admire their celebrity "cocreation" process in developing the cereal, take a look at their utilization of Twitter:
Unfortunately, I believe this is a common use of Twitter by brands. I'll call it the "message push" strategy. Similar to other forms of advertising, the brand is trying to raise product consideration and awareness. Maybe, a more effective use of Twitter by General Mills is by Betty Crocker. It includes another common Twitter marketing tactic, which is to monitor and comment on customers talking about or engaging with your brand:
What's wrong with these methods? They are still "message push" strategies. Although the Betty Crocker brand can recommend recipes that include its products, are they opening their deep expertise up to customers who have questions and need creative solutions?
On the other hand, Best Buy's Twelpforce, employs what Drew Neisser calls "Marketing as Service". It is not a "message push" strategy. It is providing a service by offering solutions through their unique expertise. Drew also mentioned this will help Best Buy trounce Wal-Mart's electronics offerings. Some may argue certain brands cannot use Twitter as a service to customers. Maybe, those brands haven't thought creatively enough about how to use the social media tools at their disposal to the benefit of their customers. Maybe, Wal-Mart can't help customers with questions about multimedia equipment, but could they provide more than just promotions or discounts on-line?
Finally, I wanted to highlight something else in the Fast Company post. Still in its "infancy", bbyfeed.com, allows customers to search for answers to questions that have already been answered. Not only does this allow Best Buy to avoid reinventing the wheel each time a customer has a question, it allows them to track how many questions they have about certain products or customer challenges plus utilize other data mining techniques.
My favorite part of this journey so far has been a quote from @agent3012, "When you need us, Tweet us."
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