It may not have seemed immediately apparent when Twitter debuted on the social networking, micro-blogging, Silicon Valley scene, but it’s ideal for allowing companies (big and small) to develop intimate relationships with their customers. Who would have guessed that having the ability to send itty bitty messages to your customers by web and text would have any meaningful application at all? We already had email and customers could sign up for newsletters and promotional offers by the score. And, with 800 toll free telephone numbers, a customer could call with a question or issue.
So what has made Twitter the new darling of the corporate world? Perhaps it was shoe retailer Zappos tweeting about cool new shoes or JetBlue teasing competitor airline Southwest in their 140 character messages? Or it was L.A.'s Korean BBQ taco truck phenomenon, Kogi, letting late night partiers know where the truck would be parked? It didn’t take long for businesses to jump into Twitter without knowing exactly what strategy this tactic would deliver. Even the Zappos, JetBlue and Kogi examples indicate goals to “drive demand”, “communicate brand personality”, “increase new customers” and “build loyalty”. Twitter has now put together a corporate guide, called Twitter 101, to help businesses get started using this innovative and fresh service, regardless of which strategic objective they believe it will address.
I have to say, I’ve used Twitter to connect with a variety of businesses and public figures for some pretty strange reasons. I introduced a TV celebrity (Josh Malina) to Twitter after seeing him in my local supermarket; I discussed a recent earthquake with 80’s disco diva, Jody Watley to try to guess where it was centered, talked about special offers from United Airlines and Souplantation. More often and from my own Twitter account (MarianMerritt) , I am communicating with Norton customers who have posted a question about one of our products or need help finding something on our website. I used to work on the team that manages our website (http://www.symantec.com/) and as a result, I’m well-versed in finding information about a variety of Symantec and Norton topics.
As one of Symantec/Norton’s first public Twitter users, I’ve been happy to see how quickly and thoroughly we’ve adopted the service. If you aren’t “following” these Symantec and Norton accounts, here’s a sample of what’s available and the most recent “tweet” or message from each:
@symantec - “Views, updates and insights from Symantec on all things security, storage and data protection (by@coryedwards, @dsassine and @cookdominic”
Latest tweet: We’re observing scammers “unvoiced” attempts to reach you using Voice-over-IP services http://bit.ly/2re1M7
@nortononline - “Welcome to the official Norton from Symantec Twitter channel. Follow us and share this page with your friends.”
Latest tweet: @SirGreyWolf Yes! U can click the renew now button for another 14 days. After that, come download the latest build at http://bit.ly/2sMmsU
@norton_beta - Receive update notifications of new Public Beta builds. Do not use @reply to submit your feedback - please use the Norton Public Beta Forums.
Latest tweet: A New Public Beta Build of Norton Internet Security/Norton AntiVirus 2010 is now available! Download Today! http://tinyurl.com/llgrr9
Another, more casual effort is for us to try to monitor what people are saying about Norton or Symantec in their own messages. There are a variety of third party applications that have been developed to make this and similar needs easy to manage. I use a program called Tweetdeck which allows me to display an ongoing search for any terms I’m interested in, like “Norton” or “Symantec”. I’ve also learned that on any given day, lots of people are watching the movie, “Fight Club,” featuring Brad Pitt and Ed Norton.
Using the Tweetdeck service, I sometimes spot a customer with a quick question about our products or who is experiencing an issue they need help with. Then I (or another Symantec/Norton employee) can reach out to them with a solution. Or I can send them a link to our website where free help is available.
CAVEAT: I should mention that Twitter isn’t the best way to get fast or free technical help from Symantec/Norton or most large companies. We might miss your post or misunderstand your comment. If you need consumer technical support from Norton, you can visit this webpage and find links to chat, email and telephone support. If you are looking for our Norton User Forums, you can click here to ask your question.