Why Independent Retailers Should Try Twitter (Editorial Blog)

In the last six months, the news has been all-a-twitter about Twitter, the free social messaging utility that has been adopted and promoted by celebs like Oprah. I confess that I viewed all the fuss and the tool itself with a certain amount of skepticism. Why, I wondered, did people feel the need to let the world know what they were doing? Were the ups and downs off a person's day really that interesting? As one wit at this company put it: Twitter was for twits.

However, my perception of Twitter was altered a couple of weeks ago when I had a chance to sit in on a seminar about social media at a magazine conference. The speaker was Michael Gold, who is a content strategist and editorial consultant for magazines, newsletters, books and websites as well as the director of Stanford University's annual Publishing on the Web workshop. In his explanation and analysis of Twitter, he said one thing that shifted my perception of the utility. Twitter is, he said, an alert system. Get past the silly name and all the hype, and you have a tool to communicate with your customers in an easy, friendly fashion between e-newsletters and website updates.

When looking at social media utilities to use for G&T, I always have to consider the time and labor required to use them effectively. E-newsletters are an excellent way to communicate with readers -- and customers. Blogging is a good way to create a conversation but it's time consuming. Facebook is too time-consuming. But Twitter, I've discovered, is simple and fast. Its 140 character limitation means that it takes just a minute to post an update (this is called tweeting). And, you can post to Twitter from your phone.

What kinds of things might you "tweet" about? Well, what do you want to "alert" your customers about? New products arriving. New color trends. A great recipe. A sale. Something exciting you've found at a gift show that you'll have in store soon. I can use it for things like news articles about retailing that I've found, to ask for feedback on an article, to ask for information or possible interview subjects for an article, to alert "followers" about new blogs and product showcases, let you know what I've found at an international show while I'm at the show, etc.

I also think retailers (and magazines) should experiment with social media utilities because our primary customers, i.e. women, are. At the IHA show in March, Tim Woods of Michigan-based management consultancy PocoLabs, shared this tidbit: In 2000, company research showed that the vast majority of women said that it was the men in the household who made all the technology-related decisions. A mere five years later, its research showed that the majority of women now considered themselves as the technology decision-maker in the household. In addition, Gen Y, the first demographic raised in the digital age, are entering their marrying, house-buying, decorating years. They're all about information at their fingertips. Why not give it to them via a utility like Twitter?

I am trying it here at the magazine (you can follow me at lorismithG_T. And, I think it could be a great way for independent retailers to communicate and share resources with their customers and maybe with one and other. Ask your customers: If they're on Twitter, maybe you should be on it too.

Editorial Blog

Commentary on retailing, shopping, consumers and the gifts and tablewares industry today by G&T editor Lori Smith

Why Independent Retailers Should Try Twitter

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