Twitter is a business tool you can’t afford to leave in the tool box

I oft find that people who have never use twitter think it is just a place to post what you had for breakfast or other random uninteresting information. What they don’t realize is that while there is a certain amount of random information available, there is also good and informative information available.

I for one, rarely watch television news. I don’t need to; it is all available via twitter. If I am looking for a hair cut, I ask on twitter. I have discovered some of my favorite restaurants via twitter. The list of uses for twitter is endless.

I have a great many interests and twitter allows me to follow all my favorites, in real time. From the tour de France to my beloved Cubs, I receive the up to the minute information. I also receive the best and fastest tech support from my internet provider via twitter.

While only 7% of Americans are using it, the Twitter population is still 17 million people, which is roughly equivalent to the combined populations of Connecticut, Oregon, Kentucky, Kansas, and Oklahoma. 49% of monthly Twitter users follow brands or companies, compared to just 16% of social network users overall. Put another way, Twitter users are 3 times more likely to follow brands than Facebook users. Combined with their above average income and above average education, Twitter users’ propensity to interact with brands make them a huge potential source for Mass Influencers.

The biggest advantage I find with twitter is that it is mobile. I may not check my Facebook via my phone. A poll of my friends says that Facebook users are not following businesses via SMS. However, 63% of Twitter users access social networks via mobile phone, compared to 34% of social networkers as a whole.

Twitter is a business tool you can’t afford to leave in the tool box.