“What Are You Doing?” Let Your Customers Know With Twitter.

Some of you might have heard the story of James Karl Buck who “twittered” his way out of an Egyptian prison. Or how Barack Obama “twitters” to over 88,000 followers and is changing the way politicians communicate with voters.

For those of you who aren’t sure how it works, Twitter is a micro-blogging site that allows its members to send text-based messages up to 140 characters (“tweets”) to their circle of friends (“followers”).

Members exchange messages through the Twitter website, instant messaging, SMS mobile text messages, RSS, email and applications on other social networking sites.

In addition to celebrities, politicians and everyday people, big businesses like Whole Foods, Zappo’s and Dell all twitter. But can credit unions find a way to use this technology and engage consumers?

Wachovia is a great example of how financial institutions can use Twitter as a cost-effective extension to their current customer support efforts.

Wachovia’s tweets include:

New Promotions Announcements

Customer Care Responses

Updates (on important events like natural disasters or financial news)

Links to Wachovia’s Twitter page are even highlighted directly on their website’s Contact Us page:

Twitter is just one more way Wachovia communicates with its members and creates additional goodwill. Check it out at http://twitter.com/wachovia. You can also read a great article on Wachovia’s use of Twitter to solve customer service issues on NetBanker.com.

Then, open your own Twitter account and try it out.

Comments

[Trey Reeme]

Good post - Wachovia even has been tweeting through the WF/Citi fun.