Twitter is the latest social media phenomenon attracting growing attention from marketers. In a nutshell, Twitter is a ‘micro-blogging’ service where short messages (known as ‘tweets’) can be posted to be viewed by followers. The site has increased its weekly UK traffic by a staggering 631% during the past year, with three-quarters of that growth taking place in 2008, according to research company Hitwise.

Although there is no commercial space on the site, there are opportunities for brands to get involved for free. For example, as it lends itself to both one-to-one and one-to-many communications, ‘tweeting’ can be viewed as a useful conversational marketing technique. A recent survey from O2 has suggested that as many as 17% of SMEs use the service to build ‘brand buzz’ and communicate with potential customers and employees.

On the other hand, maintaining a micro-blog can be useful for monitoring ‘brand chatter’. For example, companies can identify when someone complains about them and respond to them directly, decreasing negative word of mouth.

Ali says: In order to follow a brand on Twitter, users must find the information to be interesting and valuable. Consider inserting a Twitter feed into your graduate website and having a new starter/intern regularly maintain a micro blog to communicate with potential recruits.