10 Wins for my Business from Twitter (My new post)

Through some recent debate about which social tools are best and why, I have been listening and reflecting on how my own business has been impacted.  It is one thing to spend your time researching and writing and another to spend your time helping 20+ clients win everyday in this 24/7 viral world we live in. The challenge is surfing through it all to find what works for you and your business.  Time will limit what resources companies can dedicate to the social channels.  I think some channels are better for certain businesses. Digital and social don’t mean a “one size fits all” strategy.  Here at Howell Marketing, we’ve been using the social media channels (Twitter, Facebook, You-Tube primarily) for clients and our firm as well and here are 10 wins for my business from social networking alone:

• Our real estate client has been featured in the press due to their embracing technology and using social media for marketing and sales. They told us recently this: “OMG, the social media is critical to what sets us apart and we love it.”–they are using social as a differentiator and this is what it’s all about.
• A prominent insurance executive and client known nationally (you know who you are) started a blog while he was chairman of a national foundation board of directors.  This blog is helping him tell his story and give his own opinions about important changes in his industry that impact his customers.
• A medical group we work with is using Facebook as a prime way to connect with its patients and has successfully launched a new program that has people conversing and engaging. We are integrating it now with some paid advertising on television.  I love mixing social and traditional for great results.
• We found a great intern through Twitter or rather, she found us. We hope to hire her when she graduates which means my team is contributing to Mayor AC Wharton’s initiative to attract and retain key young talent in our community.  I am happy to be doing my part which is satisfying as a small business owner.
•  We were recently (very recently) called to present at a Fortune 100 corporate meeting on social media & digital tools.  They tweeted that they liked it! This means a small shop like mine can have a strong voice which means that you don’t have to be huge to be successful.
• We have connected with other executives and social media pros that have brought real value to clients in our day to day management of social tools and monitoring.  We landed a new contract this year because I knew I needed to add people to my team who are a lot smarter than me on the technology & digital front.
  
• We were invited to NASDAQ and got to meet the famous and wonderful Mark Ragan.  He and his team are worldwide examples of leading in the industry. I read and learn from PRDaily and this information adds value for my clients.
• Through Twitter we have made contacts nationally and internationally who are there to help us when we need it. This crew of professionals has been a powerful force behind the blog “The Social CMO” (a source for marketing information and idea exchange).
• Our phone calls lately are from new sources of business and they are saying they found me on Twitter and more importantly, they like what I’m doing in that space (and when they hire me, there’s the ROI we all need to make it work). 

I could add to this list and hope to do another post soon. What would you add about the power of the Twitter relationships and engagement? Thanks for stopping by to read this post!