Tweet to boost your CRM cred

In tough economic times businesses are being urged to exploit web 2.0 microblogging service Twitter to boost their customer service and help reduce churn.

Analyst house Datamonitor reckons Twitter and its ilk will become increasingly integrated into contact centre customer service and CRM strategies. Business use of Google search to mine customer info from websites is also set to rise, it added.

Twitter enables users to post short messages (and replies), which are automatically delivered to people that have subscribed to the feed. Businesses making use of it can interact with customers quickly and easily - and also use it to build their understanding of the customer base and improve their products and service, said Datamonitor.

Early adopter companies using Twitter as a customer service channel include Comcast and Zappos - which have both built up large Twitter followings. The analyst says opportunities exist for the public sector too - pointing to Newcastle City Council which used Twitter to report by-election results and, more recently, to post information about school closures during snowy weather.

However, while Twitter may offer a relatively cheap customer service channel opportunity at present, the microblogging free lunch could be set to end: according to an interview with Twitter co-founder Biz Stone in Marketing magazine, the start-up is considering charging companies to use its service.

"We are noticing more companies using Twitter and individuals following them. We can identify ways to make this experience even more valuable and charge for commercial accounts," he told the magazine.

Datamonitor added that companies looking to make use of Twitter should be advised to consider data security issues as the community is an open one.

Twitter became one of the 100 most visited websites in the UK for the first time last week, according to internet search data company Hitwise, and now ranks seventh in its Social Networking and Forums category - up from 23rd just three weeks ago.

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