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Twitter Getting Local and the Case for a Twitter Follower Discount
Newsflash: My local deli is on Twitter.
Martin’s Deli a local establsihment in the western burbs of Cleveland, now has a Twitter account (@martinsdeli) promoting their stores and website.
As evidenced over the past few weeks, Twitter is growing rapidly, pressing past the early adopters and into everyday people and businesses. Why? It seems as though the mainstream is learning how powerful a platform Twitter is and its potential to drive traffic to online properties.
Additionally, the benefits for being an active Twitter user has benefits outside of push marketing. As we’ve stated before in other blog posts, Twitter is an excellent method to improve your site’s online reputation in the SERPs, as accounts and tweets can rank highly for an individual or company name.
But one of the most intriguing aspects of the exchange between me and Martin’s Deli was their response of a possible introduction of the Twitter Follower Discount (TFD).
The TFD has been discussed before with much larger entities on Twitter, but it’s head-smacking obvious how this idea makes so much more sense for local establishments. With so many robust Twitter directories like Twellow and Twitter Grader, local companies can easily target city or neighborhood influentials to get the word out about specials, product additions, etc.
Bonus points for those searching for followers on Search.Twitter.com who are already talking about your local product and company (or your competitor).
It also makes so much more sense for TLDs at the local level because so many companies (big and small) are struggling how to create these online conversations with their potential customers. With Twitter adoption level still low comparatively to the overall population, local companies can track the success of TLD campaigns and get real time feedback about these campaign (e.g. What type coupon will bring you into our stores?). What other types of local marketing can do that and only cost the company their time? Compare that with the scale Whole Foods, Comcast or Jet Blue must use to have these authentic conversations, and it’s a no-brainer that the local companies can fill a void on Twitter right now.
At any rate, I’m looking forward ont only to how Martin’s Deli uses Twitter and the TLDs, but also hoping that other local establishments like the Great Lakes Brewing Company (@GLBC_Cleveland) get on board as well.
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Comments
2 Comments so far2 Responses to “Twitter Getting Local and the Case for a Twitter Follower Discount”
Nice observation and suggestions, Dominic. This method of local advertising is akin to businesses’ use of SMS text messaging to reach nearby cell phones with discounts. I’m sure there will be much more of this in the coming years.
I remember while living in China (even 4-5 years ago), I would get “welcome” SMS text messages from the network provider in big cities upon entering them by bus or train. In a sense, I could always know where I was at those times (while limited to the train-window view) just by looking at my new SMS messages.
Went to Twitter site and Deli site mentioned in article – there is no link on their website to his Twitter page, no mention of a Twitter Follower Discount (TFD.
If one does a search on Twitter for “Twitter Follower Discount (TFD)” or “Martin’s Corner Deli” there are zero results.
A search for “Martin’s Deli” brought 3 results, don’t even know if its the same deli and no selling going on.