For good or bad companies are flocking to Twitter. Some companies merely want to protect their brand from impersonators. Other companies have no idea what they’re doing and run around like chickens with their heads cut off. However, some companies “get” Twitter.

Customer Service

The most successful corporate forays on Twitter have been centered on customer service. Even reading the title I would guess that most of you already thought about @comcastcares, the effort by Comcast to repair their reputation for having horrible customer service (I have my own fair share of Comcast horror stories I won’t mention here). I won’t call their customer service line again because Twitter will get me a faster response and quicker resolution. That’s making Twitter advocates with customer service.

Exclusive Deals

You know I’m going to mention @DellOutlet. These guys took Twitter to another level by showing that you can make Twitter advocates while making cold, hard cash. The key element here is exclusivity. DellOutlet has over 150K followers because they offer something you can’t get anywhere else. They don’t regurgitate sale prices and promotions from their website, they offer exclusives. Give your followers something exclusive and you’ll create Twitter advocates.

Swag

Let me be clear, there is bad swag and good swag. Swag is bad when it doesn’t build the brand. In my opinion this includes t-shirts, hats, pens, etc. Good swag turns someone with little interest into the company into an advocate. For illustration I’ll share my experience with @ObertoAlpha.

First off, I found out about ObertoAlpha from another follower who told me they sent him a sample of jerky. I like jerky so I thought it would be cool to score a freebie. I figured a little 1 ounce bag or something. I DMed my address and forgot about it.

Oh boy were my expectations wrong. The jerky was mailed in a white butcher paper and looked big enough to be a whole roast.

After opening the package I discovered, much to my glee, 5 bags of jerky representing all of Oberto’s flavors.

I’ve been snacking on jerky for days now. On the ski hill, at my work desk, and at home. I tell everyone about how cool Oberto is for hooking me up and I laud them for being on Twitter (which I usually have to explain to people). My next bag of jerky will be Oberto Original or nothing at all because I am thoroughly converted. They even have a website, EatLikeAnAlpha.com, tied to their Twitter efforts. This is swag done right because it spawned an advocate.

How Will You Build Advocates?

To those businesses out there considering if Twitter will work for them, ask yourself this question: How will we gain advocates? Once you have an answer, jump in and make sure to tell me, @robert_brady.