Twitter – Useful for Salons?

A discussion among salon owners on TanToday.com revealed that most are not enamored with the concept of Twitter as a business tool. (You can check out the discussion here.)

There was only a mild interest in linking a salon’s Twitter page to its Facebook account since the latter can be set to automatically update the Twitter feed and thus, kill two birds with one stone.

Are these salons missing out on all Twitter has to offer – or is their assessment right on the money?

Speaking of money – I recently heard that celebrities such as Kim Kardashian are receiving up to $10,000 per tweet for product-endorsement tweets. And companies would pay more if the celebrities were bigger (no offense to Ms. Kardashian). Corporate giants such as Coke, Starbucks, Nike and the major TV and movie studios have also promoted via Twitter. Clearly, somebody sees the value of Twitter as a marketing vehicle.

Last month Twitter unveiled new capabilities (which, according to most Twitter enthusiasts – and the advertisers trying to reach them – were long overdue). It’s amazing that the fairly generic design has already attracted 160 million users ... almost like a teen choosing to play Tetris in the age of Halo 3.

Some of the updates include:

• enhanced timeline functionality

• more information displayed on re-tweets and affiliated users

• central feedback on a tweet’s viral success

• the ability to post and view video and photos

Twitter’s CEO likens the service to an “information network” that allows participants to identify and share what’s relevant both on the Internet and in the lives of the people they’re connected to (or want to be!).

Despite the few new features, nothing’s been said about the site’s ongoing capacity challenges – such as becoming overloaded and ceasing to function – represented by the legendary “Fail Whale” image.

Two questions remain. One, can Twitter optimize its service for customers while monetizing it among advertisers (without alienating users in the process). And two: does (or can) Twitter play a successful role in your salon’s marketing efforts? Weigh in with a comment to share your thoughts on the matter.

Source

Advertising Age: Twitter Unveils New Features for Users and Advertisers