Big companies tap Twitter to boost business

Honchos of businesses houses were among the first to realise the huge advertising potential of social networking sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Orkut. And all that advertising was free. They have used these sites to reach out to employees,
business partners and a large number of customers.

The internet changed the way the world did business but the social networking sites have changed the way the internet does business. Big business is using these sites to create a huge customer base among the young.

Nikhil Jain, COO and president, Elite Score Technologies, says that the social networking sites are a fantastic means to promote business. “We have accounts on both Twitter and Facebook,” he said. “Members of these sites get to know about our business without making any effort. They are able to get a complete ‘feel’ of our products without having to visit our outlets in person.”

India has around 50 million internet users. Contacting all of them personally (or even over phone) is impossible for any company. It is here that social networking sites prove invaluable. “We have plans to open accounts on these sites for our business soon because they are a must today,” said Kiran Pujara, director, Air Ticket Online Pvt Ltd. Shailesh Goyal, a leading public affairs management consultant, said such  accounts can be very useful in building and monitoring a corporate image.