It’s not just college kids anymore – your employees are tweeting about their day.  Customers and prospects are sharing information not just about their weekend plans, but about why they should buy a just-released smart phone and what they like or dislike about a particular service.

Do you have a helpdesk?  How much time is spent on lower-value calls or high volume issues?  Why not let your customers access your blog, Facebook page or Twitter  account to quickly find the answers they need from the questions that have already been asked?

Are you still wondering whether tweeting or friending is really going to increase sales or establish customer loyalty?  Consider some recent survey results by eMarketer:

Media Used Frequently by US Internet Users

The numbers do not lie.  If you are using the Web, you are more and more likely to depend on social networks, message boards, user-generated content and blogs to help you make purchasing decisions and find answers to your questions.  As a small telco, you do not have to lead the discussion, but you need to be a part of the conversation.

Need a couple more reasons?  Verizon Wireless has almost 15,000 followers on its official Twitter feed and AT&T has countless accounts with thousands of followers.  These two companies are sharing news, views and providing customer care – more importantly, they are connecting and relating to their customers.  If the 700 pound gorillas can do it, you can bet as a small telco you are well positioned to provide value to your customers by leveraging social media tools.  While we are on the subject, don’t forget to visit the Skitter Twitter page.

Tanya Sullivan is President of Plus One Strategic Communications, LLC, a communications firm specializing in the rural telecommunications industry.

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