Introduction

There are several posts about uses of Twitter all across several blogs and websites. I wanted to provide a few more real life examples in varying business (and personal) scenarios that could be incorporated by your organization. I have structured each of these examples under 4 sections:

  • Problem that needs to be solved
  • A possible solution using Twitter and
  • The Benefits
  • Similar Applications

Here are 4 examples!

Food on Wheels

  • The Problem –A “Food on Wheels” van travelling between office buildings during lunch hour in a neighborhood had trouble letting its customers know that they were around in the area
  • The Solution –The owners created a Twitter account, encouraged customers to follow them –On a regular basis they now Tweet current location, a link to the day's Menu with a roadmap and timetable for the day
  • The Benefits - Improved Customer Service, Potentially Increased Revenues, Lesser Food Wastage
  • Similar Applications
    • A farmer bringing in produce from a remote farm into a city and parking the truck in specific locations can Tweet their current location for retailers to pick up. This will help easier distribution for the farmer.
    • A mobile medical unit travelling remote areas
    • A mobile library services travelling remote areas

Restaurant – Reduce waste

  • The Problem – A restaurant was dumping food each night due to the inability of being able to guess the amount of food to cook each day and in some instances lack of clientele
  • The Solution
    • Created a Twitter account and encouraged its patrons to follow them
    • Every evening around 8PM about an hour prior to closing, the Restaurant tweets deals for the first 99 (number changes depending on leftovers) customers who would walk in with a copy of the tweet and the code word for the day!
  • The Benefits - Improved Customer Service, Potentially Increased Revenues, Lesser Food Wastage
  • Similar Applications
    • Leftover food after large events can be handed to NGOs feeding the hungry  
    • Farmers can tweet and invite people to harvest for themselves in their farms  
    • Large grocery chains can sell excess “perishable” inventory on special deals

 

Local Public Bus Route Plan

  • The Problem –A local bus company wanting to help customers by letting them know their current location
  • The Solution
    • Each Bus Route would have a Twitter account  
    • Passengers wishing to track multiple buses on this route would follow the Twitter account  
    • Drivers tweet just prior to departing from a bus stop and announce number of minutes to the next two stops  
    • Passengers wanting to board the bus at these stops are able to plan accordingly –Others picking up passengers from these bus stops can also plan accordingly  
    • Any delays due to traffic are also tweeted out by the Driver “on the run” helping everyone plan better
  • The Benefits - Improved Customer Service, Potentially Increased Revenues
  • Similar Applications
    • Airlines tweeting when flights are ready to board
    • Other public and private transport company's that need to keep passengers informed

Math Homework Help

  • The Problem: –A Math website receives 100s of Homework Help questions from via email each day. Responses to the queries are automated for the most part, however some queries get a response only after 12-24 hours
  • The Solution:
    • Have the users follow you on Twitter
    • Tweet their questions and let followers respond to these questions  
  • The Benefits - Improved Customer Service, Potentially Increased Revenues
  • Similar Applications
    • Queries on how to use a product not answered in FAQ
    • Customer support and Helpdesk queries

I hope these examples help you think about your own business scenarios and make use of a great tool like Twitter effectively.