Save Money With Social Networking?

A year or so ago I couldn’t see the point in using Twitter. I often called it stupid and pointless, now I update my Twitter at least 5 times a week with pointless things about how my day went. I have downloaded programs just so I can update my Twitter and also installed plugins for my Firefox browser to update my Twitter, it’s not an obsession just yet, but I’m trying to get into it.

Twitter has actually become kind of useful to those who are trying to save some money also. Companies like Sears, Fiji Water, and Gold’s Gym are looking to be your friend on popular social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook. They are even offering discounts and side deals for those who follow them on Twitter or add them as a friend on Facebook.

Last week, for example, Fiji Water used its Twitter feed to tell followers about a 40%-off sale on bottled water purchased through the brand’s web site. Subsequent updates dropped the discount by a few percentage points until the promotion expired. Meanwhile, The Melting Pot chain is offering a free chocolate fondue — worth $16 — to Facebook users who try the company’s free application to match up their friends. (For more current deals, see charts below.)

Fifty nine of the top 100 online retailers have accounts on the social networking websites.

“There’s definitely a business advantage to having a presence there,” says Tim Ross, principal of Kendall Ross, a Seattle-based retail branding firm. “It’s free, targeted advertising.”

If you want to add a company as a friend think about this before you do; you’re giving the company access to your profile so you need to make sure you’re aware of the privacy settings that the site offers so you can limit how much personal information the company can see.

You can track coupons that are posted on Twitter at CouponTweet.com and CheapTweet.com

I think that using Twitter as a marketing tool for a company right now is pretty valuable. I can definitely see where it comes in handy for some companies that might be hurting right now for business or who just want to get their name out. I like the idea of getting coupons and deals from being friends with companies on the social networking sites.

Some companies I don’t quite understand why they would have a Twitter and use it frequently is places like my bank, which updates its Twitter account with birth announcements and promotion announcements. It’s a regional bank and I don’t know one person who works there, so why would I want to follow them just to see who is getting a promotion or having a baby?