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What if you could reach a few million people, improve customer support, tap into an incredible wealth of customer satisfaction data, protect and enhance your brand, and obtain some positive coverage, all for under $500? But wait, thereâ??s more! Sounds like a late-night infomercial, but in fact, a minimal investment (mostly time) can help you establish a highly visible and rewarding social media outpost on Twitter.

If youâ??re trying to figure out how social media can be integrated into your corporate communications strategy, follow this simple program. Donâ??t hire expensive consultants, donâ??t spend millions of dollars on viral marketing programs, and donâ??t wait to be shown proven ROI for social media initiatives. Just roll up your sleeves, get on Twitter, be genuine, and really respond to and help consumers.

Of course there are other social networks and opportunities to use social media in your corporate communications initiatives, and Twitter hosts a relatively small audience, perhaps two million people. But online, two million people who are extremely well-versed in the use of social media tools can be a very influential audience. Their comments on your company, its willingness to engage with customers, and the quality of its customer support not only reach a potentially much larger audience, but once published, are on the web nearly forever to be retrieved via a search on your company name. If those comments are negative, wouldnâ??t you like the opportunity to respond? And if theyâ??re positive, wouldnâ??t you like to know that as well?

Iâ??m sure youâ??ve heard it said hundreds of times, that thereâ??s an online conversation going on about your company. And as much as this is a metaphorical conversation, it is also, in many social networks, forums and chat rooms, an actual conversation in which real people are sharing their experiences with your company.

I was inspired to write this piece as I watched this morning as a well known vehicle rental company come under attack on Twitter. A Twitter user with more than 1500 â??friendsâ? commented on a terrible experience involving the company. Perhaps feeling that the company didnâ??t care about his plight, he invited other Twitter users to share their negative experiences with the company, and thus was born a groundswell of negativity. The company in question had no clear presence on Twitter, and did not get involved in the conversation. Here are a few of the comments:

â??horrendous serviceâ?¦fails on many levelsâ?¦poorly maintained trucks too.â?â??I’m going to need a moving truck soon…maybe I should try another company this time aroundâ?â??abysmal customer serviceâ?â??I have had way too many problems with them – terrible equipment, oversold equipment, etc.â?To get an thought whether your company is being talked about on Twitter, go to http://www.search.twitter.com, and enter your company name. You will be able to scan, in chronological order, user comments about your company. Whether these are largely negative, positive or neutral, each is an opportunity for you to weigh in, which is perfectly legitimate to do on Twitter. And you would be remiss not to.

Itâ??s hard for me to say that they â??shouldâ? have been on Twitter, but I have to question, why not? One company after another has been in the news as they have established a presence on Twitter and started engaging one-on-one with consumers. I am not exaggerating when I say the cost of being on Twitter is under $500. Twitter membership, even for corporations, is free, but I was allowing $500 to pay for the time to have someone in corporate communications sign up, make a simple graphics backdrop for the page, complete the very brief profile, and start the conversation.

Itâ??s not that hard to do. I recently wrote on my blog about the Seven Rules for Establishing a Corporate Presence on Twitter. These are very simple guidelines for branding your Twitter account and making it clear to consumers that it is an authorized company communications vehicle.There are no barriers to Twitter entry. As I said, it costs nothing, and you do not need to make any content, but you do need to identify one or more company spokespeople who can be online periodically to respond to consumer inquiries, questions and concerns. Home Depotâ??s account is staffed by Sarah, a PR person who has agreed to â??moonlightâ? on Twitter to respond to customer comments and issues. Comcastâ??s account is staffed by its â??digital careâ? group, and jetBlueâ??s is managed by the companyâ??s corporate communications team. Surely there are one or two people in your company who are social media savvy, and connected either to your communications or customer support organizations, who can spend 30-60 minutes a day engaging with consumers, solving problems, and improving the companyâ??s reputation. Not doing so doesnâ??t seem very smart.