The Twitter Patter of Little Feet

Odwalla’s doing it. So are Nature’s Pride and DiGiorno Pizza, among many others.

What’s “it” you ask?

It is Twitter and it’s one the most popular ways to keep your brand relevant to today’s consumers.

If you recall from my April column, I mentioned that I check the Food Processing Twitter page www.twitter.com foodprocessing numerous times throughout the day. I’m checking in to see what people are saying about food, beverages and business. In 140 characters or less, I get a quick glimpse into the minds of the consumers, researchers and marketers that make your brands relevant.

I’m also distributing information about what’s going on at FoodProcessing.com including links to our surveys, breaking news, blogs, products and more.

So how does one Twitter (and why)? Grab your keyboard, an e-mail address and follow my lead:

• Log on to www.twitter.com
• Create a Twitter user name and password following the prompts Twitter provides.
• Write your first “Tweet” (Twitter message)
• Find Twitterers to follow. As I mentioned above, Odwalla, Nature’s Pride and DiGiorno are on Twitter as are Philly Cream Cheese, Hostess Snack Cakes and other brands.
• Follow Tweeting companies or brands by searching for their Twitter names on a search engine (example: Twitter.com/FoodProcessing) or by using the “find people” feature on Twitter. Make FoodProcessing.com one of the first brands you follow and we’ll send out “re-tweets” on other brands or people you might want to follow.
• Use tools such as Twitter Search (search.twitter.com) to see who is talking about the terms you’re interested in. Find and follow members of your industry, popular culture figures – anyone who is using Twitter.
• Most importantly: Communicate – via Tweets – with followers and those you follow. Twitter is about reaching out and being reached out to.