We’ve all been there – sitting in a room when everyone is speaking the same language about something that means nothing to you. You try to fit in – perhaps you smile and nod – all the while pretending as though you have a clue what all the excitement is about. Deep down, you just don’t get it.

Case in point: Twitter.

Photo Courtesy Barry Batchelor/PA

What’s the excitement? Everyone is raving about its applications and all you see if a bunch of narcissistic people raving about where they’re going and with whom. All you can wonder is why someone would want to share so much personal information about themselves with complete strangers. You’re wondering if “identity theft” means anything to all these “twits.”

The truth is, you’re not alone. Twitter has an attrition rate of roughly 60 percent, according to a report issued last month by Nielson.com.

Unfortunately people have a habit of joining things because they are the “next big thing,” only to rapidly quit because they either didn’t know how to use it, didn’t understand the underlying uses or it simply wasn’t a good fit for achieving the desired objective.

It’s What You Make of It

Like anything in life, Twitter is what you make of it. Although it seems fun and games from a social standpoint, businesses are hopping on board thinking there will be a sudden influx of prospective clients and subsequent sales.

When has the “if you build it they will come” mentality ever worked? Everything takes effort and strategy, including Twitter. What’s more, if you don’t understand how to apply strategy or don’t understand the underlying purposes of the Twitter application you’re going to have a really tough time making it successful.

But Why Multiple Social Platforms?

I recently had a client ask me how having both a Facebook and a Twitter account could benefit them. Clearly Facebook has a tremendous amount of popularity with more than 500 million users. Additionally, a business Facebook Page is a tremendous platform for organizing information – notes, FBML, photos, reviews and a whole host of other applications allow for organizing business information for current and prospective clients. How on earth could Twitter compete?

Competition isn’t the issue – it’s the type of information shared. Twitter, clearly, is an entirely different platform, limiting status updates to 140 characters. From a strategy standpoint, Twitter is a great way to disseminate information to the masses quickly while providing a way for those masses to gain more information. From the user standpoint, Twitter is a great way to organize information that is being shared real-time.

In other words, Twitter is quick, rapid-fire sharing. Users have the option to organize those that they follow into self-described categories such as: friends, family, entrepreneurs, associations, community, experts, restaurants, local deals, etc. The options are endless, and savvy Twitter users are on the look out for other people, businesses and organizations of interest. And, in a perfect world, if they’re following you they should be interested in what you’re sharing.

Example, Please!

"You got a reservation to where?!"

You may still be nodding, thinking to yourself “Big Deal. I still don’t know what the point is!”

Example – A local Restaurant joins Twitter to supplement its Facebook activities. In doing so, they hope to interact with patrons quickly and share information about upcoming events. When other users begin to follow the Restaurant they already have an idea of what to expect because the Restaurant’s profile and tweets indicate the type of information they provide to the Twitter community. For the Restaurant, Twitter may serve as a means to:

Quickly blast information at lunch time about menu specials. This is great because close to lunchtime followers are checking their tweets while thinking, “I’m hungry…where should I go today?”

Share information about reservation availability. Assume someone canceled their reservation last minute and evening reservations are hard to come by at the Restaurant. Surely at least one of their followers will jump at the opportunity. This replaces lost revenue, and builds customer satisfaction and excitement. Meanwhile, Janet finds out her friend scored a reservation at the hottest Restaurant in town. Jealous about it, she quickly begins to follow the Restaurant so that she can snag that reservation opportunity first in the future.

Offer Happy Hour specials for Twitter followers only. Social media-savvy individuals love looking for new offers and incentives. Reaching out to the social media community is a great way to extend an invitation and potentially gain new customers.

Answer Questions and Inquiries. Twitter is a two-way street. It has to be. If it’s not, you’re missing the key word in social media. Twitter can serve as a quick way to answer questions: What are your hours? What’s your dress code? Can we make reservations? It also serves as a way to address complaints….and quickly.

Clearly this is not an all encompassing list of reasons or ways for a restaurant to use Twitter. There are many ways Twitter can raise awareness and build a customer base.

First, Start with Strategy

But what if raising awareness isn’t your goal? What if you’re trying to communicate a specific call to action?

First and foremost, a strategy must be put into place. Tweeting without a purpose is a waste of time. In fact, doing any marketing effort without an objective and goal is a waste of numerous resources.

Once you determine what your objective is, you can begin developing a strategy which will dictate which forms of technology are the best given your individual situation. It’s important to note that you may even determine Twitter is not the right platform – and that’s okay.

Ultimately, Twitter is what you make of it.