I came across an interesting article posted by our friend Mike Ferarra on his Twitter the other day. The article is about corporate use of Twitter accounts used for communication and customer service. It’s interesting to see how some large corporations like Wal-Mart Stores Inc, General Motors Corp. and Johnson & Johnson use the service, while others like Intel Corp. avoid blogs and Twitter. You would think a technology company such as Intel would be all over this space. I’m sure it is a mix of legal regulations and just not sure how to manage their reputation online that leads to these decisions, but you can’t fight progress. If your customers are there, and your competition is there shouldn’t you be there?

For many companies their reputation online is a new and scary thing. In the past corporate sites would dominate the search results, but today hundreds of different types of sites can dominate the search engine results page. A twitter page can easily out rank a poorly designed corporate site, or a YouTube video created by an independent sales associate can display above official corporate press releases. Because of this fast changing world it is important to manage your online reputation seriously. Of course if you have a bad business and terrible support nothing can hide that.

We have recently started to use Twitter here at AgencyWeb and for some of our other projects and clients. If managed properly and updated regularly it’s a great way to put out short bits of information or provide links to longer articles. Those companies who embrace technology and balance the cutting edge with the proven methods are in a position to separate themselves from the competition.