Twitter is fast becoming the most effective B2B marketing channel in the world.

Posted by: Kenneth Yu on The Total Package Website
April 28, 2009

So what’s the difference Twitter has that no other marketing medium possess?
Ambient Intimacy.

Let me explain.

Researcher Leisa Rechelt defines Ambient Intimacy as a state where in a social media setting, users are more intimate and responsive with others - in contrast to real life. Due to the anonymity of the online space, people have the tendency to let their guard down and will act in a way that belies the real-world trappings of social decorum.

Granted, this applies to all forms of social media including Facebook, Flickr and MySpace. However, this hyper-connectivity is amplified in Twitter more than all of them.

Here’s why …

• Twitter is Safe. Your contact information is protected, and it takes just the push of a button to block a threat. As a result, people interact without the fear of intrusion.
• Twitter is Real Time. Studies have shown that immediate interaction is the key to accelerating intimacy between two people.
• Twitter is Short. With a 140 character limit, prospects will not think twice about baring their soul because brevity creates the illusion of security.

Here’s why this information should excite you. Since time immemorial, marketers have long been taught to “enter the conversation in your prospect’s mind.” To tap into it, engage it, answer it - Being the solution to their deep-seated problems. Creating an invulnerable bond and relationship.

The more effective you are at getting into the conversation, the more wildly successful you will be. Here’s the amazing thing …

Twitter is one big mental conversation. Getting into your prospect’s mind has never been easier. It’s almost telepathy!

This means all the persuasion tricks you know and love, take on new vital life in the Tweetasphere.

You probably can see Twitter’s business potential already, so here are three alternative uses of Twitter.

1. Psychic Market Research

   Due to Ambient Intimacy, your prospect can give their unvarnished opinion about your service and product on their Twitter stream without reservation. Even better, your prospects Tweet their innermost hopes, dreams, and fears. This means that you’re only a click away from discovering your prospect’s dominant emotion and tailoring a marketing angle that they respond to.

   And you know what’s even more amazing? It’s all in real time! In fact, this unique Twitter trait has not been lost on Google, with all the recent rumors of acquisition flying around.

   You see, where Google is effective is finding out what people are searching for now, Twitter is effective in finding out what people are THINKING now. Imagine being able to execute marketing campaigns that do not just tap into what matters to people this month, week and day but THIS VERY MINUTE. Can you picture the soaring response rates?

2. Become a Savior

   One of Jay Abraham’s famous teachings is the Strategy of Preeminence. It basically says once you position yourself as a go-to person in your niche and be a source of help, the money will follow because you’re perceived as an authority.

   In no other medium can you see this more vividly than on Twitter. People constantly Tweet for help all the time, which means if you’re observing, you can come to their rescue and be their knight-in-shining armor at their precise point of need.

   And you know what’s even more remarkable? The human mind can’t differentiate redemption coming in extended help or short 140 character Tweets? Your short Tweets can easily give you maven-hood status in record time if you know what to do!

3. Network on Steroids

   Here’s another delicious point — top dogs and gurus are equally susceptible to Ambient Intimacy as much as the next person. And more often than not, they have not outsourced their Tweeting efforts yet, like they do with all other forms of communication.

   If you’re not too pushy with your own agenda and engage with them on the conversation that’s going on in their mind (Easy to see, because they’re Tweeting it), you’ll make friends fast.