Firms hear tweet sound of growing sales

Jen Gerson

• Last Updated: April 18. 2009 8:30AM UAE / April 18. 2009 4:30AM GMT

ABU DHABI // Companies are using the social networking site Twitter to drum up new business.

Using the web-based service, which allows users to post “tweets” – 140-character updates – and connect with “followers” around the globe, the InterContinental Hotel in Dubai Festival City, for example, has developed a clan of customers eager for discounts and giveaways. This summer, it plans to use the service to host a scavenger hunt with prizes.

The strategy seems to be working, with 1,500 people signing up to receive its messages, which the hotel does not have to pay a penny for.

“I don’t see it as advertising. I see it as useful information,” said Anastasia Koriukova, 31, from Dubai, one of the hotel’s followers. She said she planned to take part in the treasure hunt this summer.

“There’s so much clutter in Dubai, it’s actually a relief. Twitter helps me to find out what’s going on in Dubai,” she said. “I wish more companies would do it, actually.”

Although still in its early stages of adoption, Twitter has given companies and governments a new way to reach out to their audience.

“We’re not trying to advertise at people. Rather, we’re inviting people to participate in a community,” said Robert Singleton, the marketing executive at the hotel. “They’ve chosen to be a part of this so we know what we say is going to be read.”

Twitter also allows followers to respond to messages, which may be part of the reason for its popularity.

“People have talked about our decor, our service,” Mr Singleton said. “People want to be able to say what they think.”

Spot On Public Relations, a Dubai company that has specialised in using new and social media, estimates there are about 2,000 Twitter users in the country, up from a few hundred at the beginning of the year, making it the largest Twitter-centre in the Middle East. But the region still lags behind North America and Europe.

According to Comscore, which measures online traffic, Twitter received 376,000 unique visitors from the Middle East and Africa in February. Since the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority lifted its ban on Twitter last August, the number of users has been steadily growing and Carrington Malin, the managing director at Spot On, said it was moving into the mainstream.

The Burj Dubai has attracted 941 Twitter followers, although the building is not yet finished. The upcoming Womad festival, the UAE’s Scrabble team, Dubai Earth Hour and Creative Abu Dhabi, an initiative of the Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Foundation, are all tweeting.

Even the Tourism Development and Investment Company, which is developing the Louvre and Guggenheim museums on Saadiyat Island is experimenting with a Twitter feed.

Joichi Ito, a venture capitalist and chief executive of Creative Commons, a company that helps artists and authors protect their copyright, has nearly 9,000 followers on Twitter and moved to Dubai in December.

“I would say that 80 to 90 per cent of the new people I have met, I’ve met because of Twitter,” he said. “Twitter is different from spreading an e-mail. An e-mail feels like an imposition. Twitter is more informal, so I don’t feel bad about sending several messages a day to 8,000 people.” The site gives him quick answers to questions and access to local knowledge. It is valuable for connecting communities, he says.

Shehab Hamad, 31, said he used Twitter to keep up with his friends and with traditional news. Where once he would go to websites such as The New York Times, now he heads to Twitter to find links to news.

“Most of the stories I want to hear about, my friends have tweeted and linked to.” Ultimately, according to Mr Malin, Twitter could become invaluable for some businesses.

“The best time to experiment with the service and learn how it works and learn to use it effectively is now.

“You don’t want to wait until all of your customers, stakeholders and competition are on it and be left chasing them.”



jgerson@thenational.ae