As Twitter has been the most talked about subject of the year 2009 and probably will continue to be on top of the ToDo list for many in 2010, The NextWomen did its own research on the reasons why women in business twitter. Most women had more than one account, to separate their private and business activities. At the 140 Media event, lots of tech savvy women participated in the survey, why they Twitter for business. These are our observations. Let us know yours.

Twitter as Industry Information Channel

To get to know trends in the tech industry, Twitter is used frequently, even though some said that getting conversation on an industry subject on Twitter is scarce and getting people to provide their opinion is rare as well.

Twitter as Connector

Many favoured the advantage of Twitter to connect and engage with industry people, in a very efficient and fast way. As not all industry people, but mainly tech people are on Twitter, this is however limited to certain industries. Nonetheless Twitter as Digital Networking tool is a favourite.

Twitter as a PR and Marketing Channel

Many women  said that they really liked Twitter to create a buzz around them and their business. They use Twitter to:

• To gain more supporters for one’s work or business
• To get across their knowledge on the latest news in their industry
• To highlight one’s own campaigns

Twitter as Reputation Tool

Twitter was also favoured to strengthen one’s own personal brand, as reputation tool. However, some said that offline events are required to spread one’s reputation further, by attending those events or speaking in person.
One of the social media experts we interviewed said that the reputation feature is not necessarily a business reason. Others highlighted that a lot of people established their brand six months ago, and that it is getting more difficult to getting noticed on Twitter.

One interviewee said Twitter as PR and Reputation tool is one of the reasons why young people are not so keen yet on Twitter, for them the PR and reputation purposes has no value.

Twitter to Generate Revenue and Direct Sales

Apparenty, the conversion rate of Asos on Twitter is very good, according to an insider we interviewed.

Twitter to Show Credibility and Show Authority on a Subject

Twitter as Community Builder

Someone used Twitter to build a community around a new product by first creating a news channel on a subject relating to that product. By using Twitter to become the authority on that subject, indirectly the products get marketed.

Twitter as a Job Display and Search  Tool

Twitter as Customer Service tool

The realtime possibility of updates on Twitter proved a valuable customer service tool.

Of course, also some of the con's were discussed:

Barriers to Twittering were:

Too time consuming, according to a business development manager

Social engagement takes long time via twitter.

Thanks to @momigihq @mrmmediagroup @shell001@girlgeekdom @talktweetmeme @mensap_charity @rachelclarke @rebecawho @skinnypopcorn @katpartridge @contagiousmag @Amelia_trode @nicspic2608 @minxymoggy @katylindemann @gabriellenyc and many others at 140media

WHAT"S YOUR REASON TO TWITTER for BUSINESS? Leave your comment.