Do you use Twitter? I guess you could say I am a fair weather friend. It’s tough at times for me to keep a steady stream of fresh blog posts going, never mind updating Twitter with every move, thought, inspiration, etc. But I do love the concept – I dabble from time to time – and I have a serious respect for what it has done to ignite conversation. I do attempt to read the tweets of the people I follow, primarily those in the industry, as there’s a lot to learn from their daily ramblings. But what I find most inspiring and exciting, is that more and more brands are starting to embrace Twitter as part of their experimentations with social media! There are two in particular I have decided to follow:

First up, Tablet Hotels, a stellar online resource for finding the the most unique, non-commercialized, hidden gems of hotels, globally. I’ve stayed at a couple, and they rock. There’s a lot of other cool bells and whistles on the site too that you should check out, but that’s for a separate post. So, the guys over at Tablet Hotels, who I just discovered are former agency guys so this now makes more sense to me, have started to use Twitter recently to distribute some great information, such as deals at hotels, new hotels added to their exclusive list, newsletter announcements, etc. I’d be curious to learn if they have seen an increase in site visits, conversions, etc. since incorporating Twitter into their digital marketing strategy. I would be willing to bet they have.

Next up, one of my favorite brands, Zappos. And aside from the fact that I have a total shoe addiction and shoes in general just make me elated, I really think Zappos is a top-notch brand run buy some authentic and pretty amazing people. Remember this story? Anyway, Tony, the CEO of Zappos, is quite the Twitterer. I think he is a junkie (positive twist to that comment); check out Zappos’ new biz cards. Tony’s strategy is a little different than Tablet Hotels’. He has chosen to use Twitter as a vehicle to provide a behind the scenes look into the brand from his perspective, and a glimpse at his life as the CEO and the lives of the employees of probably the most effective online shoe sales business around. He also encourages his employees to use Twitter – 250+ of them are – and there’s even a Beginner’s Quick Start Guide and Tutorial to Using Twitter that he assembled.

I love emerging media, and following the trends, and I just think it’s so great to see brands, and employees of those brands, leveraging some of the simplest social media tools to connect with one another internally, engage their users, and reach their audience in a new way with a different content angle. If you follow any brands on Twitter, let me know how they are using the tool and your thoughts on their strategies.