The August Small Business Card Monitor Report examines the Twitter accounts maintained by credit card companies for small business card holders. We examine how card companies promote their Twitter accounts, the topics they cover and how they use Twitter’s features. This month’s report evaluates Twitter profiles based on the following criteria:
- Access
- Topics & Voice
- Special Features
All firms in our coverage group maintain at least one Twitter account, which are typically of good quality. One firm received an A in this month’s report. Six firms earned Bs for providing good Twitter profiles that were well promoted, and one firm earned a C.
Card companies are mixed in their promotion of their Twitter accounts, with 62% providing links in the static footer and 38% offering header links. Half of sites we examined include promotions on the homepage. One firm includes all three, along with a live Twitter feed of recent posts on the public homepage.
All firms actively maintain their Twitter accounts. Every site we examined updates their Twitter accounts on a daily basis. As tweets have a short shelf life, it is important for a firm’s followers to regularly receive updates about promotions and small business events.
Most firms maintain several accounts. Only one firm maintains a single Twitter account, while other firms range from two to nine accounts. We favored firms that maintain relatively few Twitter accounts, as this insures that any given post will reach a broader audience. For example, one firm hosts only two Twitter accounts: a general profile and a customer service feed. The general profile addresses topics as diverse as small business issues and college savings, allowing followers of the firm to learn about many different Wells Fargo services.
All sites we examine offer customer service through Twitter. All firms except one include a devoted customer service Twitter that allows users to Tweet messages to card companies and receive the attention of a customer service representative.
Several best practices are identified in this report. Leaders promote their Twitter accounts on their public sites. Top firms also maintain fewer Twitter accounts and offer engaging posts for small business leaders.
Notable findings in this report include:
- Sixty-two percent of firms promote their Twitter accounts in their footers.
- Fifty percent of firms provide a homepage Twitter promotion.
- Thirty-eight percent promote Twitter in the header.
- Seventy-five percent of firms offer posts about small business management.
- Fifty percent provide a devoted small business Twitter account.
- All firms provide customer service tweets.
