Bargains a tweet away

MAT-SU — In the world of online marketing, being a twit is no longer a pejorative.

“There’s a big push for social networking,” Sandi Strum said. “If your competitors are doing that, you better be doing that too.”

Twitter — the messaging service allowing users to send out 140-character blasts called tweets — allows businesses an opportunity to reach very targeted markets, Strum said. To help them do so, Strum and her husband Wayne are starting halftwit.com.

Businesses signing up with halftwit.com have the opportunity to send out special offers to consumers who are following the site through Twitter. The deals will come out up to three times a day and will always be aimed toward getting some sort of half-price deal, Strum said. One particular business is only allowed two tweets per month, so the offerings will stay fresh.

The website will target five areas of the state. There will be separate tweet blasts for the Anchorage, Mat-Su, Fairbanks and Kenai areas, as well as one for either statewide deals or businesses outside those initial areas.

Consumers can sign up to follow any of the five tweet blasts for free. The tweets will include the location of the deal as well as the password necessary to get the deal once at the business.

The “Half Awake” tweet will come out at 6:30 a.m. for deals good from 7 to 10 a.m. that morning. “Half Time” tweets will come out at 11:30 a.m. for deals good from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. At 4:30, the “Halfy Hour” tweet will announce deals running from 5 to 8 p.m.

“We’re trying to create kind of a game-type feel. What’s going to be the one at noon? What’s going to be going on for happy hour?” Strum said.

For a small fee, businesses sign up to have halftwit.com send out the announcements to the followers of the different regions. Businesses know the audience receiving the tweets is actually interested in deals in each area creating very targeted marketing, Strum said.

“In researching other companies doing this in the Lower 48, this type of promotion greatly increased restaurant traffic, for example,” she said.

In addition to restaurants or other places were consumers shop, Strum said she can see tour groups offering special deals if customers call in between the designated hours.

Strum said there is a certain stigma around Twitter. Some people think it is only useless messages about what other people are doing at any given moment. Those who don’t use it may not understand the value it has in keeping track of such things as important legislation, breaking news and the best deals.

“(Halftwit.com) will allow everyone to participate in Twitter. Some businesses don’t have the time, and some people don’t know how,” she said. “This will get people introduced to Twitter.”

Consumers can already sign up to follow the five tweet blasts, but the service is not yet operational, Strum said. Halftwit.com is having a kick-off party at Evangelo’s Restaurant on April 15 with free pizza and entertainment. But, of course, attendants have to have the special password sent out in a tweet before the event.

Contact Todd L. Disher at todd.disher@frontiersman.com or 352-2252.