Using Twitter to find Hot Deals

Written on December 24, 2008 – 1:16 pm | by Shana Albert |

Christmas Season is about ready to come to a close. You have already missed the cut-off to purchase items online and to receive them at your door before Christmas. In a couple of days you will be cleaning up wrapping paper, returning unwanted items and planning your New Years Resolutions.

But, I wanted to talk about things I learned from shopping at Twitter.

You get honest opinions. No need for reviews…. just ask your followers any kind of product questions and they will respond honestly. I asked about Moon Sand. My daughter was bugging me about it and I had no idea what is was and whether it was something I should get her. So, I asked my Tweeps:

And, my Tweeps told me honestly how they felt.

Who needs to search for reviews and testimonials on websites when you have pure ~~Word of Mouth~~ or I suppose I should say “Word of Tweets”.
Find Awesome Deals - I previously wrote a post about using Twitter as a Sales Channel. And, it totally is!! You can subscribe to @Woot and @AmazonDeals and get notified of their daily deals. eCommerce sites and businesses are beginning to realize the importance of using Twitter as a Sales Channel. You can follow these businesses on Twitter and cash in on the sweet deals.
Retweets - The Power of Retweets!! You can find some truly amazing deals just by listening to the retweets of the items that your tweeps thought were hot deals. That is exactly how I found my father’s Holiday Gift. Mark Hayward, who ironically wrote about the value of retweets, had posted a retweet about The Flip that Andy Beal had originally sent out. Even though I follow Andy Beal I had missed his original Tweet, so I am very thankful that Mark sent out this retweet….

I own a Flip Ultra Series and love my Flip. It is what I use to create my video posts. My father was so impressed with my videos that he asked to borrow my Flip. Well, thanks to Mark’s retweet I purchased my father a Flip for the Holidays. Check it out…

And, then I announced my purchase….

… and then the power of Twitter began. Check it out!!

I told Carolyn Shelby that I loved my Flip and she landed up purchasing one too. Wowzer!!
Using Twitter Search to Find Amazing Deals - I’m not sure many people are aware of the power of Twitter Search yet. It is a fantastic tool when used correctly. Here is a super quick tutorial. Let’s say you wanted to see if you can find a Nintendo DS for your son on Sale. Go to Twitter Advanced Search and enter the following information. Enter the word "Nintendo DS" (without quotes) into the "exact phrase" box. And, enter "sale" (without quotes) into the "Any of these Words" box.

Click on Search. The results you should get should point you to sites and information on how to get the Nintendo DS on Sale in Real Time.

And there ya go. Twitter helped me big time this year with Holiday Shopping. I know it is too late to use my fabulous methods to pick up sales this Holiday Season. But, use these tips all year long to pick up Rock’n deals for you and your loved ones.

I wish you and your loved ones the Happiest of Holidays and a Wonderful 2009!!

Share and Enjoy:

10 Responses to “Using Twitter to find Hot Deals”
By Matt Siltala on Dec 24, 2008 | Reply

Thanks for the mention here, and one other thing to point out that I love (rather then looking around at review sites) is the feedback is instant and not old. I mean - I feel bad answering a tweet that is older then 30 min …. so that shows you how real time it can really be. Great post! Have a great Christmas!
By Shana Albert on Dec 24, 2008 | Reply

@Matt Siltala - Excellent point, Matt. The tweets are in real time and that makes all the difference. Reviews of items can take a long time to upload on website and aren’t spontaneous.

Thanks for the comment, Matt. You enjoy your Holiday as well.
By Lori on Dec 24, 2008 | Reply

Nice to see my smiling face at your blog! My daughter is super-crafty also, so we’ve tried just about everything. Her very favorite “stuff” to work with is Model Magic from Crayola. I should have mentioned that yesterday too

Merry Christmas!
By Shana Albert on Dec 24, 2008 | Reply

@Lori - I will have to look for Model Magic. For the past 6 weeks Hannah and I have been working on a sewing project. She is so creative she amazes me.

Merry Christmas to you too, Lori.
By Gerald Weber SEM Group on Dec 24, 2008 | Reply

Very interesting idea Shana. I never thought of using twitter as a shopping tool but I have been using it as a resource to ask my followers questions so this only makes sense the way you describe using it to help Christmas shopping etc. I keep hearing new really cool uses for Twitter come up again and again. The possibility are virtually endless with this platform. =)
By Erwin Chua on Dec 24, 2008 | Reply

Hi Shana,

OMG! I didn’t realize the marketing and opinion power of Twitter until I saw your post! Thanks for putting this article up.

I now have a more expanded view of Twitter-ing. :)Really appreciate it.

All the best!

Regards,

Erwin Chua

Winning To Win With Erwin Chua!
http://winning2win.com

Follow Me On Twitter!
http://www.twitter.com/waywalker0101
By Shana Albert on Dec 24, 2008 | Reply

@Gerald Weber - I think you are right…. the possibilities of Twitter are endless. I just wish more businesses would see that.

@Erwin Chua - You are most welcome, Erwin. Thank you for stopping by and leaving a comment.

Enjoy your Holidays… both of you.
By Ramkarthik on Dec 26, 2008 | Reply

Shana, great examples there. Twitter is very powerful and you can get answers to almost any of your questions.

In addition to all these, one can easily get answers for their problems, get satisfied by answering others, find business partners, get hired, or even sell their house.

Nice post.
By Keahi Pelayo on Jan 7, 2009 | Reply

I am still trying to “get” Twitter! I have an account and have read many posts on its value, alas, still in the dark.
Aloha,
Keahi
By mark_hayward on Jan 8, 2009 | Reply

Hey Shana! Thanks for the mention in the post…I don’t know why/how I never saw this?

Strangely enough, I actually came here to find a post that I could link to in a post that I am publishing tomorrow on mark-hayward.com.

Hope you and the family have a terrific ‘09!