Brand Building via Twitter?

Marketing author Andy Beal believes Twitter offers promise as a brand building tool. His tips:

1. Start conversations with notable peers.
2. Share valuable industry news.
3. Build your blog audience.
4. Stay connected at conferences and trade shows.
5. Monitor your Twitter reputation.

Blogger Dave Rosenberg isn't so sure, wondering whether brand building through Twitter is "cool or creepy." On the positive side, he writes, "There are some great users like the guys from RedMonk, who have gotten so used to Twittering everything that it's like having them in the room. And their content is interesting and funny. It's a great branding tool for them and theoretically should be for others as well." But on the negative side, he wonders if "online stream of consciousness" can really serve as a marketing tool. "Conversation or crap?" he asks.

My answer: probably a little of both. If the analysts from RedMonk can do it, why can't everyone? Well, because not everyone can do it well. There are useless tweets, useless blogs, useless web sites, etc. It's just like every other marketing tool. In the rights hands, it can start conversations. In the wrong hands, it's crap, as Rosenberg would say.