Over the last few months, there seems to have been more talk about Twitter than actual talking on Twitter. And a lot of that talk is about what brands can actually do with it. In our corner of the agency, we’ve spent a fair bit of time discussing both the usefulness and uselessness of Twitter. (The two seem evenly balanced.)

For brands, it’s especially challenging. It’s one thing if your friends follow your tweets because they think you’re hilarious and care about what you had for lunch. But a brand has to offer something of genuine value on a regular basis in order for people to follow it. No small task.

My favourite example of Twitter being used effectively for commercial purposes is the Albion Café out of London. This small bakery tweets every three hours or so to tell people what baked goods have just come out of their oven.

Some examples of their tweets:

“Apple and cinnamon cake with new season apples has just been made and topped with butter icing.”

“Freshly baked crumbly Chocolate Chip Cookies stuffed with oozy chocolate chips.”

“Contrary to popular belief, our golden gallic Croissants are perfect anytime, not just breakfast. http://bakertweet.com/m/323” (Note the link to an incredible pic of said croissants.)

I don’t know about you but I’d be drooling in my shoes at every tweet. And I’d be making a quick trip to the Albion Café.

What the Albion Café is doing is very simple but it totally maximizes what Twitter has to offer. It’s providing meaningful content on a regular basis that takes full advantage of the real time nature of tweets (with an inherent call to action to boot). All brands should take note.