Customers like to stay abreast of the latest developments, whether it’s a new product, feature updates, or general shop talk. Keeping pace can be difficult; updating your website and email blasts don’t offer the real-time connection your customers may be looking for.

Consider using Plurk as a customer communication tool. Similar to Twitter, a service we discussed in Stay close to mother hen, Plurk is a text messaging service that lets you chronicle and share whatever you are thinking or feeling with your network of friends. The daily time line of activity acts as your homepage, pinpointing all your “plurks” and plurks you have received from friends. By creating “cliques”, you can organize and group your friends into networks. So, if your looking to plurk to different customer sets or offer promotions to only a select clientèle, this is a handy feature.

Plurk is a free service and easily integrates with most instant messengers (AIM or MSN), providing more than just a mobile outlet. So, if you’re looking for an easy way to stay connected with your customer base, go ahead and give plurking a try.