One of the very first things I do every morning is check Facebook, Twitter, read the news and drink coffee. It is a relatively peaceful morning ritual – except when my beloved dog Scout wants to play.

The other morning while checking Twitter, I noticed that the word “Starbucks” was trending on the site. I was immediately intrigued. I wondered what Starbucks had done to create such a buzz, and what I could learn from the coffee retailer.

I quickly checked out some of the tweets and discovered the company was offering free samples of its new instant brew called VIA. I immediately signed up and this week I received two complimentary packets of Italian Roast and Columbia coffee. I just had my first cup and thought it was pretty good. I also really like the packaging.

But I am more impressed with how Starbucks is leveraging Twitter to reach consumers and drive perceptions of their company. This is a good example of how companies can effectively engage with key audiences. Starbucks offered something of value to folks in an unobtrusive manner, then sat back to watch the buzz build on Twitter. By leveraging the social network, they almost instantly created a vocal group of evangelists for their product.

For more information on how other companies are using Twitter, check out Forbes‘ article on the topic.