So you have a small business and you’ve set up an account on Twitter. For what purpose? You have no idea. All you know is that everyone else is doing it and you don’t want to be left out in the cold. You want to be able to announce on your website or your business card that people can follow you on Twitter. However you still have no idea why. Rest easy, this will soon no longer be the case. Read on and understand exactly what Twitter can do for you and your small business.
BENEFITS TO TWITTER
Twitter is Free, High-Powered Word-of-Mouth Advertising
No matter how many hi-tech ways companies find of blasting information about their product to consumers, in the end, nothing will ever be better than word-of-mouth. Get enough people talking about your product or service, reach the tipping point and go viral, and there is absolutely no limit to the success you can enjoy. Twitter levels the playing field. It’s just as easy for you to take advantage for Twitter as it is for some mega-corporation. Setting up a Twitter account costs nothing and takes seconds.
The Twitter Network is Always On
How often do you find yourself attending events on the off-chance that you will meet someone who can help your business? These events might yield fruit, or they might be a waste of time. When you frequent Twitter, you are part of a 24 hour networking party. Follow Twitter accounts that might offer potential benefits to your business, such as accounts from companies that supply goods that your product uses, or that offer services that complement your own service. Find out who is following those accounts to expand your potential customer base as well.
HOW SHOULD YOU USE TWITTER?
Post Early and Often
Like most social networking applications, people like to use Twitter as a distraction. They like to log on and have something new to read, discuss or look at. Try to post frequent tweets to keep your followers interested and help create new ones. If you own a restaurant, Twitter is a great place to post the daily specials. If you sell clothing, Twitter is the perfect place to talk about and show pictures of the new fashions that have come in. If you’ve got nothing new to say about the business, toss in some personal musings. Keep the conversation going by any means necessary. When someone posts directly to you (using the “@”) symbol, send them an “@” reply so they know you know they are there. When someone DMs (Direct Messages) you, send them a real DM response, not a “Thanks for Following me!” Auto-DM.
Use the Search
Twitter search can direct you to posts that may be of specific interest to you, which can not only help you find new followers but provide you with useful information that may be helpful to your business.
Follow the Followers
The most important way that you can use Twitter to help your small business is to build a following. Seek out Twitter accounts relevant to your business and start following them. Not only may you get ideas that can help you attract customers or improve your service, but you may get some new followers. Twitter accounts are instantly notified when someone starts following them, and they get the option to follow the follower. Everyone you follow is a potential new follower for you, and if they like what you post, they may tell others to follow you, who may tell others…you get the idea. It’s also a good trick to see who else the people who are following you are following. This is another way to potentially expand your Twitter network. By the same token, if you are following someone, you may want to check out who else is following them and who they are following.
OTHER THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT TWITTER
Take advantage of the opportunity to include your picture on your Twitter profile. Again, this personal touch tends to attract followers.
Try to avoid the hard sell over Twitter. Twitter is for you to share information and build a network. If you build it, the sales will come.
Use other applications with Twitter to heighten its effectiveness. Strawpoll allows you to set up surveys that not only can get you more followers but can provide you with useful focus group type information. Google Analytics can tell you how much traffic you are getting from Twitter.
Get your employees using Twitter as well to expand the network.
These aren’t all the ways that you can take advantage of Twitter but they are a good start. As you can see, Twitter is not something where you should just set up an account and forget it. If you are an active user of Twitter, it can do wonders for your small business.
