Social networking tools are used frequently to create profile and hype for brands, products and services. Twitter has joined the menu of marketing options and is being integrated for real business purposes … “How?” might you ask and “What’s in it for me?”
What is Twitter?
Twitter connects people with people. It is a micro-blogging site that enables the user to post messages, known as Tweets, onto their profile allowing other users, known as Followers, to read the author’s tweet. Tweets have a maximum of 140 characters and can be restricted to a small circle of Followers or open for anyone to read. You can select who you want to follow and who follows you.
Who is Using Twitter?
With an estimated 10 million users (perhaps even your customers, suppliers and competitors?), organisations such as government bodies, banks, not for profit organisations, corporations and private companies are using Twitter as an effective marketing, PR and HR tool to expand their brands.
The Benefits of Twitter for Business
Twitter has the following benefits for business:
1. Twitter enables you to conduct informal market research by posting questions and asking people to respond. This provides you with current insights and creates dialogue between you and your Followers
2. Twitter can be used as a knowledge-building tool by searching topics according to your industry, brand or topic
3. You can see what is being said about your business, brands or industry. While positive comments can help you to expand, negative remarks can be used as an opportunity to satisfy your customer’s needs and change their perception (quickly)
4. You can keep an eye on the activities being conducted by your competitors. See what they are doing, who they are following and what trends they are pursuing to assist your own planning and decision making. [Note, you do not have to become a Follower of your customer or competitor to read their Tweets]
5. Monitor your group of Followers to identify potential leads and offer them your services, products or specials
6. Use Twitter to direct traffic to your website
The benefits of Twitter are constantly expanding and it’s worth looking at how you can incorporate Twitter into your business marketing strategies. See the following successful case studies showing Twitter in action: http://business.twitter.com/twitter101/case_dell.
Using Twitter
The best part about Twitter is how easy it is to get started. The simple ‘sign up’ process takes about two minutes and you don’t have to spend large amounts of time maintaining your business’s profile either.
Although there is no magic number telling you how much time you should spend on Twitter, if you are just starting out, dedicate an hour or two per fortnight to write some Tweets, establish a Following, choose who you want to follow and conduct searches on various topics that relate to your business.
Tips for Using Twitter
The following tips will keep your twittering simple and timely:
1. Know who you are following and who is following you - to build a solid group of followers, you must follow the right people. Follow company executives or people you may have met at a conference. Look for industry blogs and articles. Remember a large following is not always best as many people may not be reading your tweets
2. Use other Twitter applications - Tweetlater allows the user to write a number of tweets and schedule them to be posted at a later date and time. You can write an entire month worth of tweets in an hour and they will be automatically posted according to when you schedule them. Another tool is Tweetdeck - this is a dashboard that allows you to categorise your followers into groups
3. Use URLs and links in your Tweets - as you are only able to use 140 characters in your Tweet, add URL or links in you Tweet to industry articles or industry blogs. This can also be used as a tool to drive traffic to your website
4. Tweet and Retweets - when you come across a tweet that maybe of interest to you and your business respond to it and begin a dialogue with the author
Hopefully this article has clarified some of the confusion around Twitter and has provided some practical uses for you and your organisation.
For more information about Twitter and any other marketing tools and activities, please feel free to call me on 07 3899 8335.
Best wishes – Megan Walker