Twitter is everywhere it seems. Not a day passes without us reading that Paris Hilton, Ashton Kutcher or Stephen Fry tweeted something shocking, interesting or boring. Just the mere fact that journalists are assigned to analyzing every tweet out there indicates the level of exposure Twitter enjoys. It is indeed a very interesting tool that is only going to grow in popularity by the looks of things.
If you don’t happen to be a celebrity, you probably use Twitter to follow public figures, catching up with friends and sharing content that you can relate to. Some people spend way too much time on it, others dip in and out – just like with any social media tool.
But what about Twitter for business? I frequently get asked by small business owners how they can harness Twitter and use it to grow their companies. There are several answers to that question, here goes five examples that I have seen work in the SME business arena.
1. Build up a loyal fan base
There are millions of Tweeters out there, your current and potential customers are likely to be tweeting right now. By setting up a free profile for your business and linking it back to your site, you have allowed everyone to connect and associate themselves with your business or brand.
Growing your follower number can be done through constantly reminding people and installing a Twitter button on your site or blog, adding the Twitter address to your email signature(s) and actively encouraging people to connect. When you do ask people to follow your business, make sure you also show them the value of doing so. Take a look at your company’s website, emails and other communications – do they promote your Twitter account at all?
2. Give special deals
Let’s face it, following a business on social media can be a bit dull. No matter how interesting your tweets are, they will still be rather impersonal and lacking the authenticity that an individual would exude. One way to make up for this is to bribe our followers. By giving out promos such as occasional discount vouchers or first dibs on your spring sale, you’ll be the talk of the town.
You will be amazed of how quickly promotional tweets with perceived value spread amongst your followers – this is of course your end game. A shining example of this would be Dell’s @DellOutlet, this Twitter account spits out new coupons and discounts every day and has to this day generated $3 million in incremental sales for Dell.
3. Deliver the goods
Remember telling people the value of following you on Twitter? Guess what, you actually have to keep that promise or they will drop off like autumn leaves. So keep them coupons, links to your white papers, new blog posts or podcasts coming. You have read it before: deliver value. Nobody wants to know about the ham and cheese sandwich you had for lunch, but they do want to know what your predictions are on that big upcoming conference.
Any successful company on Twitter have got this right, check out @AmericanApparel which tweets all about fashion, design and throw in the odd discounts – just what their followers expect.
4. Create tweets that travel
Twitter, along with YouTube, is the most viral message carrier in the social media space. A well crafted tweet that is entertaining, educational or remarkable is likely to take off in the Twittersphere. It’s a fact that people will share things that make them look good so give your followers a compelling reason to spread your gospel.
Write simple, short tweets that are easy to retweet. Tease the reader a bit by not giving out all the information, people will have to click on your link to learn more. And that link just happened to be part of your website, fancy that huh!
5. Test new ideas
A great way to get quick feedback on new ideas is to tweet it to your followers. This could be a new marketing tagline which you can put out there for people to critique instantly. Do your A/B split testing, try one tagline on a Tuesday and the other on the Thursday.
It may not be fully scientific but the instant feedback can be very valuable and give you an idea of what could be tweaked. Grazia Magazine in the UK run snippets of potential stories on Twitter just to test the waters. If they get little or no reaction, the story may be dropped. See for yourself at @Grazia_Live
Final idea
You will learn this the best way by following other companies. This could be the competition or it could be businesses in completely different fields that seem to have a winning Twitter strategy. You can easily replicate what they are doing and if it doesn’t work for you, just get on to the next one and keep trying until you get it right.
What Twitter strategies have you seen working for businesses?
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