5 Twitter Tips for Business

Why Twitter?

When I first heard of Twitter a few years ago, the first tweet I read was my cat ate X for lunch. First thought who cares! I’m a business guy…then it struck me that social media marketing had legs, and if I wanted to become better, I needed to become a student of this new marketing trend.

So let’s take a look at some of the reasons why you should be using Twitter for business.

There were 175 million tweets sent from Twitter every day throughout 2012. (source: Infographics Labs)
50% of Twitter users are using the social network via mobile. (source: Microsoft tag)
26% of retweets are incited by a request to retweet. (source: Web Analytics World)

Twitter is the networking tool of today. Let’s look at the 5 tips for Twitter.

1. It is a great way to amplify your brand: Twitter is not free — it takes time, and time is, after all, money. It is time well spent if you are clear about your strategy, goals and objectives.

Branding a business usually takes a lot of money — you have to spend to get people to notice you and the business personality you are working to create.
But by tweeting tweets that reinforce your brand, by creating a Twitter page that does the same, by becoming a thought leader via Twitter, and then by connecting with people on the site, you slowly but surely build your small business brand.

2. It is a great prospecting tool: By using the Twitter search function, you can find the people who need what you sell, with whom you can do deals, etc.

3. Twitter is the networking tool of today. No longer do you need to trudge off every networking mixer to meet folks who you might be able to do business with someday. No, today it is easier, faster, and cheaper to find them via Twitter. Using the tool to create and foster relationships is among its best attributes.

4. It is a great tool for staying connected with your customers: Small businesses that have been most successful with Twitter use it to offer exclusive deals and content to their base. By encouraging your customers to follow you on Twitter, and doing so by offering special deals on the site, you are being given permission to interact with your customers more often.

5. Create and follow hashtag (#). Maybe the easiest way to do that is to follow hashtag (#) conversations and topics that interest you are at your fingertips with hashtags. Put in the #symbol and word in Twitter search and up comes ALL the conversations around that topic. Then go out and forge relationships with those individuals.

What should you tweet? Well, what tweets do you like?

It is a link to a video.
It is a free e-book you wrote.
It is a coupon to your business.
It is probably content that is interesting, valuable, fun, or quirky.
It is your recommended ‘article of the day.’
It is an article that you think your followers would find beneficial.
It is content that builds your brand and connects you to your followers.

Above all, content that will be re-tweeted because being re-tweeted is the best currency in Twitter. It is word of mouth advertising, a personal recommendation, and a free way to get noticed all rolled into one.

So yes, I have come a long way since I saw my first tweet. These days I say, tweet and grow your business, my friends.

Come join us for a hands on workshop on Twitter.