Twitter is a fast-growing micro-blogging platform that can be thought of as being somewhere between a traditional blog and a Facebook account. You may look at the service and think getting your business on Twitter can’t really offer you much. Facebook allows you instant access to a larger number of users in a more immediate, locally-based circle. This is what a lot of users expect from Twitter on starting out. However, Twitter is a very different social network. It’s less local and more content based. The important thing to remember about Twitter is that most users log on to Twitter looking for information as opposed to people they know.
If you have an interest in online marketing you can log on to Twitter, search for online marketing and view a list of the most recent tweets containing this phrase. Through this, you can find and follow people who are talking about online marketing. So let’s say you sell coffee beans online and set up a Twitter account for your company. You can find and follow people who enjoy coffee and like to talk about it on Twitter. They may not follow you back but 9 / 10 they will glance at your page at least. This includes a blurb that you fill out about yourself / your business and a URL to your site. If they like what they see they will follow you also. By providing content and building up relationships with customers you can gather a number of followers who are enthusiastic about your product/subject matter.
Like all social media outlets, content is key on Twitter. Whether it’s sharing your own blog posts, your own insights or other content you have found online, people will follow you if they feel you can offer them something. Good content gets retweeted by your followers, meaning it will be seen by their followers, thus broadcasting your tweet to more potential followers. Twitter is also useful for engaging with your customers. More and more consumers use Twitter to voice their grievances with products or brands as businesses tend to listen when they are getting bad-mouthed online. It is important to keep track of what people are saying about your product/brand and respond correctly. A useful tool for this is a service called Tweet Beep which searches Twitter regularly and emails you if your chosen phrase is mentioned. Once you have built up some followers it’s then important to keep them engaged and ask them what they like/don’t like about your brand product. Ask them what they would like to see in the future.
It can also be helpful just to ask them general questions like “What did you do for the weekend?” keeping them engaged while subtly reminding them of your product. While it may seem like a lot of work, getting your business on Twitter can pay dividends down the line. It can be used on its own or to complement a Facebook page. For information on social media marketing and custom Twitter / Facebook design visit ePresence.ie or you can always follow ePresence_Ire on Twitter!
