How do I use twitter for my business?
Twitter - twitter – twitter is all you hear about or for those of us who are new to twitter what is it all about? How should we use twitter? Is it all that it is cracked up to be? Should I be on twitter? And one of the most asked questions today: how do I use this in conjunction with my business?
Before we get into how to use twitter we need to understand what twitter is and how it works.
What is twitter?
Twitter is a micro blog to help you communicate with others either on the web or via mobile phones. Each message (or”tweet”) is limited to 140 characters. Think of twitter as short bursts of conversation either directed to an individual or as a group conversation.
The idea is to allow others on twitter to follow your conversation as you post each message, and allow them to add their own thoughts. Twitter calls these “followers”. Followers can be people on twitter whom you may or may not know and who find your topic of conversation interesting and want to contribute their experiences to it. It is important to understand that the comments can include positive or negative feed back.
How to use Twitter for my Business?
The recommended use of twitter for business is to use it as another communication channel for your existing customer base. This could be about the products and services you offer including updates, how to use, news, upcoming events etc that are important to your customer base. You may ask why as you already have many different ways for communicating with your clients. The advantages are the possibilities from others on twitter (followers) who may find the conversation interesting and informative therefore join the conversation or require your product or services.
Put simply, twitter is a form of word of mouth or networking, a place for discussion. This is important when you consider that one of the most powerful uses for the internet is for research on companies, individuals and the products and services they offer. Research shows that websites that allow customers to rate/discuss them and their products with positive and negative feedback actually improves sales and confidence because the balanced view makes it believable.
Is twitter all it is cracked up to be?
Well the jury is still out on that one. However I do believe it is important to either get involved or at least keep a close eye on it. Check out twitter often for your company name and the products and services you offer to make sure there isn’t any negative feedback. If there is get on there and become part of the solution. Fix a problem and you will have a customer for life.
Should I be on twitter?
One of the reasons they say you should be on twitter is that you, your product and/or services will one day be. It is better from a marketing point of view to be proactive rather than reactive. You may find some of your staff on twitter already tweeting about you, your business and products.
Click here to download your twitter help file ( provided by Hubspot.com )