The business world is going a bit crazy about Twitter. Can it really do all the miraculous things they say?
Well, sorta.
What IS Twitter?
It’s a microblogging platform. Like blogs, you make updates which are ordered with the newest at the top, and many of the other features of blogging apply. The reason it’s microblogging is that you’re limited to 140 characters in each post (On Twitter, posts are called tweets. The single most annoying feature of Twitter is the cutesy names for everything.)
You can tweet your own content, reply, or retweet other people’s content. If you follow another person, your account will automatically receive their updates.
Why should I care?
The strength of Twitter is that, like a sonnet, it defines the structure but not the meaning. You can use Twitter to talk about ANYTHING. For a business, here’s some of the best ways to use it:
Building relationships
If you’re in a business where you need to retain customers over a long period of time, the most important thing you can do is build your relationship with your customers. You can do this as a professional (regular updates of interest, “Now’s the time to prune your roses”) or as a PERSON. Most twitter updates are about ordinary life: the good coffee, the TV show, the sick child, the hoped-for rain. If you allow your personality to shine through, then you can connect with your customers more intimately and meaningfully than you ever have before. You can ask their opinion about upcoming products, find whole new markets to connect with, find new products and services that aren’t yet being supplied… and you can end up with customers who LOVE you as a friend, wouldn’t dream of changing to another provider, and you love them too and are so happy about serving them that your business is more personally satisfying.
Finding prospects
If you’re a plumber and you have a search set up for “plumber Brisbane”, if @JennyK updates with “OMG the pipes have exploded, does any1 know a good Brisbane plumber?” you can reply: “Hi @JennyK, I’m a plumber in Brisbane and I’ve got a van ready right now if you need some help”. This is remarkably effective because you’re reaching out at the exact moment they need you.
Building word-of-mouth
You’re a caterer and you do a wonderful job on an end-of-year party for a cutting-edge technology company. All the staff have brought their iPhones and BlackBerrys along to the event and twenty update about the wonderful food supplied by @Foodtastic (You put up a discreet sign. Good marketing choice!) Quite a few of these 20 people are influential Twitter users and between them they have 127,064 followers. That means over a hundred thousand people just heard a rave review about your service. Even if not one of those people are in need of a decent caterer at this moment, a goodly number will likely check out your website, your Twitter account, and keep your name in mind.
It’s like a testimonial, but much faster and further-reaching.
Specials
These can be obvious: Get fit in the new year with 20% off all yoga supplies! www.linktomysite.com
They can also be more subtle: Feel so stoked. I’ve dropped the price on all my coaching tools and the response has been great! www.linktomysite.com
Competitions
Great for getting new subscribers and visitors. Send them to the website to enter the competition!
Peer support
It’s stressful, lonely and frustrating as a small business owner. On Twitter you can find people in the same situation that you can share and commiserate with.
How could you be using Twitter to improve your business? Leave a comment and tell us!