Hey, this is Meagan! I’m Duo Group’s newest intern and resident Twitter expert. I’m here today to share a little of the background of Twitter as well as some basic tips for using twitter for business!
Twitter is the most effective social media tool for real time communication. Information on twitter is shared immediately with the click of a button. Because of this, Twitter allows individuals and companies to be connected to customers like never before.
I started my personal Twitter account when I was 16 years old. And the reason I signed up for twitter? To follow Justin Bieber. Embarrassing, I know. Even though I began my twitter career to stay in touch with a celebrity, this kick started my interest in Twitter and the social media world. I was amazed at the amount of information that was available to me on one app. I could follow celebrities, my friends, news accounts like CNN, my favorite stores and brands, and so much more. I remember one day when my dad asked me if I had heard about something that had happened in the national news, I was able to respond that not only had I heard about it, but I had heard about it before most people had. News stations have to set up the crew and camera before addressing the nation. Tweets are composed of 140 characters, you press a button, and before you know it thousands and thousands of people have read what you have said. It is amazing that 1 second after sending a tweet, so many people can obtain that information.
So how can using twitter for business make a difference? I’m going to tell you how to use this amazing technology to expand your business. In my opinion there are 3 key ways that a company can take advantage of what Twitter has to offer, use it to get information to customers, and make their company grow.
1. The first thing Twitter can do for you is help you locate the right customers. Because Twitter allows you to perform specialized searches, you can be very specific about the people you are looking for. You can find keywords in peoples timelines that relate to your product or company. You can search the interests of people and easily locate those that may want what you are selling. Best of all, you can search for people who are geographically in your area. If you have a store in the smallest town in Utah, or the largest city in Florida, you can find those who are in need of your company’s product and reach out to them.
2. Next, Twitter allows you to connect with those that are already your customers. The best way to do this is through promotions and incentives. In my experience, the most interaction between businesses and consumers has come from promotional tweets. Whether you say “25% off coupon to the first 10 who retweet this!” or “Come in to our store and show us this tweet for a free pair of socks!” people are going to react. The reason customers follow a business on twitter is primarily to see what is going on inside the company. They are looking for what’s new and the best deal. So help them out!
3. The last thing a business needs to do is use hashtags. Many people do not fully understand the power hashtags have on Twitter. By clicking on one simple hashtag, let’s say #smallbiz, I can access hundreds and hundreds of thousands of tweets, with 2 new tweets with the same hashtag appearing every second. If businesses use hashtags that are related to their company they are much more likely to get interactions than if they did not use a hashtag. If you are a Salon, use #HairStyles, if you are an Italian restaurant use #ItalianFood, use hashtags that you would think people are going to be searching for, chances are, people are looking. The next way to utilize a hashtag is by looking at the worldwide trending topics. As this post was being written, #NFLDraft was trending on twitter. If I was a small business looking to interact with more people I would compose a tweet that said “Happy #NFLDraft day, use (our product) to celebrate!” or maybe I would make a photo combining my product with football, and post it using #NFLDraft. Simply incorporating a worldwide trending topic with your product or service can allow your tweet to be seen by millions of people. Any chance that you get to spread the word about your business is one you should take.
Hope these tips were helpful! Remember to find the right customers, offer promotions, and use #hashtags!