My brother called me the other day and asked me if I could help him make a tweet “go viral”. He then followed this up with “How do you actually tweet?” I looked at his account, he had 6 followers! I however rose to this challenge and was able to guide him through his first tweet. It’s not gone viral (come on, he had 6 followers, I can’t work miracles!) but in the 24 hours it’s be out there he has got comments (6), retweets (62) and likes (81) which, as he is not famous and it being his first ever tweet, I thought was quite good,
This blog isn’t about him though, it’s about knowing the power of twitter and how it can help your business. If a tweet by a novice can get the attention of people, think about what can a well planned twitter account could do for your business.
Why is twitter great for your business?
Brand awareness
It’s a great way of giving your brand an actual voice. So you can add some personality to it. A good example is Innocent drinks, they do a great job of using social media to give their brand personality. Being on twitter also gets you seen and heard. 47% of people who follow a brand on Twitter are more likely to visit that company’s website. If you’re out there tweeting and engaging with people it is getting your business seen more. By posting engaging content, people will start to want to follow your business and join in with conversations.
Engaging with customers
You can have conversations with customers and potential customers. You can get real time thoughts on new products and feedback. This may not always be positive feedback. However it allows you to learn what customers want and provides you with the opportunity to handle a customer service issue in a way that shines a positive light on your business
Networking
People often forget that Twitter gives you opportunities to talk and collaborate with people in a way you previously couldn’t. It’s a great tool for business to network and get involved in industry wide conversations. It gets you seen by people you may even be looking to hire or companies that are looking to use your services.
Making it work
I have to remind people that although Twitter is great, you can’t just open an account and expect to get followers. It does take work. It’s just like a networking event. You can’t go in shouting about your business and expect people to want to talk to you. With Twitter you need to engage with people, join in with conversations, don’t butt into a conversation promoting your business though. Hijacking a conversation is never good.
On your marks, get set…..Tweet
Twitter is a great way to get talking to a wealth of people. It’s a free form of advertising and PR so why would you not try it? Get tweeting! If you’re completely new to tweeting, Twitter have a simple guide
To really get Twitter working for you it does take dedicated time. There are some more detailed guides but if that’s not something you can commit to then The Social Factor can help you leverage Twitter. Whether that be through offering social media management or training you to help leverage it yourself.
HAPPY TWEETING!