Back by popular demand, here are some specific tips on Twitter for Small Business! Again, Twitter is one of the largest social media platforms in the world today. Huge amounts of Twitter content attracts a huge number of “eyes” daily. As a small business entrepreneur, it’s clear that marketing to this social media platform is worth considering.
Just like before, this Twitter for Small Business training is organized in a learn/apply format – learn the point in the “learn” column and an explanation and/or example of applying what you have learned is in the “apply” column. I bet you’ll find this quite valuable. In fact, if you’re not marketing your small business on Twitter yet, take advantage of these tips for using Twitter for Small Business and get started today!
Tips for using Twitter for Small Business
| Learn | Apply |
|---|---|
| Contrary to popular belief, twitter is not a self-promotional social media platform. | Twitter is a cross between a microblog and an instant messaging platform that links people with ideas, information, products, services, news, and other people through connections and conversations. It is a place to make connections with people through communication. |
| Metaphorically, twitter is a cocktail party. | Twitter is essentially a platform for virtual networking. Like at cocktail parties, you meet people who share same interests with you; if you hear a conversation that interests you, you would jump in and converse with them. Just like you are able to meet someone at a party who would end up being your business connection, you can do the same on Twitter. As you get deeper into the Twitter community and applying Twitter for Small Business, you become a connector yourself; instead of being just a business connection, you become a matchmaker – matching up people with products and ideas. |
| Customize your profile professionally. | Remember to use a smiling picture of yourself and fill out your Twitter biography, including personal details and interests (use keywords!). Remember, the biography is what people will use to make their initial decision to follow you or not. Also, it is fine to have couple of intersecting interests – the more ‘human’ you are, the easier it is to connect with people. If you are on Twitter as your brand, make it clear that you are the owner of the business in your bio so people can connect you to your business. |
| Some Twitter etiquette to remember: | Twitter is not a personal broadcasting tool or soapbox so do not talk too much about yourself. Be polite, ask questions – just like what you would do at a cocktail party. And remember, do not focus too much on a follower – there are many people on Twitter who share the same interests as you and might be interested in what your offering. Just like in a party, you want to mingle and make connections with various people. Furthermore, to look more professional on Twitter, do not shorten words such as “you” to “u” or “are” to “r.” |
| Follow the right people. | When using Twitter for small business, create your own network on Twitter by following others. The best way to grow your following is to start following people, engage with them, and eventually, they will start following you. It takes time to build up your following – just have patience! Use the search bar on top of the twitter page and search certain keywords. There will be a list of people and tweets related to the searched topic. Follow those who interest you or who share the same interests as you. Then, check to see who they are following. An advanced feature to consider when using Twitter for small business is ‘search.twitter.com’ to find people, topics, or hashtags of interest. |
| Quick twitter tips: | If you want someone to retweet your tweets, keep your tweets to about 120 characters so they do not have to edit your posts when they retweet you. Use free platforms such as Hootsuite to schedule your tweets. Block off a few minutes each day as a responding time for you to reply to your direct messages and mentions from your followers. Use application like ‘bit.ly’ to shorten your links to save more character space. Research before each tweet – “Who’s the right influencer?” “What’s the right hashtag to use?” Respond to every person who contacts you and ask questions to solicit opinions and questions – Ask yourself: “what can you learn from the people who follow you?” Remember, you want to engage with your audience. |
More Twitter for Small Business
If you haven’t had enough Twitter training, be it Twitter for Small Business or more general Twitter Marketing Strategies – this is just a brief overview! – check out this quick webinar that will go into further details about how to automate Twitter to provide an endless flood of business prospects! The Twitter marketing strategies in this webinar helped attract a MILLION-DOLLAR EARNER!!
The best to you in all you do!
– Drew
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