The concept of Twitter is pretty simple. Users “follow” each other’s 140 character (or less) updates (or “tweets”) sent via mobile or web application to Twitter’s massive real-time feed of updates. Sounds easy enough, right? Well it is. For the most part using Twitter is actually not that complicated. But when it comes to utilizing the massive audience and marketing potential Twitter offers, that’s where things can get a little sticky.
“Tweeting” on behalf of a business, product, service, or event is more than just sending messages out there into the universe. Even if updates are being done regularly, without a goal in mind or knowledge of how to gain more followers and establish relationships with brand advocates, the time spent on Twitter is wasted. Granted, playing around with new tools and figuring out what works and what doesn’t is a great way to learn. If you have that kind of flexibility and time, take advantage of it! However, if that approach doesn’t come natural to you or you just don’t have the time (as many small business owners do not), we’re devoting our next three blog posts to simple Twitter tips for business.
Part One of our “Twitter Tips for Business” blog series is on Interaction, Outreach, and Imitation.
Twitter Tip #1: Interaction, Outreach, and Imitation
One of the more obvious ways to use Twitter is for audience interaction and outreach. However, this doesn’t mean merely Tweeting every day and responding to people you follow. As a business, your outreach goal should be twofold: community growth and quality followers. So while increasing your follower count is a valid goal for a business, having 2,500 followers who only follow you to increase their own follower count isn’t going to help you. In the short-term, the numbers might look impressive but you’re not going to get anything out of those types of followers.
What you really should be striving for is meaningful interaction that helps build the reputation of your business and also provides feedback for you in how to improve upon your service or product.
So how do you build quality followers? By being authentic and engaging. Don’t just send Tweets every day and hope that people will respond. Get out there and make connections with the people or business that matter to you by mentioning (@mentioning) them in your updates and re-tweeting (“RTing”) their updates that would be relevant for your followers (or that are just interesting to you).
A great resource for getting started is the WeFollow.com Twitter directory. In some ways it’s like a huge Twitter yellow pages that categorizes the most popular Twitter accounts by subject or profession. Find some of the leaders in your industry and start following their updates. That will provide you with more fuel for your Twitter updates and will also give you the opportunity to see how the “pros” are using Twitter. Maybe you’ll learn a thing or two by seeing how they do it and then turn around and use similar tactics for your own business. After all, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery!
Twitter in Plain English
Do you use Twitter for your business? How did you get started? What has been the most important thing you’ve learned so far in regards to Interaction, Outreach, or Imitation? Share your stories and tips with us in the comments below.
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Category : Blog & Social Media & Tactics
