So how might Twitter help you grow your business? Twitter has become one of the first internet applications that has really started to bridge the gap between computers and mobile devices/PDA’s. Internet enabled mobile phones have risen in popularity tremendously over the last few years and Twitter has reaped the benefits of this tremendously. As each message is just a small chunk of words users of Internet enabled mobile phones have jumped on the twitter bandwagon much more so than traditional methods like RSS feeds and mailing lists. This means you now have the ability to tell potential customers your important news no matter where they are. Imagine if you sold hats and your most popular items were your range of top hats but due to an increase in demand you are currently out of stock. Once you receive your shipment of new hats what do you do? You can ring everyone who has come into the store and been willing to leave their details, you can email your mailing list or update your site and have it published on your RSS feed and everyone can find out about it when they get back to the office after lunch or when they get home in the evening OR, you can send a twitter message and send people the message while right then and there ,no matter where they are.
Twitter is devoid of over hyped sales pitches. Whilst the webpage you may send your users to may well be a sales page, the Twitter message you send out isn’t. Its pretty hard to over hype and sell something in 140 characters. in my experience the less ’sales pitchy’ you can appear when you first come into contact with a potential customer will help build a level of trust and credibility and in turn make your chances of a sale higher. After all first impressions count!
Twitter is popular and growing. The popularity of Twitter is still growing. Nielsen Online indicate that Twitter grew 1,382% year-over-year in February and it is a technology that is still very much in its infancy. As it grows and ads new features it will attract more and more users. It has revolutionized the way marketers and business people can reach their target markets directly with out need for news media, magazines or other advertising methods. If you are unsure what your customer base want you can ask them live and in real time!
Monitor your industry with Twitter Search. Want up to the minute information on what people think about your business or your industry? Using Twitter search you can see who is talking about you or your industry with the click of a button. This means if you want to know what your potential customers are doing or want Twitter can tell you!
Build relationships with your customers! Twitter as well as sites like Facebook can help you to interact and develop a personal relationship with your customers. Don’t be afraid to share some of the things that you are passionate about and let your personality shine through on Twitter. If one of your customers is celebrating something re-tweet the message and share it with your followers too.
Be proactive through Twitter. If you know about something in your industry before your customers most likely do, tell them with Twitter or give out handy hints and tips related to your industry, this can be particularly useful if you feel you have no new stuff to tweet try and send out a few hints and tips that could help your customers.
Most important of all give your customers a reason to follow you. Twitter like most things in life is not a field of dreams ,if you build it they wont necessarily come. Make sure people know about your Twitter page and know how they can benefit from following you on Twitter. Make sure you are following people as the more people you follow the more likely it is that people will find and follow you too!
And lastly, Some useful Twitter related sites and tools:
Loading...
{ 1 trackback }
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Some good tips there Andrew, it is a very useful introduction to Twitter. I’m following you.