Can Twitter Really Help Your Business?

With so many social networking platforms available today for marketing your small business, it may be tempting to jump in and try them all. Unfortunately, that would probably end up being difficult for most small businesses to manage going forward, mostly due to limited time and resources. Although services such as MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter are all becoming popular marketing options for small businesses, the one platform that seems to be generating the most buzz for business use is Twitter.

Twitter is basically a free micro-blogging platform that allows people to keep in touch via mobile texting, instant messages, or on the web using quick, 140-character messages called “Tweets.” For businesses, these short messages are the perfect vehicle for announcing relevant news, broadcasting special offers, reporting on live events, or providing your followers with tips or useful information. (What is not a good use of tweets, however, is sending blatant advertisements or other unwelcome intrusions to your followers!) So how could your business use Twitter to connect with customers?

• Announce new offers, sales, or special deals instantly – people love to be among the “first to know”
• Tweet about your business successes such as new client wins or new press coverage, then provide URLs for followers to read more
• Offer exclusive tips or information to followers only (Five Sparrows does this for its Twitter followers)
• Share valuable resources or tools; for instance, a financial planning company could share the URL of an online retirement calculator
• Report on live events – If you attend industry events, tweet about the keynote speakers or cool new products that you see
• Ask for referrals, suggestions, or feedback – and your followers will respond
• Take a survey – find out what followers think about a particular issue, or get opinions about new initiatives or programs

The point of using Twitter to connect with your customers is to continually provide them with something useful, valuable, or interesting that they look forward to receiving. Consumers are not only starting to rely on services like Twitter to keep them informed about the things they are interested in and care about, they are also becoming comfortable with this type of connection to the companies they do business with.

Many consumers have become accustomed to using text messaging (such as Twitter tweets) as part of their normal routine; but very few businesses – especially small businesses – have followed suit. It’s becoming clear that the companies who continue to avoid or ignore this new trend may be at a significant disadvantage as competitors catch on and benefit from what’s happening with consumers and their desire to be connected in new and different ways.

Most small businesses today realize that it would be unwise to run a business without a web site – even a small presence on the web is vital to business success and credibility today. But as social networking continues to gain acceptance with consumers, businesses will eventually need to offer basic text-messaging connections to their customers in order to be competitive and believable.

By adding a Twitter component to your small business marketing mix, you can give consumers the valuable information they want to receive, and also stay “top of mind” by sending Twitter tweets on a regular basis. After all, the more contact that you have with your customers and potential customers, the more likely you are to win their business. Twitter is another tool in your marketing toolbox that can help you stay connected, build credibility and loyalty, and grow your business.