Success for many businesses is measured by how many people walk in the door and buy something. If this describes your business, then you may be wondering about how you could benefit from Twitter. Face it, having followers in Germany is nice, but if your foot-traffic business is based in Florida, those followers won’t help you pay the mortgage. So, how do you go about using Twitter to promote your local business in your community?
Here are a couple tips about how you can use Twitter within your business and provide real customer value.
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Before we get on with the list, you may want to take a quick peek at a previous article 3 Tips to Get Local with Twitter
1. Have a Twitter Presence
First things first. Get on Twitter with a branded background page. Nothing says less about your business than nothing – so you should have more than zero presence on Twitter. Hire a decent graphic designer to incorporate your business logo, address, and other contact information into a clean, professional twitter background.
2. Tweet Regularly About your Business
Have an employee – or yourself – provide updates on a regular basis about what’s going on inside your business. Are you running any sales or special offers? Do you have new products to announce? Run special Twitter promotions along the lines of: Mention this tweet and get an additional discount. Look for ways to create added incentive for locals to frequent your business, and call out the reasons people in your community should be coming to your business. Tweet about your value proposition to your customers. Give away value. Over-deliver.
3. Participate in Conversations About Your Brand or Store
Search for mentions about your store, brand, or main products and reply to questions and even complaints. Twitter is a communications medium – and using Twitter search and tools like Tweetdeck and Twhirl lets you keep tabs on what people are saying about what’s important to your business and its reputation. If nobody’s talking about your brand or store, then nobody on Twitter knows you exist – and that’s generally bad from a marketing perspective. Think of that as an opportunity to introduce yourself and make a great first impression. If people are complaining, then you have an opportunity to improve some customer’s experience with your business by responding to them sincerely and honestly. If they’re saying good things, the you may have an opportunity to solidify business relationships and make new ones by responding and continuing to provide value.
4. Find and Connect with other Twitter Users in Your Community
You can use sites like these to do that:
· Twitter Advanced Search – http://search.twitter.com/advanced
Actively look for local followers and post a tweet saying you’re planning to look for people in your community. Once you’ve done that, feel free to add local followers. If you announce that you’re going to be looking for people in Destin, Florida to follow before you add them to your list, they may come to your profile and see that you’re local and trying to make local connections.
5. Remember – They Probably Carried Twitter In With Them
Back in the stone ages (or 1998, to be precise) people were forecasting that the “internet would be everywhere” thanks to kiosks installed in malls and banks.
How adorable is that?
Now, the customers walking into your place of business probably have a fully functioning web browser with wireless broadband access IN THEIR POCKET. Maybe it’s time to add some signage – near the cash register or on your shop floor – that calls out your Twitter name. Encourage customers who walk in to follow you on Twitter for updates, special offers, and customer service. Most of your customers could be following you before they walk out the front door.
6. Here’s Your Sign
Add your Twitter name to your business card and stationary. Treat it as you would treat your email address or phone number – as vital contact information. Add it to your Yellow Pages listing, and mention it on your local print and radio ads. You ARE giving away business cards like doughnuts at a Policeman’s breakfast, yes? Is your Twitter name on that card? Is it on your invoices, packing slips and receipt tapes?
7. The Whole is Greater than the Sum of its Parts
Finally – make using Twitter part of your business – but not just part of your marketing efforts. Twitter can also give you valuable insight into how customers perceive your company or brand. Twitter provides an avenue for you to interact with customers in ways that current customer service models don’t. For example, imagine that a customer opens Tweetie on their iPhone as they walk from your place of business to their car, and finds a direct message from you thanking them for their business. Imagine how customers would feel if they find a mention from you about their visit to your business, how they’d feel if you made it clear that you thought they were important, or if you helped them work through a legitimate complaint and then thanked them on Twitter.
I’ll tell you how they’d feel – they would feel like telling a friend or family member about you, and then they would be following you on Twitter as well.
Be sure to check back with us fairly regularly. We’ll be sharing more ideas on how businesses small and large can leverage Twitter to build relationships with customers and improve your bottom line. If you have a particular question write it in the comments below or reach us @twitfools. If you have a proven strategy you’d like to share with our readers submit your tips. Thanks and happy tweeting!
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Combined with the article about finding local tweeple you've offered some good advice. Thanks twitterfools
Cool, guys. I like the way you come up with such great tips. Can't wait to read more! Keep up the good work.
Hi, do you recommend that one use their name or business name for the twitter (or other social media) accounts? If I use my name for business purposes, then I would not necessarily want to bother my personal friends with business tweets. What do you think?
That's a great question. We do recommend that, if you're using Twitter for business, you try to create a Twitter name that's similar to your business name. While large businesses get all the press about brand identity, small and medium sized businesses often have bigger brand recognition needs. If you're a local business, you want to get your name on people's minds, and connecting on Twitter with your branded account is a free and easy way to get your name out there some more.
Great and informative article. The only question is how do I notify my followers about updates to my tweets?
Thanks in advance
Your followers will receive your updated tweets as they are sent. However, since not all followers aren't watching twitter at the same time, it is okay to repeat important tweets through out the day. Just space them apart, and tweet about some other topics in between. Hope that helps!
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