Boost Business with Twitter Pics and Video

Twitter really has proven to be a great business tool. But many businesses that are new on the network are still looking for the value.   Let’s face it: doing all the things that are required to successfully promote your products or services can be a daunting task in 140 characters. Thankfully, there are several Twitter picture and video apps that allow their businesses to expand their twitter canvas in simple yet compelling ways.  We’ll take a quick look at some of those apps then share a few ideas how businesses can incorporate pictures or video to engage their followers and create a buzz around their business.

One of the major objections we hear from small businesses considering Twitter is that it’s focus on short messages is really a handicap.  Of course we disagree and point out the many businesses that are thriving on Twitter.  But ears always seem to perk up a bit when we talk about the tools that allow business, or anyone really, to extend Twitter by leveraging photo and video content.  In recent years several companies have jumped into this space and as such there is a wide range of tools you can select for your Twitter photos and video.

Our list of apps is short because we really want to focus on providing helpful ways you can leverage these tools rather than spending time creating an exhaustive list of sites.  So, we’ve listed only a few sites that allow you to upload and share either pictures or video or both.  Also, it is worth noting that using one of these tools isn’t necessary. If you are adept at adding pictures and video to your own website – go for it and then drive your followers there.  The main advantage of using one of these sites is the convenience factor.  Each free service listed provides multiple ways to upload your pics and vids [at the website, via email, via mobile or desktop apps] and then each make it dead simple to send out a tweet about it.  Each site will require you to register with your twitter account information before you start posting pics or video.

Places to share Twitter Pics and Video:

Twitpic

Clearly the largest and most popular Twitter image hosting site.  It couldn’t be any easier to use ..  It integrates with several desktop and mobile apps and provides simple data on how many times your images have been viewed.  You can optionally tag your photos and visitors are able to comment.  You can follow @twitpic

TweetPhoto

A newer photo hosting site that has some nice added features.  From your account you can view recent photos posted by people in your friends list who also use Tweetphoto and there is also Facebook integration.  Comments, tagging, and photo stream rss are available too.  Follow @tweetphoto

Twitlens

Accepts both photos and video which is a nice solution if you want to keep all your twitter imagery in one convenient place.  You can submit content various ways, but from their website you can perform multiple uploads.  Video uploads up to 50 Mb in size.  Feel free to follow @twitlens

Twitc

Another site that accepts both your photos and video and allows you to share them across Twitter as well as other social networking sites.  A nice additional touch is the ability to import video from sites like YouTube and Hulu.  The recently launched a new commenting system that is getting high praise from its users.  Follow @mytwitc for updates and info.

Use pics and video to engage your Twitter followers

As the old saying goes, “a picture is worth a thousand words,” and it is exactly that kind of power we want you to harness with your Twitter pics and vids.  Below are a few ideas to get your creative juices flowing. We want you to jump off from there. Of course, since we are talking about business applications we encourage you to keep it clean, tasteful, and positive.  We are talking about your image in more ways than one, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be creative and show a sense of humor.  Have fun and your followers will too!

1. Introduce yourself and the team

Use pictures or videos to introduce business owners and key team members.

• If you have a large staff, introduce one a week and share something interesting about that person, something that makes them good at what they do and a capable service provider.
• Give a picture tour of your offices or workplace. Show team members working together on projects in the office or in the field.
• Recognize an employee of the week or month who has gone above and beyond.
• Follow your business owner.  Do a weekly update about what he/she is working on.  Talk about successes but you might also consider talking about challenges.  You might be surprised by how many suggestions you’ll get.
• Answer the top 10 frequently asked questions about your products or service in brief videos.  Solicit other questions from your followers and respond.
• If you run a chamber, business association or networking group – take your followers on a tour of your members over a period of time.

2. Trivia

Trivia contests are nothing new and are often used simply because people love to show what they know. So, give your followers a venue to show their smarts. Here’s a few thoughts on how you can run a trivia contest on Twitter using pics or video and drive people to your retail location.

• If you sell products capture a picture or video image of only a portion of one of your products.  Ask followers to identify the product. Sweeten the pot by offering an incentive to the first person [or 10 followers] who answer correctly.  20% off today only if you answer correctly.
• Say you own a bookstore…sit in front of your web cam and read a short passage from a classic book or line of poetry.  Offer a discount to the first 5 people who identify the passage correctly.

3. Offer Twitter Discounts

People love discounts.  Give them a good reason to take advantage of yours and help boost your sales.

• If you are a restaurant, create a simple video of your chef  or owner reciting the Twitter lunch or dinner special. Make sure it sounds delicious then close with a special Twitter discount code word.  Offer anyone who comes in that day [or week] X%  off on that dish if they recite the Twitter discount word when they order.
• Are you a purveyor of fine products?  Consider taking a picture of only one small aspect of one of your products then encourage your followers to identify it .  Offer an incentive and watch the @replys pile up.
• A similar strategy may work for many products, just be clear on the terms of your offer.  Make sure you clearly state the start and end dates on your video, it may help avoid any problems.

4. Show Your Wares

Let people see your goods.  Pics will lend themselves to new stock items or simply to show the breadth of your offerings over time.  Video will allow you to do a brief demonstration.  While you may not be able to demonstrate all products you can certainly show them and describe their features and benefits.

• If your products are seasonal, demonstrate them in advance of their useful period.  No point in demonstrating the great capabilities of the latest snow blower in May.
• Clothing retailers could easily show a picture of the latest styles that have arrived in their store.  A simple tweet and pic can be a powerful call to action for the style hungry.

5. Invite Your Followers to Show How They Need You

This is about engagement after all so make sure you tap into the creative juices of your followers.  If you make it a contest the reactions will be even more fun. Make sure you give your followers clear directions on how to enter your contest and the start/end dates….you know…all the fine print.  Here are a few ideas:

• If you sell footwear ask your followers to send you pics or vids showing their oldest, broken down shoes or sneakers.  Promise a free pair to the follower judged to be most in need of new soles.  Engage your followers to judge submissions by commenting on the submitted pics or videos.
• You can do this for almost any product or service: how long does it take to boot your computer, how many holes in your porch screen, which pool is the greenest and so on.

Well, there you go.  Just a few ideas to get your  juices flowing.  The possibilities are truly endless and with a little creativity you can build an engagement plan that is simple and effectively create some buzz around your business.  If you have used pictures of video to engage your Twitter followers in other interesting ways please share with the rest of us in the comments below.  Until the next time, be well and happy tweeting!