Have you heard colleagues, friends, or (most likely) your children talking about “Twitter” or “Tweeting” lately and wondered why they were so into birdwatching lately? In this issue’s “What the Heck Is?” we’ll be explaining Twitter and more importantly, its potential uses for small business.
What is it? Twitter is a free service that enables users to post short text updates, or “Tweets,” viewable to those who have signed up to “follow,” or to receive their updates. Users can also follow others to view their Tweets, reply to and answer Tweets, or privately message other users. It’s like blogging in that you can update your readers, but it’s shorter, doesn’t involve pictures, and is more to the point.
What does it mean for small business? The more your customer can learn about your business and be engaged in the business/client relationship, the better chance you have of making a sale down the road. And vice versa—Twitter is a wonderful way to get into your customers’ heads, and if you follow the right people, you can learn better ways to do business. There are three main business uses for Twitter: informational feeds about your business, product information and news, and customer service. Think of it as a great way to have a conversation with your customers—the more interactive, the better!
Here are some Twitter do’s and don’ts, and links to some further information:
DO:
- Keep it short and simple, that’s why Twitter exists!
- Follow CEO Tweets from your favorite companies for ideas on what you should tweet, and to see how they run their companies.
- Survey or poll your followers about your products. Keep them engaged in your business!
- Remember to drive traffic to your company blog or website.
- Try to tweet every day. Once you’re stagnant, you’re no longer relevant.
DON’T:
- Over-tweet. Nobody needs to know every time you eat a sandwich or go to the water fountain.
- Lose sight of why you’re on twitter. If your customers signed up to receive updates on deals and specials, they probably don’t want to know about your upcoming vacation to Montana. On the other hand, if clients sign up to read your executive insights, personal information might be helpful.
- Post proprietary information.
- Forget to tweet about which events you’ll be attending—nothing beats face-to-face interaction!
For further information on Twitter, see these great tutorials:
By Shannon Wampler, Senior Supplier Diversity Coordinator, University of Virginia. Follow her on Twitter:
http://twitter.com/saw2w
