3 Reasons to Use Twitter For Business

OK, so the main reason why most businesses sign up to Twitter is to identify potential customers and generate sales. Twitter is all about people. Don’t try to use it as a broadcasting medium: to generate business successfully on Twitter you need to build a network of individuals – of ‘followers’ and get to know them.

So, who should you connect with on Twitter? Start with people you know: your customers, suppliers and business network, then add suitable people to your network by running keyword searches through tools such as Tweetdeck and Tweepsearch. [Tip: run regular searches through Tweepular or other software to identify people who aren't following you back, then un-follow them. Twitter is about interaction, not one-way messaging.]

Engage with your followers regularly and they’ll start becoming advocates of your brand by messaging you and re-tweeting your posts. Not all of your followers will necessarily become your customers but they’ll do something just as important, which is to advocate your message to their network.

Follow editors and journalists in your industry, send them an introductory message and ask them to follow you for breaking news in your industry. Then, when you’ve got a press release available, put it on your website and send the journalist a message with the link. Interacting with journalists is no different to interacting with the rest of your business network, so take an interest in their updates, re-tweet anything that might do them a favour, and engage in dialogue with them where appropriate. (It’s much cheaper than buying them a three course lunch.)

Invite your customers to follow you on Twitter. Follow them back, and ask for their honest feedback about your products, services and brand. Used properly, Twitter can be a great tool for learning what your customers like and don’t like about your organisation. Look at negative feedback as a gift: you’ve just been handed free information about what you need to improve. Twitter is also a great way to conduct initial customer research about new product and service ideas. Can you distill the idea into 140 characters? (If not, it’s too complex.) When you’ve articulated the concept, put it out there and see what comes back. Use the feedback to refine the concept and develop a highly targeted product or service.

This article was written by Emily Hill of Write My Site ( http://www.writemysite.co.uk ) – web content and social media marketing.