Ten Twitter Strategies That Can Help Build Your Business
The concept of Twitter can be difficult to grasp, as it’s initially hard to understand exactly what it is and what it does. Twitter is a communication platform that enables individuals and businesses to post messages that are a maximum length of 140 characters. This part of Twitter is not that hard to understand. The challenge most people have is learning how to build a strong network of contacts on Twitter, and to leverage postings as a means to achieve business goals.
In order to make Twitter work to your advantage, you must spend some time planning before you dive in and begin tweeting. It’s important to identify what you would like to accomplish and develop a plan of attack. Bear in mind that for businesses, Twitter is a marketing channel and just like any other marketing channel, its activity must be governed by a strategy.
To help you understand how Twitter works and how to leverage it, I have listed 10 strategies that can help you build your business through Twitter.
First - Listen. Find out what people are saying about your company. You can do so by using #hash searches. This type of search enables you to type in “#yourcompanyname” in the Twitter search box and all posts that contain your company name will come up.
Grow Your Network. Connect with others by providing important, relevant information and by sharing links of interest with your network. This will help you gain followers and provide you with opportunities to follow others.
Share News. People in your industry or related industries will find you more credible if you share something they are unaware of, like a breaking news story.
Support The Conversation. When people ask questions, send them answers. It’s important to become a resource that others can rely on and trust.
Seek Out Industry Influencers. Learn who is influential in your industry and follow them. It’s a great way to stay informed and it’s a good source of information that you can share and retweet.
Engage With Your Customers. Through Twitter you have the ability to connect with customers and ask them what they think. Show them that you care by seeking their opinions, thoughts and feelings.
Market Your Other Channels. Periodically send tweets that contain links to your blog and your website.
Stay Informed. In order to serve as a resource to others, you need a few resources of your own. It’s important to stay on top of news in your industry. Make sure you search for breaking news using #hash tags.
Provide Live Updates. During company events, trade shows and sales promotions send out some realtime tweets letting followers know what is going on.
Do Some PR. Twitter is great to tell people all the great things that are going on, but it can also be used to combat something negative. When someone out there says something bad about you, be proactive. Tell your side of the story and elaborate on what actions you are taking to improve the circumstances.
These strategies are a great starting point to getting Twitter to return the results you are looking for. Twitter may seem a bit abstract, but once you understand how to use this free marketing channel, you’ll realize why Twitter has become so popular.
