Twitter can be and should be a very successful marketing tool for both yourself and your business. Marketing experts contend that you shouldn’t bother to have a social media account, if you are not going to use it properly. That will probably do you more harm than good.
Think about it; do you want to have an audience discover you, only to then wonder why you are not providing any information on your Twitter feed? They might conclude that you are not a real functioning business, or that you aren’t really interested in engaging with potential customers or clients.
Face it–if you can’t find someone to assist you with social media content and tweet at least once a day, then Twitter is not for you.
Young Entrepreneur Council, an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs, who generates billions of dollars in revenue and has created thousands of jobs, recently posed the question, “How has your business approach to Twitter evolved over time?”
Here’s four tips that their members shared on BusinessCollective, YEC’s free virtual mentorship program platform.
1. Post Content of Interest to Your Users
“Early on, a lot of our focus on Twitter was, ‘Hey, look at what we’re doing!’ But, we realized people rarely engaged with ‘all about us’ company posts. We started to mix it up by posting interesting articles about our industry, asking questions, and telling jokes, in addition to company updates and driving sales. We took it from being a feed that was basically an ad, to a feed people want to follow.”
–Maria Burns Ortiz, 7 Generation Games
2. Use It for Research
“As a marketing company, we use Twitter to find information very quickly. It is one of the fastest ways to keep your finger on the pulse in specific subjects/industries. This generates both knowledge and content. The hashtag is a powerful tool, not necessarily to ‘gain more followers,’ but to find relevant, interesting news, latest studies, trends, influencers, etc.”
–Angela Delmedico, Elev8 Consulting Group
3. Interact With Others
“I interact with people a great deal more than I used to. I actively reach out to followers, respond to any questions directed my way, and direct tweets involving industry news at colleagues I believe will find it interesting.”
–Steven Buchwald, The E2 Visa Lawyer
4. Use It to Follow Up
“At first, we looked at Twitter as a blank canvas. As a B2B company, we thought tweeting was not our sweet spot, but we found other uses. We’re always on the move: pitch events, investor meetings, and attending conferences. Following up via Twitter lets our partners and mentors know we care, and the public sphere of Twitter is a difference maker. Twitter amplifies our thanks.”
–Anya Babbitt, SPLT