2009 proved to be a pivotal year for Twitter. The mammoth social network saw exponential growth thanks to many factors, including celebrity participants who gathered millions of new followers and businesses who used Twitter as a marketing tool. From Martha Stewart and Howard Stern to Fortune 500 companies, a bevy of organizations are using Twitter.
You, too, as a small business owner can use Twitter for business marketing and promotional purposes. The trick is not to get too involved with “Tweeting” that it takes too much of your precious time without bringing any return.
How can you use Twitter for small business? Here are a few tips on using Twitter for your small business promotion.
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Acquire Loyal Followers
With so many millions of users on Twitter, there is great potential for promoting your business. Form a free Twitter account and get your small business website link posted to your profile. Then start gathering followers. You can encourage readers of your website to follow you on Twitter. Leave links to your Twitter profile on blog articles. Be sure to promise value for following your small business on Twitter.
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Give Followers What They Signed Up For
Did you encourage people to follow you on Twitter because they can receive coupons, sales promotions, or other great values? Then be sure to give what you promised to them. Tweet only updates that will give potential value to your followers. After all, no one wants to know that you spilled your coffee on your nice new pantsuit this morning.
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Give Discounts and Coupons
One of the main reasons people follow businesses on Twitter is to get special deals. Use Twitter for business by offering exclusive coupons to your followers. It may be a simply 10% off or even a free sample offering. Giving great deals through Twitter helps ensure that your followers remain loyal and you gather more of them.
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Spread Messages Virally
Twitter has proven to be one of the fastest viral message carriers of any social media. A quick teaser tweet about an important event along with a link can produce thousands, and even tens of thousands, of retweets and hits. To do this, though, you need a link to an interesting tidbit of information. It could be an article, a YouTube video, a new website, or even a new product webpage. Give followers a reason to read it, and they will likely help spread the word for you.
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Get Quick Feedback
Twitter for small business can be a great way to test ideas. Do you have a new marketing slogan you want to try? Post in on Twitter and ask for feedback. Have different ideas about how to promote a product or service? Test both on Twitter and see which one generates the most buzz.
There are many other ways you can use Twitter for small business. Get online and start following other businesses yourself. Learn the tricks they use. Glean information and strategies, and incorporate those into your small business Twitter strategy as well.
