A getting-started guide to Twitter for small and medium business

As a small business owner, you probably hear the words ‘digital marketing’ and ‘social media marketing’ thrown about. The importance of getting your brand out there on the internet is key to any business growth, but really all you need to know is how using Twitter can get you more referrals, leads and, in the end, how can it get you more customers?

We’re going to explain why using Twitter is so integral to your marketing strategy but also offer XXX tips on how to make Twitter work especially well for your small or medium business.

Looking back to move forward

A mere 30 years ago, your loyal customers would be built through word-of-mouth recommendations, or a well-crafted advert placed in the local newspaper.

As time went on technology advanced, bringing with it new marketing methods such as direct mail, telemarketing and trade shows. These were very successful, and still can be today, but as consumer’s became wise to these methods they also became very good at avoiding traditional attempts to get their attention.

Today, social media and the use of digital marketing is the way that small businesses can get noticed online.

We can’t escape social media, it is everywhere, so ignoring the rise and rise of this form of communication would be a big mistake for any business. As the old saying goes; if you can’t beat them, join them!

Connecting with customers

Never before has there been a more immediate and intimate way to connect with customers, especially when you consider that 62% of adults worldwide use some form of social media. This could be through computers, smartphones, tablets, games consoles and much more. Take, for example, these statistics:

• One billion people actively use Facebook every month;
• 500,000 people use Twitter every month;
• Google’s +1 button is used 2+ billion times each day;
• 5 million photos are uploaded to Instagram every hour;
• 3,600 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every hour.

So, if you’re not already tapping into this goldmine of marketing opportunities by utilising social media, you could be doing your small business out of brand new customers. If this is you, don’t worry, we’ve got the tips to get you started on Twitter today.

Why Twitter?

Whilst having a social media strategy that extends over many platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, Google+ and Instagram is a brilliant idea, Twitter is the ideal place to start out.

No other medium gets you inside a business or brand quite like Twitter. This is because rather than potential customers seeking out your specific business, you may be found simply because somebody searched for ‘#smallbusiness’ or ‘#personalassistant #london’.

This instant accessibility, without the need for adding connections, or approving posts, makes Twitter the perfect practice ground for your social media strategy.

How to get started

Firstly, before you’ve even created a Twitter account, remember to stay brand loyal. You may be Joe Bloggs, CEO of Bloggs Paper Inc, but nobody else knows that.

Therefore, your Twitter handle shouldn’t be @JoeBloggs, but instead @BloggsPaperInc – remember you are tweeting as the business, not as yourself. Likewise, the profile photo should reflect the business, usually the business logo, not yourself.

Now that you’re all set up, it’s time to complete your profile. Each section of your Twitter profile can give potential leads more details about your business, so making sure you fill in the location website and bio is principal.

Then it’s time to start following people! It’s all very exciting but you need to take it slow because Twitter has strict rules about what they call ‘aggressive following’. But, in general, you should start by following those in the following categories:

• Your customers;
• Your business partners;
• Your competitors or peers;
• Trade organisations or professional organisations for your industry;
• Businesses in your neighbourhood;
• Businesses run by people you know.

Twitter can actually help with these initial stages by scanning your address book to see who is already on Twitter.

Finally, you can start interacting with Tweeters. Exactly what you want to tweet about will be unique to your business and your business alone, but in general you’ll find that a balance between interesting things that engage your audience and promotion of your business is the best way to go.

Make sure that you are giving out useful information and answering any questions you might get, this is how you will begin to become a valuable member of the community.

Over to you….

Naturally, these are just suggestions and the direction your digital marketing takes could differ greatly.

But, once you have Twitter under your belt, you can expand on how you are interacting on social media in a vast variety of ways, including using other media and actively driving traffic to your website or blog.

Are you using social media already? Or is this your first entrance to the world of social media? Let us know in the comments! Whether you’re looking to reboot, or just get started with social media and digital marketing, DAA Consulting can help make sure you’re on the right track!