Can Twitter help your business?

So what’s the deal with Twitter? Every company seems to be jumping into the Twitterverse, but can it really help your business? Absolutely yes! That is, if you use it right.

The first thing to remember is don’t be afraid to establish your Twitter account and just jump in. You can use your name and photo and in your profile and say you are the owner of such and such company. Or you can start a Twitter account in your company’s name and use the logo for the photo, either way, just get started.

In order for Twitter to help your business you need to have followers to hear your message. In the search bar on your Twitter home page type in a keyword that is relevant to your business. You will get a list of people and their tweets that contain the keyword you searched for. Now start following people that seem to have an interest in that keyword. For example, say your business is managing a bed and breakfast. You did a Twitter search for <em>anniversary</em> or <em>travel</em> or <em>getaway</em> or even <em>bed and breakfast.</em> What came up was a lot of people tweeting things like “Where should I go for my anniversary?” or “I need to getaway for my vacation,” or “Getting the itch to travel.”

These are people that may be potential customers for you in using Twitter for business. Follow them. Usually they will follow you in return. Next go to a directory of some sort like Twellow and list your Twitter profile there. It’s free to register. Find the category that best describes your business and list it there. You can also find people to follow by using this directory, but people will also be able to find you.

Now that you’ve got some followers, start tweeting. This is the trick in using Twitter for business growth. You want to tweet something that is interesting and valuable. NEVER spam your followers, that is the fastest way to lose them. Instead give them information. Maybe there is a huge Maple festival in your town and you are that bed and breakfast and so now you can paint this quaint little picture of this maple festival going on and the leaves turning red and how fluffy your comforters are on your beds. So tweet something like this “Done fluffing the comforters, leaves are falling and I’m headed to Maple Festival.” Or something along those lines, get descriptive with your 140 characters. But doesn’t that sound more appealing than “Offering a 25 percent discount at our bed and breakfast.”?

The important thing to remember is that you need to make your business seem like a person. No one on Twitter wants to socialize with a company or a corporation or logo. So don’t be afraid to include that human element when you use Twitter. Because it’s a business, most people think they need to give off a professional image and that’s true but you can also show a softer side, a more human element and customers will relate to that. Tweet about what is going on in your company, tweet about what is going on in your industry and your thoughts about it, tweet about what’s happening outside your office window at that moment, tweet often, and stick with it, business will come.