In 2008, Wales resident Kate Jenkins joined Twitter to sell brownies. Instead of pushing sales, she ran silly competitions that often went viral. She’s put out more than 75,000 tweets, increased sales by 50%, and won national food awards–all because of Twitter.
Twitter has 330 million active monthly users, including 68 million US citizens (22% of Americans). Using Twitter for businesses helps companies find and engage customers–as long as businesses engage them the right way.
Read on to learn how to build a Twitter following and connect with your customers.
Decide on Your Purpose
What will you use Twitter for? When you start a Twitter campaign, do you want to answer customer questions, spread the news about sales, or share how you’re supporting a cause or charity?
When you’re setting the tone for your company’s posts, do you want it to be serious or humorous? (Hint: humor draws in readers.)
Create a Community
Twitter users want more than a steady diet of advertising. They want to be involved, and they want companies to engage with them.
Find ways to initiate conversations with customers. You may want to use Twitter to answer questions and respond to complaints. Respond as quickly as you can with answers, or tweet that you don’t know the answer yet but you’ll find out.
You can also use Twitter to get customer feedback on what’s working and not working. Find out what they like about your strongest products, or how to improve what’s not working.
Make Your Posts Engaging
When you produce great content, you’re more likely to gain followers and have your posts retweeted. Your customers can become your advocates and ultimately boost your brand and your sales.
Use Graphics
Not only does Twitter let you establish a voice, but it also helps you establish an image for your brand.
When you create your account, add a profile image. This graphic should be your company logo or another image that supports your brand since it will be attached to every tweet you post. You can also upload a header photo to showcase more of your business and change it frequently to keep it interesting.
Video also catches the eye and increases engagement. In 2016, 82% of Twitter users watched video content, and more recently Twitter has logged about 2 billion video views per day. Videos have been shown to increase purchase intent by 34%.
Boost Your Advertising
If you find that your content is engaging your customers, it might be time to boost Twitter ads and look for new customers. Be sure to check the Twitter promotion guidelines if you’re running contests or sweepstakes.
If you can’t find someone in-house to manage the process, you can always turn to a consulting company to run your Twitter marketing for you. Check SocialBoostings packages for one example of a company that can help you manage your media and increase your followers.
Using Twitter for Businesses Leads to Success
Twitter for businesses helps companies share their story, enable customer contact, and engage in conversations. When you start using Twitter for your company, you’ll spread brand awareness and help your customers find you.
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