How Can I Leverage Twitter For My Business?

More and more businesses in the San Francisco Bay Area cities, such as San Ramon, Danville, Fremont, Walnut Creek and Pleasanton and the surrounding area, have an online presence these days. It’s almost a necessity if they want to succeed. There are so many tools available that make it easy to reach out to a target audience whether they are businesses or potential consumers. The question becomes how much of the business is available to those online?

In the past, businesses were able to communicate face-to-face, businesses now handle everything online. Therefore, it is important that businesses are able to attract new customers, promote and sell products and thank customers for their business electronically. Connecting with customers through social media such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and a business blog is vital. The fact is, Twitter can be very effective for businesses but leveraging Twitter effectively can be a challenge.

1. One of the benefits of using Twitter is that it allows you to expand your network. You follow people or businesses that are similar to yours and others can choose to follow you. This is a great way to put your brand before a larger number of people. You are able to interact with your customers on a new level as well as connect with others who want to learn about your business.
2. Not only can you tweet about new products or services your business has to offer, you can also tweet links, upcoming events, images and articles that others will find helpful. This will build your business’ credibility with those following you on Twitter and, ultimately, your current customer base. Share about things that interest you and information your followers will find useful. Reply to tweets you receive from people seeking your advice. Responding to tweets will impress your followers as well as help them feel you are accessible.
3. When you focus on building relationships on Twitter with those following you, others will do so, as well. Do your best to be approachable. Build rapport with current and potential customers so they feel like your company is the place to turn for solutions. Leave the hard-sell for another venue. To make tweeting easier, you may want to use TweetDeck or similar tools which lets you know when people are tweeting about keywords related to your business. Check out what’s being said and offer a reply or add your comments to others’ conversations.
4. Let your followers know about Specials that are only offered through your Twitter page. Consider contests, giveaways or raffles. If you’re not sure how to go about this, check out the pages of other companies on Twitter to see what they offer and to get ideas. The fact is people love to win things and Twitter is a great place to start once you have a good following built up. You can also use contests and giveaways as a means to create followers by offering something to those who are new followers.
5. Be sure to use Twitter with updates to your Facebook, LinkedIn and other social media changes. You can also tweet about website updates. Link your tweets directly to your blog and other social media outlets. It’s amazing how quickly a tweet can spread across multiple platforms.
6. Twitter tools can also be used to help manage your tweets as well as build up your following. Consider adding these tools to your repertoire:
   • HootSuite is a great tool to help you manage your Twitter account. You can schedule tweets, find relevant accounts and more.
   • Raven Tools is another tool which helps manage Twitter, other social media marketing as well as search engine optimization.
   • SocialOomph also allows you to manage tweets and add links to posts.
   • Sponsored Tweets is a great option for those who have already built up a following. If you want to monetize your Twitter following, this is the tool.

If you’ve ever wondered how to leverage Twitter for business, it starts with building a solid plan and then following through with it. It may take a little while to build up a following, but don’t give up. Taking time to follow the roadmap each day can have a constructive impact on your business and may pay off financially, as well.