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At first, I was afraid of Twitter. I thought that being familiar with Facebook meant that I was “social media savvy”.
I learned later how great it is to have a Twitter business account as well.
Setting up and running a business is never easy. But there are a lot of tools that help boost your chances of business success. Twitter is a valuable tool that gives your business a free platform to reach your target audience.
When brands steer clear of Twitter, they usually use the excuse that they don’t know how to use it. But don’t let that scare you off. You don’t have to hire a social media manager to handle your Twitter business account!
Twitter is free and easy to use. And I’m going to show you how to use it, what it can do for your business, plus some really great tips to help you set up your Twitter business page.
I bet you’re saying right now — “Well, I have a Facebook business page — isn’t that enough?”
And I’m gonna tell you that no, it really isn’t enough if you’re serious about attracting and engaging a loyal customer base.
Using Twitter is evidence that your small business is participating in social media and obviously a “with-it” kind of company that people are more inclined to do business with.
It’s just not enough to have a website (and only one social media account) anymore.
How Businesses Use Twitter
Can’t think of a way that a Twitter business account would help your business? You might not realize how practical and easy Twitter is to use — and it’s FREE!
Here are some examples of how different businesses use Twitter:
- A restaurant can tweet daily specials.
- A ticket agency can send a tweet notifying last-minute ticket deals.
- A real estate agent can tweet about new homes on the market.
- A chamber of commerce can tweet about local events and promotions.
- A PR expert can tweet publicity opportunities.
Twitter is one of the largest social networks for both business and personal use, with millions of active users sharing a wide range of content every day.
Twitter has huge potential for all types of business — because it provides free access to global, regional, and local audiences all at once!
Advice For Twitter Beginners
When you create your Twitter account, don’t ‘follow’ hundreds of people in an attempt to get followers. If your content is good, you’ll get noticed and people will follow you automatically.
Here are a few ideas for setting up your Twitter business page:
- Follow people you find interesting whether they’re in your target market, in the same business as you, or just pique your interest.
- Use your own photo rather than a company logo or other icon — people want to see who they’re connecting with.
- Introduce yourself to those you follow and those who follow you.
- Share more than just the latest sale you’re holding, specials you’re offering, or blogs you’ve posted to engage followers.
Here are some great tips for what to retweet on your Twitter business page.
Benefits Of Having A Twitter Business Account
It’s important to collaborate with other industry experts via Twitter. With the right connections, you can promote other brands on your profile and get mentions on their site.
The more active you are on Twitter, the more likely you will engage with new users and gain a better following.
Here’s how a business twitter account can benefit your business:
- Branding – Add branding elements to your Twitter page such as logos, slogans, color schemes, to match your website and other social media accounts.
- Marketing – Share interesting content by retweeting it to your followers, which helps to widen your audience.
- Engagement – Your customers are more likely to interact through brief tweets than they are to send an email.
- Networking – New contacts and networking with potential suppliers, partners, collaborators, and influencers operating in your industry will also help you build a solid reputation and increases the visibility of your business.
- Research – Twitter provides free tools for analyzing the performance of your tweets, which gives you insight into the effectiveness of your promotional content.
Happy customers are more likely to recommend your business to their friends and followers, giving you the opportunity to bring in new customers through your Twitter interactions.
Check out some of the best businesses on Twitter and why they’re successful.
How To Use Your Twitter Business Account
Posting information about your products and/or services is the obvious use. But Twitter also gives you another channel for listening to and finding out about your customers.
You can use this information to make your business more successful.
Here are some ways to make a Twitter business account work for you:
- Discover what’s happening right now. Use Twitter search to listen to the relevant conversations that are happening — and jump in where you can add value.
- Grow your brand awareness. Increase your impact by using Twitter to regularly communicate with your followers and attract new followers.
- Extend your reach even further with Twitter ads. You can speak directly to a particular audience and fine-tune your reach on Twitter by using Twitter ads.
- Provide timely customer service. Use Twitter’s customer service features to quickly and easily respond to people. That will help you develop a good reputation and build strong relationships with customers.
- Connect with potential customers, brand advocates, and influencers. Twitter allows you to follow and interact with people outside of your personal network.
Having a Twitter business page is a great way to join in on or start your own discussions with influencers and industry experts. Over time, this will help to raise the profile of your business and build valuable connections.
More Social Media For Business Resources
In addition to the links I’ve provided above, I found these helpful when setting up social media accounts:
- 10 Twitter Accounts Entrepreneurs Should Follow
- How To Create Your Twitter Business Account
- Just For Fun: The Funniest Brand Tweets & Twitter Accounts
I’m a health nut, a frugal mom, a dog lover, a DIYer, and a gadget girl. Personally, as a post-divorce, working single mom on a budget I have a lot of experiences that I enjoy sharing so others can learn from the things I wish I knew earlier! Professionally, I’ve worked full-time in a variety of marketing, sales, and editing jobs. You can always find me at the corner of Good News & Fun Times as Managing Editor at The Fun Times Guide (32 fun & helpful websites).
