As a small business owner, you probably don’t have a lot of money to pour into advertising or time to spend on social marketing. You may try your hand at SEO or may have even hired a company to help out, but if you are like most small businesses, you rely on word of mouth to build your customer base. Today’s modern “word of mouth” is social media outlets like linkedin, manta, Facebook and Twitter.
Over the next few months, we will be presenting you with a series of articles that will help you leverage the power of social media, search and business listings to promote your business. These articles will be in plain language that every small business owner will understand and will help you make the most of your time and money with surprisingly great results! We start with Twitter.
Twitter can help you spread the word about your business without a large investment of time or money.
The first step in using Twitter for your small business is creating an account and profile. Make sure that your screen name, known as your Twitter handle, matches up with your business. Avoid writing an overly clever profile. Keep it simple and describe exactly what you do in plain language.
Twitter is a network of followers. You want to follow individuals and companies that add value to your Twitter experience. It’s a good idea to follow other small businesses rather than Fortune 500 companies. In turn, you want followers who are either current customers or potential customers.
When you’ve built a solid following of customers or potential customers, offer some Twitter-only specials. This will make your followers feel more valued and engaged. You always want followers to pay attention to your tweets.
Be sure to include your twitter account on stationary, business cards, menus and your website. Encourage people to follow you and provide incentive in the way of a discount, free service or another promotion.
When used appropriately, Twitter can be a useful tool for small businesses. Be cautious about over-Tweeting. You have 140 characters to work with per tweet. Make them count, and you’ll see your efforts pay dividends.
In the next blog in the twitter series, we will go over short cut keys and how to create meaningful messages that help you promote and grow your business.
Happy Tweeting!
