If you’re trying to figure out how Twitter can help your business, read on. We’ll cover the reasons why Twitter can be a useful marketing tool and we’ll tell you how to do it.
Is Twitter really worth using for my business?
Let’s address the skepticism that many business owners have about social media. If you believe that Twitter is a fad, it’s only for kids, it isn’t applicable to your business, it might hurt your brand, or that you can’t measure the results, you should read the arguments against these concerns here.
Suffice it to say that most well known brands have an active presence in social media channels like Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube, or they are in the process of getting there. Why? Because that’s where the people are (and are probably talking about your brand already), the cost of involvement is lower than traditional marketing, and there aren’t many better ways to build loyalty and brand awareness within your customer base.
Here’s a short summary of why Twitter can be useful for your business:
1. People spend more time using social media than doing email.
Twitter expects to have 18 million active users by the end of 2009, increasing to 26 million next year. If you think that’s impressive, Facebook has over 250 million active users. This represents a huge opportunity to engage with customers. It’s fairly easy to keep Twitter and Facebook updated on a regular basis, so the time investment on your part is relatively low, while exposure to a vast number of potential customers is all but guaranteed.
2. You’re reaching customers through valuable Word-of-Mouth marketing.
Personal recommendations from friends, family, and coworkers are far more effective than any advertisement. This is word-of-mouth, and if you can get consumers talking about your brand, you’ll see increases in purchase behavior, retention, and customer satisfaction. Note that this effect works in the negative direction as well – so be sure to pay attention and respond if people are criticizing your brand.
3. You’re putting a human face on your brand.
People connect with people, and while they value your business through the products and services that you sell, they build a relationship with your business through personal interactions. Twitter allows you to extend a bit of your personality out into the public space and promote corporate involvement in the community. Use it to share news that your customers might find interesting.. and with this new medium, mixing business with personal commentary is encouraged. Check out @MtBachelor for a local example:
4. ROI can be huge, due to low up-front costs.
Not all brands use Twitter in the same way. Some use it for consumer engagement and word-of-mouth marketing, which has longer term ROI benefits through customer retention and loyalty. Some provide support, like @ComcastCares, where they are reducing the cost of telephone-based customer service and improving response times. Others sell products, such as @DellOutlet, which claims to have generated more than $3 million in revenue from their Twitter campaign.
And what’s best is that you simply need to identify someone in your organization who’s willing and excited to take on the job of social media management. The service itself is free, so you’re simply looking at an investment of one or two employees who can get things off the ground, with the upside potential of increased customer (and employee) engagement with your brand.
Great, so how do I do it?
Stay tuned for the next post on how to decide on the best strategy for your business and how to get started.
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