The Twitter phenomenon has arrived in the world just the way free email and free Internet search engines came before it. Today almost no business can conceive an existence without them. The same is likely to happen with Twitter, and those who leverage its power early, are bound to gain a competitive advantage over others. The following is a list of some very smart strategies that can help small, medium and home businesses to exploit the power of this great business tool in the making. It is a follow-up to Twitter Business Guide for Dummies
Search Potential Customers on Twitter
Over 105 million people are already registered on Twitter, and many more are following the network without having joined it as yet. Depending on the nature of the business, Twitter can help to find customers both locally as well as globally. The site provides an advanced search tool at search.twitter.com/advanced where the business can look for targeted or localized clientele.
Other search tools that have been custom designed to channel the power of Twitter for businesses include chirpcity.com, tweepz.com and nearbytweets.com. These are some excellent tools that are attempting to organize the gigantic world of Twitter (“Twitterverse”) neatly into separate locations and categories to make the information more manageable and usable for businesses.
Use Marketing Apps Designed Specifically for Twitter
If the business needs to listen to the customers’ feedback and comments in a specific location, it can be done through monitter.com. If the business bio on twitter needs a video presentation, it can be done very smartly with help from bubbletweet.com. If the business is having a substantial number of Twitter followers that it would like to boast about, and increase the numbers, check out twittercounter.com. It lets the business add a badge to its website or blog, and links the visitors directly to the twitter account.
Sometimes it is difficult for a home business or small business entrepreneur who may be running a one-man-show to spare time for Twitter. Socialoomph.com offers smart solutions that allow the entrepreneur to automate his Twitter strategies, communiqués and responses. Twitterhawk.com offers another unique application that lets the business send out a customized response each time a Twitter user in a specified location used a specified keyword.
Use Indirect Marketing on Twitter
Some of the most successful marketing strategies in the world have been indirect. Twitter is an ideal platform to use creative ideas to generate word of mouth publicity and a large following of potential customers. The entrepreneur using the network can run interesting polls, give his comments and opinions on the hottest issues of the day, or provide valuable ideas, guidance or thoughts that are not run-of-the-mill.
Business networking is the next big thing after social networking on Twitter. Early birds will catch the worm.
Announcing special privileges and schemes exclusively for Twitter followers, daily discounts, deal-of-the-day, instant quizzes and contests, and other such attractions that compel potential customers to visit the account repeatedly can help to build a large following over a period of time. The account may also be treated as a customer service and FAQ center where the sole motive is to resolve customer issues publicly. It is a subtle form of marketing because it encourages other potential customers to follow.
Deliver Real Value to Followers
Consider Twitter as a powerful extension of an e-newsletter. In short, sharp and witty messages, the business can provide power-packed information to its followers. It can tweet daily about some unique blogs, links, books, factoids, interesting quotes, new technologies and clever comments and opinions that are calibrated to enchant the target audience. It can use pictures and videos to add more value to the inputs.
This may seem to be an onerous task at first. But ask those who are enjoying a massive Twitter following for their small business, profession or service, and it will turn out that they solely aimed at delivering real value to their readers. Business will automatically follow if the sole focus is to provide the best and most useful information and knowledge to the target market for free. The idea here is not to sell any product or service, but to ensure that there is top-of-the-mind brand recall and a continued freshness about the company in the customer’s mind.
