The Impact of Twitter On Your Business

11-30-2010

All right, now we know that you have heard of Twitter and we know that some of you still aren’t on board with it. On a whole, Twitter can be pretty scary when you are just starting out. The time line can be chaotic at best and keeping up with your @ replies and your direct messages can seem daunting. But let’s explore the impact that a tool like Twitter can have on your business.

Twitter allows you to put your product before potential customers that have not walked into your place of business yet. The goal of Twitter is to get as many followers as you can and by doing so, you have increased your potential client base exponentially. It is also a great tool to drive traffic back to your website to A, learn more about you and your company and B, to drive traffic and sales to your online store. Twitter also allows you and your company to seem like “real” people who share the same struggles and ebbs of life that they do. Being “real” in the business world today is everything.

Getting started is very simple. Just create an account with an existing any email you have. Once this is done, Twitter actually helps you find people to follow based on your profile and search criteria. Once you start following folks, you will get folks to follow you back and interact with you. In the beginning, you will be following more people then are following you. That’s ok and no cause for concern. Once you start getting followers and are posting regularly, that may change. A key to remember when getting started is that Twitter only allows 140 characters in a single post. You will learn to shorten words and urls in order to fit it all in. There are other Twitter functions out there that will allow you to write more, one being TwitWall.

But what will you Tweet about?

With Twitter, you are able to advertise your blog postings, sales going on, coupons you may be offering, or anything and everything in between. Like the weather, or something interesting you read in the news. Is someone in your office getting married or having a baby? Tweet about it with their permission. This brings a human touch to your account.  Remodeling your office? Had a company party with company photos? Use Twitpic to post photos of the progress or of your staff. These things may seem trivial, but you will find that you will get more interaction and questions than you thought possible. Being “real” goes a long way on Twitter. One of the biggest mistakes that folks make when starting is to just Tweet about business or sales. This will turn your followers against you! Spam is a highly debated topic on Twitter, so it’s best to be subtle.

Getting involved in trending topics is a great way to take your wall global. When you post in a trending topic, it takes you out of your time line and puts you into the global Twitter time line. This opens up your tweets, profile and URL to the world really and who doesn’t want that?

NewCom hopes that this basic Twitter overview has inspired you to get your feet wet in the Social Media market. Still not sure? Got questions? Contact us today and learn more about how we can help you and your company obtain a large web presence.

Anna Patten is the Director of Online Public Relations for The Newcom Group. She currently handles all on line networking for The Newcom Group and their clients as well as their professional blogging needs. You can email her at anna@thenewcomgroup.com or find her on Facebook