Small business owners have a unique opportunity to connect with current and prospective clientele by using Twitter's range of social and business tools. However, Twitter utilization is somewhat of a science, and you have to ensure you put your best foot forward.
Here are 10 best practices for leveraging Twitter in small-business marketing and customer engagement strategies:
1. Create a strong Twitter profile
Twitter suggests small-business owners ensure that their profile pictures are professional. They also suggest that your 160-word bio is as concise as possible, while still conveying the attributes that set the company apart from competitors. Additionally, utilize pinned Tweets - keeping one Tweet at the top of the feed - to draw customers in, such as explaining a deal or sale.
2. Tweet at the right frequency
Fronetics, an advisory firm, explains each company will need to find the right pace for its Twitter activity, but more tends to be better. In fact, the company experimented with its own account. They usually Tweeted 40 times a day, but tested out Tweeting 15 times a day for a month. They saw performance go down significantly. Use Twitter analytics to track website traffic, profile views, new followers, link clicks and profile visits when experimenting with your Tweet frequencies.
3. Know your audience
Moz, a search engine optimization service provider, states 55% of Twitter users are women, and nearly three-quarters are between 18 and 49 years of age. Make sure you cater to the majority of Twitter users, as well as your specific brand audience.
4. Getting the voice right
Moz also notes the brand voice needs to be strong to succeed in Twitter-related endeavors, and every Tweet should be consistent in the audience's eyes. Luckily, the service provider states there are plenty of tools within it's dashboard to measure how each Tweet performs.
5. Stick to the story
In some instances - especially with hashtags - businesses might try to break into a conversation that makes no sense in the context of their products and services. Moz urges business users to only get in on hashtag conversations that are relevant to the brand.
6. Leverage pictures and videos
Twitter recommends businesses incorporate as much multimedia into their Tweets as possible, such as images and videos of products and services. Tweets with multimedia generally outperform those that are strictly text.
7. Master the art of the Retweet
Retweets can get you far in business, helping you to become part of the community in which your audience resides. Make sure you use Retweets to curate conversations and potentially acquire new followers.
8. Engage by every means possible
Twitter offers an option to put out polls to followers, allowing the audience to vote on a question. Use this tool to engage your followers and keep your business in the front of their minds, as these interactive activities can go a long way toward boosting customer retention and attraction.
9. Cross-channel marketing
Sprout Social, a social media marketing firm, states small-business owners should always promote their Twitter accounts through other channels such as Facebook and Instagram. Simply sharing Tweets on other sites can help businesses to achieve this goal.
10. Dig deep for maximum visibility
Sprout Social also points out regularly Tweeting about relevant events, asking the right questions that inspire followers and always being active can help businesses to further boost visibility and engagement.
Here are 10 best practices for leveraging Twitter in small-business marketing and customer engagement strategies:
1. Create a strong Twitter profile
Twitter suggests small-business owners ensure that their profile pictures are professional. They also suggest that your 160-word bio is as concise as possible, while still conveying the attributes that set the company apart from competitors. Additionally, utilize pinned Tweets - keeping one Tweet at the top of the feed - to draw customers in, such as explaining a deal or sale.
2. Tweet at the right frequency
Fronetics, an advisory firm, explains each company will need to find the right pace for its Twitter activity, but more tends to be better. In fact, the company experimented with its own account. They usually Tweeted 40 times a day, but tested out Tweeting 15 times a day for a month. They saw performance go down significantly. Use Twitter analytics to track website traffic, profile views, new followers, link clicks and profile visits when experimenting with your Tweet frequencies.
3. Know your audience
Moz, a search engine optimization service provider, states 55% of Twitter users are women, and nearly three-quarters are between 18 and 49 years of age. Make sure you cater to the majority of Twitter users, as well as your specific brand audience.
4. Getting the voice right
Moz also notes the brand voice needs to be strong to succeed in Twitter-related endeavors, and every Tweet should be consistent in the audience's eyes. Luckily, the service provider states there are plenty of tools within it's dashboard to measure how each Tweet performs.
5. Stick to the story
In some instances - especially with hashtags - businesses might try to break into a conversation that makes no sense in the context of their products and services. Moz urges business users to only get in on hashtag conversations that are relevant to the brand.
6. Leverage pictures and videos
Twitter recommends businesses incorporate as much multimedia into their Tweets as possible, such as images and videos of products and services. Tweets with multimedia generally outperform those that are strictly text.
7. Master the art of the Retweet
Retweets can get you far in business, helping you to become part of the community in which your audience resides. Make sure you use Retweets to curate conversations and potentially acquire new followers.
8. Engage by every means possible
Twitter offers an option to put out polls to followers, allowing the audience to vote on a question. Use this tool to engage your followers and keep your business in the front of their minds, as these interactive activities can go a long way toward boosting customer retention and attraction.
9. Cross-channel marketing
Sprout Social, a social media marketing firm, states small-business owners should always promote their Twitter accounts through other channels such as Facebook and Instagram. Simply sharing Tweets on other sites can help businesses to achieve this goal.
10. Dig deep for maximum visibility
Sprout Social also points out regularly Tweeting about relevant events, asking the right questions that inspire followers and always being active can help businesses to further boost visibility and engagement.
