Business Week recently wrote about the most used work in the English Language today; the results may or may not surprise you. ‘Twitter’ was found to be the most popular word. According to the article, Twitter is billion pound industry leader in social media.
Almost all businesses today are familiar with some form of social media; a Facebook or Twitter account can be a great help in marketing and branding. Many companies are expanding their social media use to include customer service.
However, not all social media platforms are alike; Twitter seems to be leading the way in terms of speed of communication and potential to help businesses grow. Many people love to send Tweets from their Smartphone, both in and out of the office; a Smartphone holder ensures that they can spot any updates immediately, even when they’re working at their desk.
So how can a business use Twitter to ensure that they stay ahead of the pack? Well, there are a number of answers to this question.
One of the most important things to remember when using Twitter is to build relationships with both customers and business associates who also have accounts. Most people follow hundreds, if not thousands of others and so without first building these connections, the online Twitter community simply won’t have any idea who you are. Interaction is key.
In keeping with this line of thought, it is important to be genuinely interested in other people with which you interact. Constantly letting others know about the great product or service that you provide, without actually taking the time to get to know them will only serve to diminish your company’s reputation, as this approach implies that money is a higher priority that the needs of the customer. The beauty of Twitter is that if a customer or fellow business associate is impressed by your conversation and professional attitude, they can recommend you to others on their Twitter feed, thus increasing the exposure of your business.
Another thing to avoid at all costs is ‘spam’; essentially this means repeating a message (whether it’s the announcement of a new product, or something else) over and over on Twitter. Whilst it is important to let people know about your business, the structure of the Twitter feed is such that if your ‘followers’ find themselves bombarded with the same Tweet again and again, they will get irritated and will click the dreaded ‘Unfollow’ button.
An alternative to getting the word out about a product, is to ask others to ‘retweet’ your message; this will ensure that customers receive the information in a more natural way.
