scaredWith Halloween fast approaching and all sense deserting us as we decide that severed fingers and dodgy fancy dress outfits are appropriate purchases, it got me thinking about what is the most scary social media platform.

The answer definitely has to be Twitter. It is one of the most talked about yet least understood social media platforms I come across when talking to businesses. And, because of that, it can seems to be an alien place full of its own language and connected to crazy things such as the disgrace of football players or the incitement of civil unrest. For many it feels like a dangerous place and not one that is appropriate for them, especially in the B2B market.

So I thought it best to address these fears with tips about how to use Twitter for your business and, like all good ghost stories, with the lights on it is never so spine tingling as first appears.

One of the main problems is that the rules of Twitter seem nonsensical in business terms

  • What can you meaningfully say in 140 characters and no images?
  • If pushing out sales and marketing messages is deemed bad ‘twittequette’ then what’s the point?
  • If followers aren’t the same as prospects then what are they?
  • If everyone can see who is following you, how can you protect the following you have built?
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Twitter gets lumped together with the ‘social media’ label, yet t works in a very specific way. It is I fact a microblog and although has some commonality with blogging is more about conversation than blogging can ever be.

So the million dollar question is ... how can Twitter be used for business? One way of getting a handle on it is to stop thinking about what it looks like, or what the technology can do, but to consider what it can be used for.

 

#1 Increase traffic to your website, Facebook Page or blog

This is the first use most businesses grasp. You can post links (make sure you have shortened then using something like Bitly  or Tweetdeck  or you will use up all your characters!)

But don’t forget it isn’t just about talking to your followers, through the use of the # (hashtag) before a key word or phrase you can flag up your posting to people who maybe monitoring such words. This will get your posting far wider readership. So if I write a blog about graphic design, or as I have done, QR codes I can add in the terms #graphicdesign and #QRcodes at the end of my Twitter post to further amplify its reach.

A word of warning though, don’t just fill your Twitter page with bland and overtly sales messages and links to your site. With Twitter you need to give people a reason to click through as mostly they are in browsing mode, not search so you really have to grab their attention. So try and think of reasons why people should click, such as top 10 tips or make seasonally relevant posts such as ‘snow grippers have just come into stock’ .

You should also be looking at adding relevant and new content to your website so that when they do click through there is something of value for their actions.

 

#2   Get your messages and posts shared to a wider community

One of the most powerful aspects of twitter, yet the one which is so alien to many businesses, is the ability to share information. In business you should be retweeting and sharing links from other businesses (possibly even your competitors). Usually this suggestion elicits one of two reactions from business owners – either blank miscomprehension or looks of abject horror! Why should you alert your followers to other people, especially potential competitors?

But look at the bigger picture. Social media, and especially twitter, is about sharing; the sharing of knowledge, information and best practice. By using the retweet button to share someone else’s posting with your followers you are not only giving your followers something of interest, you are also aligning yourself with the credibility of the person you have retweeted. Your altruism isn’t in vain, however as you will be seen by that person as retweeting their post and hopefully when they see something you have posted they will think about retweeting that to their followers and so instantly extending the network of people who will see your message. If they have a lot more followers than you, or have the kind of followers you would like to send your message to, then it is a great piece of free advertising.

 

#3 Connect with people in your industry

It is not just about selling, however. If you are a small business you may feel you are a very small fish in your industry pond with little hope of making an impact. So when working from home or your small business how can you become influential part of the ‘glitterati’ of your sector?

Twitter can be used to deliberately target people related to different aspects of your business. These could be influential speakers, journalists, industry gurus, trade associations or industry celebs. So identify them and then follow them. Retweet their tweets and even get into a conversation with them. People are far more likely to talk to a stranger on twitter than in ‘real life’ and it could be the start of a beautiful and influential relationship. I have known instances where this approach has paid off in spades with people gaining access to industry movers and shakers they would never have had the nerve or opportunity to approach in normal circumstances.

 

#4 Hiring people

Despite high unemployment figures, recruiting the right person for a role can be very difficult and expensive through traditional media such as local papers or trade publications. You can use twitter to publicise a vacancy or ask for some specific skills you may need. People are often more than happy to retweet these types of posts and if you put some # hashtag terms in such as location or subject type you may also have it picked up by people monitoring these terms

 

#5 Promote an event

If you have events such as Open Days, seminars or are attending exhibitions you can use twitter very effectively to promote and create a buzz around the event. You could even set up your own twitter username just for that event.

Keep a constant stream of posts about it and also encourage people to retweet and to post if they are attending. You can post links to the event details or to booking systems such as Eventbrite.

You can also have live tweeting from the event with key snippets from speakers and updates on how the event is going. Not only does this get more coverage, even with those who were not able to attend, it can also spark discussions which can lead to even more tweeting about the event and your business.

 

For more ideas on how to use twitter for business, The Twitter Guide Book from Mashable has lots of great information

 

Image by graur razvan ionut / freedigitalimages.net