By Rhonda Campbell

Twitter’s 140 million account users send 340 million Tweets a day, making the social media network a leading marketing tool for small business owners.  Think about it; friends, family members and colleagues connect via Twitter.  People post sports scores, their thoughts about news stories, local trends and bestselling books on Twitter. When used wisely Twitter can positively impact a business’ bottom line by helping entrepreneurs and managers to expand their small business customer base.

Twitter as a Global Small Business Marketing Platform

It was an ingenious idea that started the company in 2006.  Twitter was founded by a handful of leaders:  Jack Dorsey, Biz Stone and Evan Williams.  Unlike Facebook, Twitter messages must be kept short, to 140 characters.  This might be a reason that small business leaders get more traction when it comes to connecting with their clientele when they use both social media platforms.

For small businesses that have a presence at other social media networks (e.g. Pinterest, Floost, StumbleUpon, MySpace), opening a free Twitter account makes it easier to connect with a global audience several times a day, a goal entrepreneurs want to achieve if they plan on developing rewarding relationships with their current and prospective small business customers.  Twitter applications are available in six languages:  Italian, English, Spanish, Japanese, French and German.  Furthermore, tweets can be sent via a desktop computer, laptop or mobile device (e.g. cell phone, Blackberry).  For example, artists can use Twitter to blasts messages to audience goers about upcoming concerts, speaking events or book signings using their laptop, Blackberry or iPod.

Using Twitter to Grow Small Business Bottom Line

Twitter can help entrepreneurs grow their small business bottom line when entrepreneurs:

• Create Twitter pages that mirror their company’s mission, brand or personality.  Include the company’s mission statement or a catchy quote from the CEO in the company Twitter profile.  Entrepreneurs should also add their company’s website URL to their Twitter profile.
• Send private messages to the company’s new followers on Twitter.  This increases the number of times the company interacts with Twitter users.  It also builds and deepens new relationships.
• Allow users to post Tweets to their family and friends from the company website.  Media sites like Zing and Blog Talk Radio have built-in applications that allow companies to add the Twitter application to their website using as few as ten lines of code.
• Review Twitter analytics at least once a week.  Pay attention to “follower” reactions to company Tweets.  If more people start to follow the company’s Twitter page after a Tweet about an upcoming sale, new venture or government regulation impacting one’s industry is posted, Tweet more of these types of messages.
• Invite current customers, colleagues and friends to follow the company on Twitter.
• Read information provided at Twitter’s Business page (listed at the bottom of this blog; we’re always gonna give you information that helps you move your small business initiatives forward)

Getting Creative on Twitter

Entrepreneurs and artists can exercise their creative muscle on Twitter to grow their bottom line.  To do this, they can:

• Tweet about a main character featured in their latest book or film.  They can tweet comments, quotes or mishaps that the character is experiencing so that their Twitter followers become emotionally connected to the characters.  Artists can also tweet about the progress of their latest CD (e.g. date music entered production).
• Tweet uplifting quotes once a day via Twitter.
• Give out the company’s Twitter URL during radio, newspaper, magazine and television interviews.
• Add the company’s Twitter URL to the side or bottom of gift bags and newsletters.
• Add their Twitter ID to their websites so visitors can Follow them at the click of a button.

Twitter is a social media platform that small business owners, entrepreneurs and creative artists can use to spread the word about their creative or business products and services.  Motivational quotes, tweets about book characters and upcoming performances help small business owners remain connected with current and prospective customers.  Furthermore, although Twitter messages are limited to 140 characters, if a company’s tweet is picked up by mainstream media, that company could receive millions of hits to their website.

If you enjoyed or benefitted from this article, share it with others by clicking the Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google Plus and Share buttons below. You bet!  We appreciate it!  

Click the “Subscribe” button at the side or bottom of this post so you can always be the very first person to receive our updates!

Get Your Copy of Spiral at https://www.ebookit.com/books/0000000841/Spiral.html

Sources:

https://business.twitter.com (Twitter for Business)