Tweet The Way To Your Customers With Twitter

To tweet or not to tweet seems to be the question on everyone's lips these days. Twitter is the latest and greatest with actors, rock stars, celebrities, and everday people just like you. Everybody who seems to be on the inside is on Twitter, and if you're not in the know how, you're not to be known.

Great, so where do we sign up? Hold your horses, people. Twitter for business is great, but it may not be for every business. Let's start at the beginning.

Twittering - What Is It?

In a nutshell, Twitter is a cross between a blog and a Facebook status update. It is basically a super-mini blog or microblog. It's so mini, you are only allowed 140 characters to voice that thought, opinion, activity, links, or updates. Each post is referred to as a 'tweet' and anyone who has opted to follow you and your tweets will be updated on any of your new posts.

Twitter by and large acts as a peer-to-peer network. This makes it a powerful tool for those seeking advice or validation, be it for personal or commercial purposes.

Twitter For Business

Founded in 2006, Twitter is a relatively new social media network. Consequently, the successes of twitter for business are yet to be fully established and documented.

Generally, making the decision to adopt Twitter for business really depends on where you are with your current online marketing strategy - unless everything else is running like clockwork, Twitter for business isn't necessarily the best fit.

As with most forms of social marketing, Twitter for business works best for brands and companies with a long-term focus. Ideally, it should be a supplement to the current highly successful marketing mix, not aim to be the pinnacle of strategy. Twitter isn't something you pick up, play with a few times, and discard. Becoming engaged in social media requires a basic level of commitment. It is a component of an on-going, layered online marketing strategy.

One of the key appeals of Twitter is that it can be done using mobile phones. This means, that you are basically never wasting time when you're twittering - you can twitter for business in lines, on the bus, in lifts or even in the bathroom. There is no opportunity cost. Learn more about mobile marketing and SMS.

Twittering For Beginners

If you are ready to twitter for business, head over to the Twitter site and sign up. It's free and extremely simple.

Decide if you want to follow anyone. You don't have to, but by following people, there is a chance they will follow you too. Also, by following other businesses, you can pick up some great tips or ideas for your own tweets or business.

Once you are ready to start tweeting for yourself, remember to keep it short, entertaining and punchy - you only have 140 characters after all to keep your followers engaged. Keep your ratio of sales messages to real-content messages low, as ongoing sales pitches can become extremely blasé after a while.

On a final point, Twitter is meant to be quick and easy, so don't caught up following hundreds of people unrelated to your business or brand. Yes, Twitter for business should be updated regularly. No, it should not be updated constantly. "Tweets" are a form of microblogging, learn more about blogging and whether it's the right choice for your business strategy. There are several tools to make it fun and simple,  let us show you how to get your brand into the Twittersphere.

To find out how twitter for business can help you specifically, contact us. You can also download our eBook or register for a free online analysis report.