Twitter is an excellent marketing tool for small business. It’s free, it’s easy to use, and it has the potential to let you talk to people (prospective customers!) you might otherwise never have met. Here’s a round-up of some of the best ways to use Twitter to build loyalty to your brand.
1. Include a link to your Twitterfeed on your website.
2. Tweet on a regular basis, at least a couple of times a day.
3. Give your business a face; use a picture of yourself rather than your company logo as your avatar.
4. Follow your clients on Twitter.
5. Use Twitter to check-in with former clients and stay in touch.
6. Retweet your clients’ messages regularly.
7. Tweet favorably about your clients and their products whenever you can.
8. Use Twitter to alert your customers to anything about your business that changes on a regular basis: your recent blog post, your latest podcast, your newest product, your recent research findings, a new publication.
9. Create a buzz by sponsoring a contest and inviting your customers to participate via tweet.
10. Don’t just post, engage. Strike up conversations with people, offer help, share insights, get to know people.
11. Know what people are saying about you; monitor mentions of your name or your company’s name on Twitter.
12. Always respond to criticism or complaints you see on Twitter.
13. Always thank people for favorable mentions or retweets.
14. Give your business a human touch by sharing behind-the-scenes photos and stories on Twitter.
15. From time to time, give an exclusive offer (e.g., an e-book, an invitation to an event) only to your Twitter followers.
16. Tweet a coupon or a discount code that customers can use online.
17. Tweet live from an event you’re attending like a conference, a trade show, or a networking activity.
18. Moderate a Twitter chat on a topic that would be of interest to your clients.
19. Use Twitter to let your clients know of your upcoming events and appearances such as seminars, speaking engagements, book signings, and media interviews.
20. Avoid a hardsell or a constant barrage of sales-oriented messages.
21. Tweet about the work and the successes of others more often than you tweet about yourself.
22. Be a real person: tweet occasionally about things happening in your personal life.
23. Inject humor and fun, but keep it light and be sure it’s non-offensive.
24. Avoid using automated messages; building a fan base works best when you interact personally with people.
25. Similarly, avoid paying for Twitter followers; five hundred strong, committed followers are better than ten thousand who don’t have a clue who you are.
