Some people love Twitter and others still find no purpose for it. I get lots of questions from people about what they should do regarding Twitter, and this is what I say. Do not let the “hype” of Twitter distract you from your business or intentional marketing practices such as search engine optimization of paid search. Most businesses will do far better focusing on connecting with those people currently searching for their products or services because these are people who are looking to make buying decisions.

That said, Twitter does have tremendous value in terms of building your brand, connecting with others in your industry, and providing customer service (for those who are on Twitter already).

Here are my recommendations for anyone considering adding Twitter to their online marketing program:

1. Decide how you are going to use Twitter and let people know by putting this on your Twitter page. If you are simply providing customer service, then let people know. If you have limited staffing for Twitter, let people know the quickest way to reach you. If you are building community or having a contest, make that known as well so people know what to expect.

2. Make sure you have someone who can spend at least 30 minutes per day on Twitter. You can even break it down into two 15 minute tiem slots and make the focus on checking for direct messages or mentions of your company and responding. As you grow, you will eventually need to dedicate whatever time is needed to handle the inquiries so be prepared for that. Ideally, you should make time to see who is following you and decide if you want to follow them back.

3. Don’t feel compelled to spend time growing your followers if you are not using Twitter as a branding platform. The customers that want to find you on Twitter will find you because they will search for you. Ideally, you would want to use it for all of it’s value which includes branding and promoting your company, but people need to realize that the more you want to use Twitter for, the more internal resources you will need.

4. Find a tool that helps you manage your Twitter account as simply as possible. There are many, but a few popular Twitter tools to check out are TweetDeck and HootSuite.

I hope that is helpful.

Happy Tweeting and have a great weekend!

P.S. – You can also find me on Twitter (Anthony Kirlew).

2 Responses to “What Small Business Owners Need to Know About Twitter – Fueled Friday”