Three months ago I could honestly tell you I thought Twitter was a waste of time. I couldn’t figure out what the # symbol meant, what these “trending topics were” or why people put the @ symbol in front of someone’s name. Now I consider Twitter one of the most useful business programs in my arsenal of social media tools.
When I ask someone why they don’t have a Twitter account, I usually get one of two responses: it’s either “I don’t get it,” or “I don’t see a reason to let people know what I’m doing at all times of the day by updating my status.” But these naysayers should know is that Twitter is much more than a website to make status updates; it’s software to quickly share news and information, network with people and gather information about what the competition is doing. With a real-time data feed, Twitter is one of the fastest ways to send/receive information on the topics that are relevant to you.
Twitter is the first place I go to for news, because when something important is going on in the world everyone is Tweeting about it. I follow experts on social media such as @briansolis, experts in technology like @mashable, and people who tweet about a plethora of business information like @vistage. Most industry influencers are already on Twitter and by following them you will often receive insightful information about new products, technology or trends in the industry.
Here are four reasons why as a business owner you should include Twitter in your social media strategy:
1. Share information: Twitter is a great way to share what your company is doing. Think about what clients or potential clients would want to hear about and deliver it to them: new products that are coming out, new information that affects your industry, blog posts that help describe how to use or do something, etc. Also, engage them. Make it interesting! Give them incentives to read what you have to say.
2. Find out what the competition is doing: By following your competition you’ll be able to keep real-time tabs on how they’re marketing to their clients, who’s interacting with them and who they’re following.
3. Stay current on new events and trends: The most important events in the world are often being talked about on Twitter. The trending topics usually have to do with some current event or the most popular things that people are talking about at the point in time. By following important people in your industry you’ll oftentimes find that you are the first one to get the news through Twitter.
4. Join the conversation: If nothing else, at least join in the conversation. See what your customers are saying about your product and respond to them, see what conversations there are about your company and if there is bad press, resolve it! Social media is another outlet that people love to share their opinion about your company, products, employees, experience, etc. It’s important to know what people are saying so that if there’s a problem, you can correct it.
So I challenge you (if you haven’t done so already) to at least create an account and see what the micro-blogging world is all about. Who knows… maybe you’ll end up changing your mind about it like I did. If you do, please share with me below how you or your company uses Twitter.
Follow me @benjivistage
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