Everyone’s using Twitter these days, aren’t they?
Whether you love it or hate it, if you’re not already using it to help your business, you really should think about it.
As a copywriter I have been using Twitter for a while now. It helps to promote my blogs and articles, I can talk about my views and opinions, it helps me to reach clients and pass on hints and tips.
It is also an incredibly useful research tool – not only for customer feedback (and a great way to monitor what people are saying about you), but also for finding out information.
Twitter and marketing
Twitter will kill blogging – apparently – but I don’t see it myself. Twitter is a great micro-blogging tool. It compliments my own blog because it helps grow my readership. The RSS feed from my blogs are fed into my Twitter account so whenever I post something a Tweet goes out to inform my followers.
But Twitter isn’t just about marketing (spammers beware – Tweeters don’t like being bombarded with your constant messages). It is a goldmine of information. If you read something you like, Tweet about it and include the link. If you found it interesting you can bet someone else will.
Follow people in your industry to keep up to date with the current thinking, news and views. Start discussions about topics; it might even generate ideas for future blog posts.
Share, engage, interact
Those three words are the only thing you need to remember when Tweeting. Twitter isn’t about the hard sell – it is about building relationships.
Yes there are numerous sites out there that will tell you how to gain thousands of followers quickly – buy it’s about quality not quantity. What’s the point in having thousands of people follow you if they’re not interested in what you have to say? Hand pick who you want to follow so you can control your audience. If someone follows you and their bio looks interesting, follow them back; engage with them, build a relationship – who knows where it will lead.
Is it possible to gain new clients over Twitter? – yes (I’ve done it, several times). Is it possible to find service providers over Twitter? (yes, done that too).
Twitter is the perfect opportunity to project a human face to your business. Let your followers get to know you – remember share, engage and interact.
Sally Ormond is a freelance copywriter – follower her on Twitter @sallyormond