Twitter for Small Businesses: Is it A Good Social Media Platform?

For small businesses, social media can be a powerful strategy to attract new customers, engage your online audience and strengthen your brand (when used correctly). But between all the posting, pinning, tweeting, gramming and sharing of content…it can get overwhelming. Don’t waste time on social media platforms that don’t love you back. Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need to be everywhere, all the time. If you’re new to the social scene or looking to add a new social media platform into the marketing mix, look no further than Twitter for small businesses.

Though it seems to be the channel of choice for celebrities and presidential candidates to get their message out, it’s also an optimal platform for your small business. Wondering if it makes sense for you?

Read on.

Does Twitter for Small Businesses Make Sense?

Two common themes among businesses who are struggling to make Twitter work effectively is the fact that the competition is fierce and the feed is fast. But as one of the best platforms to use, Twitter stands alone in its ability to make a huge impact, very quickly.

Let’s take a closer look at the two:

Outsmart the Fierce Twitter Competition

Sure, you have some stiff competition, but the good news is that you also have a larger audience to reach. The trick to maximizing this fast-paced, micro-blogging platform is to make a connection with your followers.

How? We’re glad you asked. Here are ten quick tips to outsmart the fierce Twitter competition:

1. Determine what you want to accomplish (more followers, traffic to your blog, additional sales, brand awareness, etc).
2. Tweet relevant content to build trust.
3. Connect directly with customers and get their feedback.
4. Interact with industry leaders, influencers and other businesses in your community.
5. Spy on the competition to analyze what you could be doing differently.
6. Find new inspiration and ideas.
7. Promote your website and link directly to a blog.
8. Position your brand as the go-to industry expert.
9. Retweet shareworthy posts about your fans, community events or other industry news.
10. Generate a buzz for your brand, increase your reach (and your results).

Outperform the Fast Twitter Feeds

Sure, your customer’s news feed may fill up faster than a gym on New Year’s Day, but the good news is that Twitter’s algorithm now rewards brands who share content that their audience actually prefers to see!

Gone are the days of chronological display order; if you have followers who regularly engage with your Tweets, Twitter picks up on that pattern and your business will be more likely to pop up in their news feed when Twitter users first open their app. The key word being: engage. Don’t treat Twitter like a blowhorn to constantly sell; instead, generate buzz-worthy content and start up conversations with your followers.

But, be careful of falling into the trap of thinking that the more you post, the better. Find out what topics your audience is interested in and tweet about those things… in 140 characters or less at least three times a day. Tweet about your small business, tweet about your industry, tweet tips, images, GIFs, polls and even videos. And, last, but certainly not least, #hashtag so people can find you faster.

To Tweet or Not to Tweet? That is the Question.

If you’re a small business looking to maximize your social media marketing efforts, the key to your success is to start (and stay) active. You know your customers are already active on Twitter, so why not start tweeting now?

Don’t have the time to make social media work? Maximize your Twitter efforts and connect with our experts at Post Café today. We’re just one click away, and here to help you Get. It. Done.

We make it easy for businesses to get started with all the content to get noticed on Facebook and Twitter; call us at 732-218-9377 to learn more.