Kathleen Dorsey - Global Results
a Maryland based SEO and Social Media Company
http://www.globalseoresults.com

To Tweet Or Not To Tweet...

Do you remember what you were doing in March of 2006? What may have slipped by you is a new website launch- it was called Twitter. Twitter, found at www.twitter.com, has become a phenomenon that is  still draped in mystery. Many of us understand LinkedIn and even more understand Facebook, but the use of Twitter has not been so clear. Hopefully this article can help.

First you must understand who is actually using Twitter. The median age of a user is 31 and a third of the users (33%) are from the ages of 18-29. The next highest concentration of Twitter users are within the age group of 30-49. The educational background is fairly even. How often are these users actually on Twitter? Currently there are 25 million messages being sent per day- and this is in a medium that is still misunderstood.

Does your business belong on Twitter? If so, what do you do with the account? These are the questions which concern most business owners. I will allow you to determine the answer to the first question by giving you a few reasons to have an account. The answer to the second may be a bit more complicated. 

Think of Twitter as a mini Blog. I have also used the analogy of the ticker at the bottom of your television screen on a 24 hour news channel.  You are allowed to use only140 characters for each post. What comes from this restriction is stronger updates.  How does this translate to your business?

One obvious way to use Twitter for your company is to periodically post specials or sales that you are offering. Once you have enough “Followers”, you can even have “Twitter Followers’ specials as well. The Twitter community moves quickly. You can even have specials just during certain hours of the day, like “blue light specials”. You will post updates on either what has been sold out, how long they have until the sale is done, etc. An online frenzy can happen swiftly if your campaign is executed correctly.

Another use of your Twitter account is to become a resource for news within your industry. Find relevant Twitter accounts for you to follow. When they post something of interest, you can repost- it is called a “ReTweet”. Do not just copy it- the etiquette of Twitter is to RT (ReTweet). Also, if you read an online article which you would like to share, most of the time you will see an icon which asks you if you want to share it. If you click that link, Twitter will automatically connect with your Twitter account and post the appropriate link within your account.

Of course for your marketing to be effective, you must have Followers. Without them, you are promoting to no one. The easiest place to begin is within Twitter itself. Once you create you Twitter account, go to the tab which says “Find People”. Once you click that, select the next tab which is titled “Find on Other Networks”. Then you can select your Yahoo, Gmail or AOL mail accounts to cross reference your contacts with Twitter users. Then begin to follow them and they most likely will follow you (this concept holds true in general.  When you find industry relevant people to follow, they will probably follow you.). You can also input email addresses to invite your customers  to your account within the “Invite by Email” tab. Lastly, advertise your account everywhere: your website, your Blog, your newsletter and even your offline marketing literature.

Now perhaps you can determine if you should be on Twitter.  However how to effectively use the account will take more time to explore and develop. There are Social Media experts who can guide you through this maze and show you how to use all of your Social Media accounts together with a cohesive strategy. It may be worth your time to speak to an expert if you are taking your accounts seriously in your marketing efforts.  Proper use of social media can help you gain sales and brand exposure. Twitter, as with most other Social Media platforms, gives you a chance for free promotion- at least for now. Take advantage of this opportunity. Your potential customers are using social media  and you should also.