Using Twitter for your business

With 500 million tweets sent daily, Twitter has an unparalleled reach for your business. Twitter lets you connect globally, sharing and accessing information instantly with new and existing customers. Let’s look at the statistics:
66% of customers have discovered a new business through Twitter.
94% of those customers plan to purchase from the businesses they follow.
69% of sales are made because of a tweet.
The question is: can your business afford not to use Twitter?

Understand the Building Blocks
Let’s start with the basics. If you want to engage seamlessly and meaningfully with your followers, then you’ll need to know the terminology so you can understand how Twitter works.
Tweet: the basic building block of Twitter. Currently limited to 140 characters, you can include images, videos and links.
Reply: click this to respond to any enquiries or mentions. Do this in a timely and considerate fashion and you’ll show you’re listening and willing to engage in the conversation.
Retweet: want to share something interesting from another account with your followers? Then click the retweet button. You can share the tweet just as it is, or add a comment using the quote option.
Like: show the author of an interesting tweet that you appreciate it by clicking the heart button. This is also a useful way of bookmarking tweets for future reference.
Hashtag: using the # hashtag symbol is a useful way of organising conversations around a theme and a simple way to search for useful and interesting information. Just be careful that the hashtag you use is clear and can’t be misconstrued.
Mention: want to ask someone a question or draw their attention to something interesting? Then include their @username in the tweet.

Leverage the Power of Twitter
If you want to know what’s interesting your audience right now, then Twitter is the ideal way to tap into their mindset. You can leverage Twitter in some interesting and creative ways to connect with and engage your audience.

Engage and Add Value
Use Twitter search to seek out influencers and interesting conversations. Jump in, but only when you can add something of real value to the conversational thread.

Increase Your Reach
Tweet regularly and you’ll raise your profile and increase your reach. We’ll deal with what to tweet in a later section. You can also schedule tweets or use Twitter Ads to increase your marketing impact.

Customer Service
Responding in a timely fashion to your customers on Twitter isn’t just polite: it’s an expectation with 85% of small-business users. This highlights the importance of great Twitter-based customer service. Respond appropriately and you’ll develop trust, strong customer relationships and a good reputation.

Widen Your Network
Twitter allows you to connect with brand advocates, influencers and potential customers beyond your usual network. Raise your profile and build stronger, wider networks when you seek out and interact with new followers.

Engage and React
When you engage with social media, quality content is crucial, so look at trending topics, influencers and even your competitors for inspiration. Find out the needs of your followers and strive to meet them. Anticipate and solve their problems through thought-provoking, interesting and engaging content. Above all, react and engage in real time when possible.