Nowadays, everyone is a journalist. People are constantly connecting and passing on information, through blogs, online forums, news sharing pages and social networking sites. If something is said, whether it is about a business or an individual, whether it is positive or negative, it can be dispersed across the web within a matter of seconds.
Why Do Businesses Need to Understand Online Social Media?
Businesses need to be aware of how information is being communicated now. It is important that companies continually monitor the different online portals and know how to respond when they are mentioned in conversations. An even better situation would be if businesses were consistently contributing to the online discussion, building up trust with their audiences and sharing knowledge that is both beneficial and relevant to them.
What is Twitter?
Twitter is one of the newer online innovations and doesn’t appear to be fading away anytime soon. It is a free social networking and micro blogging service that enables its users to send and read messages known as tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters displayed on the author's profile page and delivered to the author's subscribers, who are known as followers.
How Twitter Can Contribute to Business Success
When used properly, Twitter enables businesses to hear what their customers are thinking and what they want. For example, large American and British companies, such as Borders and WHSmith, use Twitter to respond instantly to questions from customers and to get immediate feedback about their services, products and business approach. Twitter also allows companies to present a more human side than is often seen. Customers begin to feel more attached to the brands as they are communicating and listening to a real person from that organisation.
Twitter allows users to access news instantly. This means that information from a business using the site can potentially be read by millions of people across the world. However, it also means that negative news stories from other sources will travel just as fast. This is another very good reason for being aware of Twitter and how it works.
Contrary to popular belief, tweeting and monitoring Twitter does not take up a lot of time. Two or three meaningful notes a day are much more valuable than a stream of consciousness approach where the writer informs followers of their second by second movements. Bearing a few important points in mind will help a business owner use Twitter to their best advantage:
- Be slightly less formal and use layman’s language when posting on Twitter. The conversational style on this site is very casual. If a user is too stiff and considered in their posts they will come across as overly corporate and robotic. This will not endear them to current and prospective customers who will be keen to see that more human and identifiable side of the company.
- Even though it is a good idea to have a less formal tone when tweeting, do be careful about what is posted. Anything inappropriate could be picked up and spread across the net in a matter of minutes. A bit of fun and personality is good but steer away from controversial topics. The company’s image must be protected.
- If employees are tweeting, provide them with a list of what can and can’t be said on behalf of the company, if necessary.
- Use Twitter to hold the occasional competition and giveaway. Make it for Twitter users only to make them feel special.
- Follow other companies, organisations and individuals, including journalists, which could be useful to a business. These people will often reciprocate by following back. The more contacts following a business, the higher the awareness of the brand will get.
- Avoid over-tweeting. People will get bored and stop following someone that is effectively spamming them with incessant Twitter posts.
- Post links back to the company website whenever appropriate as this will be beneficial for the site’s Google website ranking and will increase traffic.
- Use Twitter Search to listen for the company’s name, the names of key staff, competitor names and words that relate to the space the business is in.
- It is important to get a business’s messages across but remember to communicate with other people too. By asking other users questions and commenting on their tweets, a company will come across as friendly and approachable. This is especially important for large corporate enterprises which many feel have lost that human touch.
- Include a profile picture. People want to know who they are talking to.
Read more at Suite 101: Using Twitter for Business Purposes
Jennifer Boyes - Jennifer Boyes is originally from the United Kingdom but moved out to New Zealand in 2006, drawn by the healthy, outdoor lifestyle and the ...
