9 Ways to Grow Your Business with Twitter

If you’re like most small business owners, what you really want to know is: Can Twitter actually help you grow your business – and how? 

Here’s the honest answer: Yes, Twitter can have a tremendous impact on the growth of your business – if – you put the effort in and use the right approach. Unfortunately, Twitter is not a magic-maker. Twitter is an avenue to make meaningful connections with your audience.  And yes, your audience wants meaningful connections – not straight up advertising.

Just to be clear, let’s take a look at some statements about Twitter:

FALSE: I can send out lots of advertising Tweets and gets lots of new customers.

TRUE: If I create a valuable, relevant, informative Twitter presence, I can gain loyal followers, develop interest in my business, and ultimately get new customers.

Here are 9 ways to make the most of Twitter for your business:

1. Get real. If all you do is try to sell your products on Twitter, nobody will follow you! People don’t join Twitter because they want to be advertised to.  Put yourself in their shoes and think about how your Tweets will come across.
   
   
2. Link to your site, your blog, to interesting articles you’ve read, and to your newsletter, but remember, do it when it’s relevant!
   
    
3. Become a helpful expert. Use your expertise to comment on other’s Tweets and offer relevant help. 
    
4. Skip the inane stuff.  Don’t tell people you just ate a salami sandwich. Before you Tweet, ask yourself, “is this relevant?”
    
5. Pay attention!  If people re-tweet your posts, it means they found it interesting.  Learn from what’s being re-tweeted and commented on, and create more content like that.
    
6. Be patient. Twitter success takes time. The first step is to gain followers by conversing, being personable, and being relevant. 
    
7. Promotions and giveaways are a good way to get attention.  If you keep them fun and exciting, the followers will come.
   
   
8. Engage people. Ask questions, be interesting, and be unique.  You can’t engage people with a robotic Twitter presence, so remember to be genuine.
    
9. Promote other people’s stuff. It’s not just about you. Re-tweet info from others. Be a member of the community, not just out for yourself. 
     

Suggested Twitter site:

Everything seems automated these days. Sending reoccurring information in a bite size nugget that people find useful...is all the better. I emphasize useful.

I suggest Objective Marketer. This is a useful tool in generating traffic to your site by utilizing reoccurring campaigns throughout the year. Objective Marketer tracks each click per campaign up to the hour. What's nice about this online tool, is it allows you to send messages to multiple twitter accounts, even Facebook.

FYI: if your checking your websites traffic from Objective Marketer to your Google Analytics account, some WAP devices like the iPhone can't process Googles javascript correctly.

Try this: In Google Analytics, create a campaign let's say "Web via OM" and use the tracking tag in all the links that you post to twitter through Objective Marketer. 

Check it out: www.objectivemarketer.com

Contributing writer: Deidre Rienzo, Bill De Smet for Ballistic Designs, Inc. 2009