Using Twitter For Business

Every now and then I scour the internet for various courses and articles. Sometimes I will even go over old techniques or newer techniques, just to keep myself fresh......you can never start thinking you know it all.

Here's one that reminded me of that;

Recently business has realised the potential use of Twitter as a tool for marketing products and services directly to new customers. If you and your business want to capitalise on Twitter's application for marketing, here's some advice on running your Twitter marketing campaign:

* Set up your Twitter account and profile using your company name. When it comes to filling in your profile details, make it keyword rich, so if a potential customer is searching for companies such as yours, they have a great chance of finding you on Twitter.

* Unless you run a REALLY informal company, you should aim to keep your 'Tweet' messages business-focused. Potential customers don't need to know what you had for lunch.

* Whenever you are writing 'Tweets' make your messages keyword rich, this way people using alerts and searches will be directed to your Tweets when searching for your product or services.

* Use updates judiciously otherwise you will just annoy your potential customers. Once or twice per hour is enough.

* Use an IM-style program like Twitterfox and Twhirl, it sits on your desktop, so it will be quicker and easier to manage than logging into the Twitter website every time you want to send a message.

* Tweetbeep is an alert service to let you know when people are tweeting about key phrases that relate to you and your business. This allows you to reply directly to them if they are looking for help or advice.

* Inform your newsletter subscribers, hot leads and CRM database that you are available to follow on Twitter. Encourage your customers to sign up to Twitter by publishing special Twitter only deals, after all, a Tweet takes no time at all but a newsletter plenty!

* Promote your Twitter account everywhere possible, your social networks, social bookmarking sites, on your company websites, in your emails, wherever you think customers will see it, the more followers that you have, the larger your potential audience/market becomes.

* Finally, plan your Twitter marketing campaign carefully to attract the right attention and create the right buzz. Don't just tweet for twitter's sake. Know what you're doing, plan out your strategy and implement it effectively. Used properly Twitter really works as a great marketing tool.

Twitter is a highly effective tool for business users to connect directly with their potential customers. If you need help attracting new customers through Twitter Marketing, email Nikki at nikki@nikkipilkington.com

And of course, you can 'follow' Nikki herself on Twitter by going to http://www.twitter.com/NikkiPilkington and clicking on 'follow'