What is the best way to approach Twitter for business? First, think of how you react as a viewer.
If a person tweets me relentlessly with sales pitches (fleshed out via the links on the tweets)–OK, even if I am slightly pestered–I may drop them from my “following” list. In fact, that is what I have done sometimes, and I am not alone. Dropping with a click shuts them out of my site, like changing channels, as someone said. Social media does best when it is, well, social.
But if I fear I might miss an opportunity by dropping the person with sales pitches, or if the person I am following has provided tweets that lead me to know, like and trust the person, I may listen and I may buy. Tweeters using Twitter for business would thus do well to provide quality tweets consistently.
Quality tweets may be friendly or funny to attract.
They may ask questions to get conversations going (as long as the conversation is not long and relevant only to you and the other person).
They may answer questions to be helpful–and enhance one’s reputation as a go-to person. They may warn others of a problem that concerns them.
They may provide helpful and desired information, whether the information is self-serving or not.
… And there is always the self-serving link in one’s profile which fans and the curious will ferret out.
Focus tweets on things relevant to your keywords and niche, and you will develop a niche go-to reputation. Focus more broadly, and you may develop a broader, but less targeted audience.
Consistency of tweeting need not be all day long, although Twitter can be mildly addicting. One will want to provide tweets enough to be noticed, but not so many that one becomes annoying. Someone suggested ten minutes three times a day: morning, afternoon, and evening. Or once a day, preferably at peak viewing times for your target audience. Others are successful with less.
Of course, seasonal specials, promotions, and product launches will be times when you will want to provide more tweets than normally.
Peter Rubel
Tags: Social Media, Twitter
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