Why Your Small Business Should Be on Twitter

What if you could learn about one marketing tactic that had the potential to reach almost 10,000 people every second? Would you be interested? The secret to reaching a larger, targeted audience in a specific geographic area is nothing new or complicated.

It’s Twitter.

The numbers don’t lie

There are over 600 million active users on Twitter, with new users signing up every day. One-quarter of Twitter users currently stay in contact with brands via the social media platform. You can benefit from targeting some of these users, whether your business is local-dependent or not, and regardless of your company’s size. If you’re not taking advantage of the opportunity to connect with Twitter users and develop a relationship, you’re missing out on a lot of marketing potential for very little cost.

Twitter delivers

The unique thing about Twitter is that its search capabilities allow you to connect with users based on all kinds of qualifying demographics like location or interests. Through the use of hashtags, you can find users who are located in your area, using search terms like #greatercleveland or #ashlandohio. Hashtags are also useful for targeting shared interests like #marketingservices, #websitedesign, #petcare or #nonprofit.

What can Twitter can do for you?

The business benefits of Twitter marketing abound. These are just a few of the direct benefits of using Twitter:

• It allows you to create links back to your blog or website, increasing traffic.
• You can stay up-to-date on industry happenings.
• It lets you build credibility and showcase your expertise with an established audience.
• The circle of users who see your tweets increase exponentially with every single user that retweets your message.

 Hashtag central

Whether your company is big or small, national or local, hashtags let you use Twitter to its fullest potential. Searching for, and following, users on Twitter via hashtags is very much like using targeted search terms for a website search.

With Twitter marketing, local business can create a brand presence by targeting local consumers. Here’s how:

• The first, most logical step: Search for users based on your city or town name, or other geographic areas critical to your marketing. Include the name of your state and zip code.
• Find and follow other locally based organizations, like radio stations, newspapers and nonprofits, as well as local events. By following these users, a portion of them will follow you back, and you’ll begin to create a robust list of locally based Twitter users.
• Get in the know about the ways locals refer to the town or geographic area. For instance, NYC is a well-known way to refer to New York City, and C’bus is a common way that locals refer to Columbus, OH.
• Start tweeting. But don’t assume that you should launch into direct-sales marketing mode. Instead, keep it relational and informational. Let your followers get to know you and your business, and reserve sales tactics for other channels.

Small businesses in particular are often reticent to jump aboard the Twitter train for fear that they won’t have time to keep up with it. Some experts, however, believe that you can successfully maintain a Twitter marketing campaign in under 30 minutes a month.

With a strategic presence on social media platforms like Twitter, you can grow your relationship marketing plan and take it to new heights, creating a sales funnel that drives customers to your website or brick and mortar business—in very little time.