I know Twitter is all the craze right now, we can see how fast it is growing and how many different audiences it is capturing. But how should company’s use Twitter? I think this is the universal question. It all boils down to what your companies goals are. Twitter should be used just like any other source of revenue, and companies should be asking themselves, does my involvement on Twitter align with the strategic business goals of my company?
It is important to define those goals before your company starts tweeting, figure out what your company wants to get out of Twitter, then you can determine your strategy only after your goals are defined.
And I’ll give you a hint; if your direct goal is to increase sales by using Twitter you should choose another goal. Get creative, use Twitter as a customer service tool and be a resource for your users. Better yet be an expert in your industry for your Twitter followers, this will indirectly affect your sales. Below I’ve outlined a few general goals businesses may have for Twitter and aligned them with strategic uses on how you can accomplish those goals in Twitter.
Goals: Uses
- Build Brand Awareness: Gain a targeted following on Twitter by doing your research and only follow people who are related in some way to your company’s brand.
- Increase Company Credibility: Be an expert in your industry and be a resource in Twitter to answer questions and provide information on your industry, don’t blatantly market your own company.
- Competitive Research: Follow your competitors on Twitter, not only see how they are using Twitter but find out inside information about their company.
- Promote Company Events: Promote webinars, seminars and conferences using Twitter, after you gain following update followers on the dates and times of your events. For larger events/projects create a hashtag so people can easily search for your event. Be creative with your updates, don’t just post you are having an event, show the Twitter community (in 140 characters or less) your event’s value proposition. And don’t forget to link back to your site.
If you are interested in learning more about how to use Twitter for businesses, I would check out this Webcast at the end of the month to learn more. Are you new to Twitter? This whitepaper can act as your beginner’s guide.