You have an offline business and you’ve been brainstorming, trying to think of ways to increase business. Twitter comes to mind. You say to yourself, “How can I utilize Twitter to help me market my offline business?”
Well, Twitter is not the magic marketing pill or a get rich quick fix. Having said that, Twitter can work wonders for some offline businesses when used in conjunction with your website, blog, and any other online real estate you may have developed.
7 Ways To Use Twitter To Boost Your Business
1. Build a targeted following on Twitter. This is very important. Twitter is not a numbers game no matter what some will tell you. The game is getting your customers and potential customers to listen to you. You need to build your following based on people who are potentially interested in your products/services and industry. Have a clear idea of who your potential market is and build your following accordingly. There are several tools and strategies business peeps use to locate their targeted customers (followers).
2. Post tweets using captivating copy that contain links to the bigger picture on your blog or website. Twitter is used to point your followers to the bigger picture.
3. Tweet links to other people’s information that is relevant to your targeted followers. This builds trust and demonstrates your willingness to share. People trust that you have their best interest at heart because you are willing to share other people’s valuable information as well. You’re giving them more value beyond what you can provide. There are more than enough clients or customers to go around, don’t horde your followers.
4. Tweet promotions and special offers only available to your followers. This is a great way to show them they are important and exclusive and you appreciate them. It’s a very powerful way to cherish your existing customers who have become your followers. This works very well for local offline retail and restaurants.
5. Ask questions. This keeps you in tune to your market and your followers. Asking questions can accomplish a couple of things. First, you will be able to identity your markets most pressing issues or concerns and address them in a timely manner. The second would be the advantage of having greater insight. The majority of your clients or potential clients do not realize why things are not working or that you can help them with a particular issue, so when you ask questions you can uncover the underlying issues or problems. These areas of concern can go unnoticed due to lack of communication. Something as simple as asking questions can unveil treasures and add tremendous value and overall impact to your business
6. Answer questions. By answering questions you are giving a voice to your company. By supplying answers and solutions you are revealing your knowledge which increases your credibility. Your followers will see that you really know what you are talking about. Once you have their attention and trust, you have your foot in the door. In turn, this gives you the opportunity to work on the rest of their issues as a paying client. Use Twitter search to find the people who are asking questions.
7. Conduct market research. Surveys’ and polls are a perfect way to figure out what your followers need and want. Address those issues in future posts and tweets. People will come to see you as their solution provider.
These are just the tip of the iceberg, but you now have an idea as to how Twitter can realistically function for you. It is fast, free (unless you hire someone to manage your social marketing), efficient and powerful.
Share with me the ones you have used or if you have an idea not listed here!
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