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Most businesses have figured out that they ought to be tweeting to their target audiences. Few businesses, though, do it well. The businesses that don’t get Twitter use the social media platform as a vehicle to only broadcast the equivalent of press releases. As a result, their Twitter feeds become an endless stream of one-way sales messages.
What these businesses seem to forget is that Twitter is a social media platform. The critical social element means you are supposed to be in a give and take relationship with your audience. You need to be conversing with your audience, sharing information (other than information directly promoting your business) and listening to what your audience is saying to you.
Of course, you can promote your business, but such overt promotional messages need to be mixed in with other forms of messaging. Here are a few suggestions to get your business socializing on Twitter. While there is no absolute formula for success on Twitter, here are a few tweets you should be sending.
1. "Check out this interesting article":
Send articles that are not about your business, but cover topics that would be of interest to your target audience. As a PR firm, you might send out a news story with an interesting PR angle.
2. "Here’s some news about our favorite charity":
Remember, we are all part of a greater community. If your business has connections to a charity or just supports a particular charity, use your Tweets to promote it. If your business has been involved in a charity event, take pictures and post them with your tweets.
3. "Check out the cool people who work for us”:
These are tweets designed to put a human face on your firm. Feature an “employee of the day,” or show photos or videos of a recent company event or party. These posts remind your followers that you are the kinds of people they’d like to do business with.
4. "You’ve got to check out this hilarious video”:
Who doesn’t appreciate a good laugh? If your followers think you are just trying to sell them all the time, they will unfollow you or, worse, complain about you on Twitter. There's a lot of funny content on the Web, so why not put a smile on the face of your followers. There is one caveat, though. Not everyone has the same sense of humor. Be careful not to offend your audience.
5."We hear you":
Twitter can be an extremely powerful customer service tool. Failing to monitor what is being said about your company on Twitter can be a fatal mistake. Listen to what is being said and craft the appropriate professional response. You don’t have to respond to every negative statement, but when a real issue arises you need to address it quickly and honestly.
By Jon Gelbeg: @Jon_Gelberg