We’re all very familiar with Twitter by now and, as with all big technology trends, most of us have figured out that a lot of the hype is a bit overblown. Twitter is not not an all-purpose mechanism to help earn your business millions, but while it does have limitations, it also has a wide variety of handy uses that can help boost your business in some important ways. In fact, now that Twitter has caught on, many businesses can’t afford not to use it. Dismiss it your own risk.  

Twitter is a social tool

The first and most important thing to understand about Twitter is that it’s not one of those marketing methods that you can operate from behind a wall of anonymity. Through Twitter, you create an identity and interact with people in a friendly manner. In this way, it’s a true Web 2.0 tool—it’s all about being social. Marketers who fail to realize this usually don’t get the full benefit from the tool.

With Twitter, the key is to link your profile to lots of other online resources. You can do this by making Tweets pointing to relevant articles or promotions online, or you can set up your blog and Facebook account so that they automatically send out a Tweet every time you update them. Also, you have to be sure to keep track of how people respond to your Tweets so that you can keep the interaction going.

Part of using Twitter as a social tool is to associate your Twitter feed with a name, face, and identity. If your business has a strong identity in itself, you can get away with giving your business a profile and a personality to match. However, if you’re the main personality behind your business, make it clear in your Twitter profile that you are the one sending out the Tweets.

If you follow these practices, you’ll develop relationships with other people through your Twitter feed, and this will contribute to your brand loyalty. 

Tips for Twitter beginners

As you’re getting started with Twitter, here are some other things to keep in mind:

• Building a following takes time: If you’ve built a blog associated with your website, you probably discovered that building a solid readership takes time and persistence. That’s why so many people give up on their blogs after a short time; they get discouraged when they still have very few readers after the first few weeks or months. Twitter feeds are the same. You have to keep it up in the long term if you want to build a following. Don’t be discouraged.

• Share knowledge: As a business owner, you have expertise and inside information relating to your field. Whenever you come across a bit of information appropriate for Twitter, send it out. It can take some time to get into the habit of recommending these things, so keep at it.

• Read others’ feeds: Twitter has its own rhythm and even its own sort of Twitter-language. To help get into the swing of things, be sure to closely follow Twitter feeds that are of interest to you.

• Don’t bring up controversial things: As with most business-related interactions, it’s generally not a good idea to talk about politics or religion in your Twitter feed. If you break this rule, you risk alienating a large portion of your base.

• Don’t let negativity get you down: If in the Twitterverse you come across people saying negative things about your company, don’t let it bother you. Remember that Tweets are different from blog posts in that they don’t have to be thought out. They’re often just people’s off-the-cuff impressions. So don’t take it seriously; just try to balance it out with your own positive presence.

How to use Twitter

Depending on what type of business you run, there are lots of different things you can do with Twitter. You’re only limited by your creativity. For example, if you run a restaurant or a bar, you could use Twitter to advertise specials. If you make handcrafted items, you could Tweet about new creations. If you sell real estate, you could send out Tweets about new properties that have come on the market. The service has potential applications in all business fields.  

Another thing to keep in mind about Twitter is that it’s not necessarily a tool for directly marketing to new customers or clients (although you will bring in new people through referrals). Mainly, it’s a way to stay present in the minds of people who have worked with or bought from you in the past. Keep this in mind when you’re Tweeting. Avoid overly sales-y language and talk to your readers as if they already know who you are and what you do. This will contribute to the relationship-building, which is what Twitter is all about.