To Connect!
Increase your connections with those you know and those you would like to know! It’s great for connecting with people you’ve met (and much more personal than sending a ‘nice to meet you’ email!). You can also search specifically for your target (websites such as Twellow allow you to do this). For example, a golfing shop in Manchester could search people in Manchester with ‘golf’ mentioned in their bio.
SEO, Website and Blog Spreading!
Google recognises tweets and Twitter profiles in its searches. Twitter also helps lead people to your website by including links in your tweets or by people clicking on your website in your bio. This will not only give your followers a greater understanding of what you do, but also increase your website’s SEO. Twitter also allows your blog to reach a much wider audience when included in your tweets.
Testimonials!
People are happy to spread the love on Twitter when you’ve provided a great product for them, done a fantastic talk or given them some great advice! These are instant testimonials! You can use them on your website and marketing material and should definitely retweet them to show your followers are brill you are!
Reputation Management!
On the flipside of this, people can unfortunately say bad things about you on Twitter (though I’m sure they won’t!). If you’re not on there you can’t handle this bad press and turn it round. Run searches on your name to ensure no one’s saying anything bad about you!
Find Things Out and Research!
Twitter’s great for keeping you on the ball with what’s happening in your local area or even in international news. It can also give you insights into your own industry. You can also use Twitter to ask research questions. These could be about your industry or as simple as what you should do that weekend in Manchester! Try using Twitter instead of Google to find something out!
Run Searches!
Imagine if you were able to go to a potential customer knowing they already have a need for your products or services? Well use searches on Twitter and this could well be the case! For example, I might be looking for someone saying they ‘need help with social media’. I then know they already have a need for what I provide! Think about the keywords your potential customers would use when looking for your service.
Position Yourself as an Expert
Use Twitter to show you know what you’re talking about when it comes to your industry. Raise provocative questions, tweet advice, answer questions and link to industry news.
Increase Brand Awareness
Many of use are self-employed or work in small organisations. Well guess what the brand is – YOU!! Twitter can help to increase brand you! It will highlight your values, how you work, who you work with and what your personality is!
Hire People
If you’re looking to either recruit or work with a subcontractor, we all know the power of word-of-mouth. So ask on Twitter! You’ll find that people will be all too willing to recommend people for you to work with. You can also ask on Twitter when you’re looking to get in front of a specific client. Just pose the question ‘Does anyone know a ___ I can connect with?’
Tweetup!
Cold calling can be soul destroying, so connect with them on Twitter, after a few conversations give them a ring and ask if they’d like to meet for a coffee to take the conversation further. You can also arrange a ‘tweetup’ with a number of people you’ve been connecting with online. And, it’s great to carry on conversations you’ve had at 4N!
So, I hope I’ve convinced you there definitely is a point in bothering with Twitter! If you’ve any questions just give me a call on 07791 410478 or email me sam@samflynn.co.uk!
