14 Oct How Local Businesses Can Own Twitter (and Why They Should)
I had an interesting discussion this past weekend which led me to a few assumptions and I thought I might share them with you. The conversation centered around Twitter and its opportunities for users on many different levels. Now, for those of you out there who are paying attention, you know that Twitter is an often criticized social network, and many (including Twitter themselves) don’t even consider it a social network at all. I shouldn’t have to tell you about the criticism Twitter suffers, but in case you were unaware, there are many people out there who consider it to be a source of banality and useless drivel crowding up the pipeline. Others just think of it as a place for Justin Bieber fans to gush over their favorite celebrichild. Unfortunately, many of those critics are right. Twitter is all of those things, but it is also a terrific news source, even for individuals who don’t do any tweeting themselves. The beautiful thing about Twitter as a news source is the fact that you can select the news that comes to you based on your interests. This isn’t really a luxury that Facebook provides as succintly or directly. Not yet at least.
With Twitter as a news hub, it only seems natural that people would be most interested in the news most relevant to them, which often means information pertaining specifically to local and regional goings on.Twitter is primed for local businesses and regional small businesses to take full advantage of them, they just have to know how.
Here’s how:
Area Target
It doesn’t take an SEO guru to tell you that you need to include relevant keywords in the content you’re writing. I absolutely cannot stand it when I see websites for businesses that have a “Contact Us” page but don’t have a city and state listed. This should be the same for Twitter. They give you a nice little spot for which to put your location, and you should take advantage of that. The other thing you should probably take advantage of is the opportunity to link to your website so that you can give followers more information if they require it. Also, using a hashtag for your location might be a good way to attract out-of-towners who might be looking for the best restaurant in your area.
Inform and Reward
You know who can benefit from Twitter the most? Food trucks, man. There’s a food truck in my neighborhood called Only Burger, and they have really taken advantage of the power of Twitter. Food trucks are mobile, so it makes sense for them to have a way to update their location so you don’t have to search for them. Tweeting is the perfect means. So you can tell people about the latest news for your business – where you are, what specials you’re running, what new thing you can provide for your audience. But also, do them one better than that and give them a reward for being a fan. Give them a discount for following you on Twitter or add some value to show them you’re serious about them as a customer. They appreciate it and tell their friends how awesome you are. That’s the point of social media marketing, right? Well, get to it. I want free fries.
Get Feedback
So, check this out: You’re a local business and you want to know what people think of your newest thing that you did. You could wait for them to tell you, or you could Tweet out a question. Likewise, you can use the search function on Twitter to find exactly who has said what about your business. Are they upset? Fix the problem. Are they happy? Give them more reason to be. You’ve got a free platform to have a discussion with your customers, so use it.
Twitter isn’t going anywhere as long as there are individuals out there are using it as a means of information consumption. Personally, I follow more local people and businesses on Twitter than I do anyone else. Because those are the places I go and the people I am most likely to interact with. So Mom and Pop, I suggest you do what you need to do to start using Twitter if you aren’t already. Don’t be afraid or intimidated by it, though, because there are people out there who want you to succeed.
(photo via: krynsky)
