by Julia Paulus
Since its launch in March 2006, Twitter has become one of the most popular social media sites.
It attracts more users every day, and some local businesses have caught on.
One of these businesses is St. Louis’ Showroom Shine car detailing shop, owned by Arthur Shivers and Sylvester Chisom. When Shivers and Chisom’s web design consultant, David Buckner, suggested he begin tweeting for the business, the men didn’t hesitate.
“We recently wrote a book on our experience as young entrepreneurs, ‘The Young Entrepreneur’s Guide To Success,’” says Shivers. “We wanted to get it into classrooms, so we started tweeting about it. Soon after, we had a message in our inbox to contact the Normandy School District. We were able to get our books into classrooms with contacts we made through Twitter.”
The company still uses a combination of marketing tactics. But, Chisom and Shivers say Twitter is different because it’s free, live, consistent and up-to-date. “With it, you receive instant feedback,” says Shivers. “We concentrate on building relationships with clients. So we have our customers fill out customer profiles when they come in, and we ask for their Twitter and Facebook information. Tweeting has helped us improve our customer base and gain more return customers.”
Get an Expert. Chisom and Shivers say they have definitely seen a return on investment. Although their consultant costs $75 per hour, they say the fact that he is teaching them how to use Twitter properly makes the expense worthwhile.
“Get someone who knows how to use it first to find out what all you can do with it,” says Shivers. “A consultant can show you how to market on the Internet. Then you can go in with a plan and find more success. Think of it like this: If you’re not a plumber, you’re not just going to start messing with your plumbing.”
Local marketing consultants agree that service-oriented businesses such as Showroom Shine as well as restaurants and retailers get immediate benefits from Twitter. “Small retailers, online stores or restaurants can use Twitter to promote events, sales, new products or specials to people who have an interest in getting that info,” says Meg Fullenkamp, director of public relations at Captiva Marketing. “And that is truly the way to use Twitter as a small business.”
Get a Plan. No matter what your industry, experts also say going in with a plan is always the best bet. And if you aren’t familiar with Twitter, finding an expert consultant to educate you is better than going in blind. “Social media can be a problem because there is no barrier of entry,” says David Siteman Garland, principal of Ragency and The Rise To The Top. “It’s not like becoming a doctor and going to school for eight years to learn what you’re doing. For that reason, you need an expert in planning and strategy to help you come up with a marketing plan. Once you have that in place, you need to learn how to execute.”
Learn from Others. Lauren Kolbe, president of KolbeCo Marketing Resources, says watching how experts on Twitter interact is a worthwhile way to learn how to plan and execute. “Start an account, and follow the best,” she says. “Learn how they interact in this type of media. Take note of the conversations they start. Be a genuine observer of the world around you. That’s where your tweet material will come from.
“Now take that knowledge and ask yourself, ‘How does it apply to me and my business?’ To manage Twitter and follow keywords that are relevant to your business, your interests and other organizations you support, set up a tool such as TweetDeck. TweetDeck allows you to set up various search terms so that you can monitor all tweets that relate to your product or service. Antennas Direct, for example, follows many key terms related to antennas, HD programming, TV reception, digital signals, etc.”
Don’t Just Broadcast. After seeing what works for others on Twitter, recognize that there are definite dos and don’ts when it comes to tweeting. “The No. 1 thing business owners need to learn is how to listen and respond on their end,” says Garland. “You can’t just use Twitter as a broadcast mechanism. You need to find conversations where people are talking about your niche. It’s the best aspect of Twitter. There are conversations happening in real time, and you need to listen and respond to questions and conversations.”
Steve Turner, owner of Solomon/Turner, agrees that tweeting should be a tool in building conversations. “Remember, Twitter and other social networking sites are part of a ‘pull strategy,’ not a ‘push strategy’ like direct mail or advertising,” he says. “Twitter is all about engaging the customer in a professional way.”
Follow the One-Third Rule. Donna Vandiver, owner of The Vandiver Group, say Twitter users should follow the rule of thirds. “One-third of your messages should be personal and include updates about the company, your employees, what is going on, etc.,” says Vandiver. “The second third of your updates should be links concerning news, hot topics, updates about your company or industry, press releases, blogs, videos and links you find interesting and worth sharing. The last third of your tweets should focus on interacting with others. That includes re-tweeting some of your followers’ tweets, sending direct messages to your followers or simply having a public conversation with them by responding to their tweets or starting the conversation yourself."
No Meaningless/Self-Serving Tweets. The experts agree that you should avoid sending constant yet meaningless tweets. “Don’t just push your message down people’s throats,” says Garland. “Don’t say, ‘I just ate a banana.’ You don’t have to broadcast everything you’re doing.”
Experts also say you shouldn’t sell your products in every tweet. “If you are going to tweet, have something newsworthy, funny or important to say,” says Turner. “Constantly sending out a hard-sell message gets old in a hurry, and you will lose your audience.”
For more tips on Twitter, visit www.sbmon.com.