3 Qualities Of A Successful Twitter Business Strategy

By: Christina Damiano

Companies should look at the current business processes or problems that they are already solving and use Twitter as just another medium to do so. Likewise, companies wanting to measure the return on investment (ROI) of their Twitter strategy should look at how they measure all of their other desired business objectives. In other words, Twitter is just another tool for business owners to use to grow their company and be successful.

After listening to the Inbound Marketing University’s Class 11 webinar, I decided to approach the homework assignment based on my experience in business development rather than social media. I decided to start my research for this post by reading the Twitter for Businesses section on their website. It says, “As a business, you can use Twitter to quickly share information, gather market intelligence and insights, and build relationships with people who care about your company.”

Yeah, but like anything, there are ways to be successful and ways to fail. I have been tweeting for a few months now but I have been working with and counseling small business owners for over 15 years now so here are my thoughts about three qualities that make a business’ Twitter strategy successful:

Listen first

Taking the time to listen to your current and potential customers is nothing new so a company’s Twitter strategy should start no differently. The best way to organically build a Twitter following is to listen and share with the audience in mind. What are your clients/customers saying about you? What are your prospects saying about what they want? What are your competitors talking about? Answering those questions will be the basis for your first Tweets.

Cast a wide net

The use of hashtags in a Tweet is essential to reach a wider audience. Inbound marketing is based on the premise that you are attracting potential clients/customers based on the value of the content you’re sharing. If you are only sharing with your current customers (e.g. Twitter followers) then you are missing those who have similar likes and interests.

Be compelling

Outbound marketing’s goal is promotion whereas inbound marketing is based on engagement. Businesses can be creative in framing their Tweets so that they are more engaging (i.e. compelling the reader to click to see what you have to say). Since you only have 140 characters to work with, take the time to create a compelling Tweet so that is more about engaging and less about promoting.

Twitter allows companies to engage more deeply with current and potential customers/clients in strategic and powerful ways. The key is to avoid thinking that influence is gained by attracting attention to your business and shift that mindset by providing attention and value to your audience.

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Christina Damiano has been working with small diverse business owners and potential entrepreneurs for almost two decades, first in the public sector and later as the founding Executive Director of a regional non-profit organization.  Jazzed right now about the impact of social media, you can follow her on Twitter and Google+, connect with her on LinkedIn or read her blog.