Twitter to Boost Publicity and Sales
Reaching Target Market is Easy and Cheap Through Twitter
Sep 10, 2009
Twitters, tweets and twestivels are all terms which are slowly becoming part of the regular language. Around the world, major cities are holding offline events called twestivals to celebrate the usage of Twitter and much publicity is being given to these Twitter festivals.
Formed in 2006, Twitter has ever since taken on the internet world with a boom. However, it still remains the social networking tool that also baffles internet users around the world. Those who use and benefit from it love it. But those who have yet to master an understanding of Twitter do not know what to make out of it.
What is Twitter All About?
Twitter is a social networking site where the users (also known as twitterers) update their statuses and all the friends following the user on Twitter, will be automatically updated with the status change. In the world of technological advancement, Twitter is banking on the fact that these updates can be sent to users and their Twitter followers directly on their cell phones too.
What are Tweets?
Twitter can be viewed as a mini-messaging format. Each twitterer is given 140 characters to limit their thought in and publish it for the world. This is why many of the messages link to another website, further explaining the thought behind the 140 characters.
What are Tools for Tweeting on Twitter?
Twitter has these funky tools for communication. A twitterer can type "@" before a username, and the message will automatically go as a reply to the given username. This is more convenient than going to the specific username's profile page and then hitting reply. Similarly, if a twitterer likes a specific "tweet" (message) from someone, the twitterer can re-tweet it too. She or he simply has to type "RT" (short for re-tweet) before the username and their message. This way the original twitterer of the message will get due credit for her or his message without plagiarism!
How Can Twitterers Get More People to Follow Them on Twitter?
Twitter would be useless without followers. The more the followers on Twitter, the more chances of the twitterer being seen and heard. For any business especially it is important to have maximum number of users following.
- The best way to let people know of the user's Twitter account is to include it as a signature in emails. Every day scores of emails are being sent out by a single user and the constant reiteration of the Twitter account is bound to get more followers on it.
- Include Twitter account in the business and visiting cards along with phone number and other contact info.
- In Twitter settings, the user has the option to connect the Twitter account to a facebook account or a URL page. Utilize these to publicize Twitter accounts on facebook, blog or website.
- Change the status on facebook, MSN messenger, Yahoo messenger, Google chat or whichever chat software is most used.
- There is an option on Twitter called "Find people." Check which of your email contacts are already on Twitter and start following them. The ones who are not on Twitter, invite them to it!
The best way to benefit from the above mentioned ideas is to stick to them on a regular basis. It would not work if any of the above mentioned ideas were just implemented once. Constant reiteration is the best way to reach peoples' minds.
How Can Businesses Use Twitter Search Engine?
Twitter is constantly used by politicians for their pre-elections publicity, by activists to promote rallies and protests, and by friends to keep in touch with others. But Twitter, more recently, is catching on in the business community too. Organizations, whether profit-making or not-for-profit, are finding the usage of Twitter to increase their publicity and ultimately sales. Following is a step-by-step guide on how Twitter can be used by businesses and organizations:
- In the search field on the main page of Twitter (after signing in) the twitterer can enter any word that is relevant to the business, its products or market. All the tweets using these terms will pop up.
- The search can be saved for future reference and the next time the twitterer logs in the search will not only be saved but also refreshed with new users or tweets using the same words.
- Follow the twitterers using these words - they will be good contacts to have for future publicity or ideas.
- Join in the discussions other twitterers are having regarding your keywords and throw in your business website for them to check out.
- Send them direct messages or public tweets about your products and business information.
- Some Twitter users may be competitors and the above search will help in recognizing them. Learn their ideas and see how the business can outbeat those.
- Through the above mentioned search find out what are questions that are popping in others' minds and tackle those. It will give an idea of what the market wants and is talking about.
- If you type hash (#) before a term can tell how much the term has been used in Twitter. This can be useful for creating business analytics and reaching quantified conclusions.
There are independent gadgets online that can make the Twitter experience a worthwhile experience. It is a good idea to first get used to Twitter and then start experimenting with those gadgets. Gaining publicity for any business is easy now. Thanks to technology and Twitter, the target market can be reached easily and quickly and in a much cheaper way.
Reference:
http://www.zawya.com/story.cfm/sidZAWYA20090908065926
BNC101
 |
