How-To Guide

© 2013 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

Twitter for Business

Executive Summary

If you haven’t heard about Twitter by now, you’re probably living under a rock. But just

because you know about Twitter doesn’t necessarily mean you know how to use it, or even

have an account. What started out as a personal micro blogging site, the social network

has become a powerful business tool for brand promotion and customer interaction.

Twitter provides an opportunity to connect with people on the go and link your content

and brand to what is happening right now. In real time, your business can put out a

message, follow what people are saying about you, get a topic trending and even create a

new trend altogether. Twitter is a free service that provides honest market feedback from

your customers and delivers it right to your computer or mobile device, and this is what

makes Twitter so valuable. 42% of Twitter users follow brands or companies, so it’s

important that your business is visible online and posting content regularly – a process

known as “tweeting”. Tweeting a few times each day reminds your followers that you still

exist.

How-To Guide

© 2013 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

This How-To Guide outlines the key features of Twitter, explains its effectiveness as a

marketing tool and provides an action plan on how to create a unique and effective

Twitter presence to help grow and strengthen your corporate brand.

Key Features

Twitter is a social networking website that can be accessed via your computer or mobile

device. Recently, Twitter released the “fast follow” function, which allows people to follow

Twitter users without having to set up their own Twitter account. This feature dramatically

increases the potential reach of your messaging. Other key features include:

1. Instant notifications: Users can determine which Tweets to receive notification of

and which ones to display when they access the Twitter website. This means that

those following your business are notified in real time via text message when

your company sends out a tweet. This is very valuable and useful if your business

deals in crisis communications and tweets are time sensitive. For example, many

city police forces use Twitter, in addition to other communication devices, to

notify the public about a missing child or a wanted criminal.

2. Mobility: One of the best features about Twitter is mobile access. Most smart

phones now come with a Twitter application already built into the hardware of

How-To Guide

© 2013 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

the phone - and if they don’t, it’s a simple download. The ability to send and

follow tweets from anywhere makes Twitter accessible and beneficial as a

business communications channel. You can easily send your tweet from your

phone, your laptop, and even your tablet.

3. Audience targeting: You can promote your tweets so that users see them even if

they are not following your brand. Your Twitter feed becomes a good way to

reach new and potential customers, as well as inform people about your

business. When you promote your tweets, you choose a target audience, a

capability that will help you reach the highest amount of people that identify

with your brand.

4. Trends and hashtags: You’ve probably heard some one say something about a

topic trending on Twitter or seen a word written with the number sign (#) in

front of it, but what does it mean? That is a hashtag, a device a user employs

when tweeting that makes the tweet searchable. For example, after the

Republican National Convention in 2012, the hashtag “#invisibleObama” gained

worldwide attention following Clint Eastwood’s opening speech. Because so many

people followed suit and tweeted about the topic using the same hashtag, it

became the number one trending topic on Twitter that night.

How-To Guide

© 2013 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

A Marketing Tool

Each tweet is limited to 144 characters in length, requiring you to keep your messages

concise. The content of your tweets doesn’t have to be groundbreaking or all business. In

fact, Twitter is an ideal outlet for light and fun topics as well. What’s important is to have

fresh, original content that highlights your business and directs followers to your

company’s web page when you want to say more.

You should make Twitter an integral part of your company’s marketing plan. Of course you

want to drive traffic back to your website, but you should think beyond that. Twitter users

have a voracious appetite for new ideas, opportunities, information, services, and products.

Twitter is a perfect platform to serve up this type of content, growing your brand

reputation in the process.

Some best practices for using Twitter are:

Share. Share photos and behind the scenes info about your business. Even

better, give a glimpse of developing projects and events. Showing a bit of the

How-To Guide

© 2013 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

background of your company makes users feel that they are in the know and

part of your corporate family.

Listen. Regularly monitor the comments about your company, brand, and

products. This is a great way to find out where your business is strong and where

you need improvement.

Ask. Ask questions of your followers to gain valuable insights and show that you

are listening. If you are working on developing a new product or service, ask your

followers for input. This is a great way to determine what your customers are

looking for.

Respond. Respond to compliments and feedback in real time. If a user praises

your business, say thank you. In the same way, if some one complains about an

issue, tell them thanks for the feedback and you’ll look into the matter.

Reward. Tweet updates about special offers, discounts and time-sensitive deals.

Rewarding your followers provides a lucrative incentive to gain new followers.

Demonstrate your expertise. Reference articles and links about the bigger

picture as it relates to your business. Don’t forget to also include positive reviews

of your business and references to your subject matter.

How-To Guide

© 2013 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

Give kudos. Retweet and reply publicly to great tweets posted by your followers

and customers. Making your followers feel acknowledged and appreciated is an

important part of using Twitter effectively.

Be genuine. Twitter users tend to prefer a direct, genuine, and of course, a

likable tone from your business, but think about your voice as you Tweet. Be

aware of your tone and make sure you are perceived as friendly and

approachable.

Remember that Twitter is an online conversation. If you treat each message the same way

you would a stranger on the street speaking to you, you will have success with Twitter and

create a valuable marketing channel for your business.

Action Plan

1. Document your goals & objectives: Before creating your Twitter account, determine

what business goals want to accomplish with Twitter. Simply having the account

won’t grow your business, so you’ll have to figure out what you want out of the

relationship. Twitter provides an excellent opportunity to reach your customers and

grow awareness of your business, so these outcomes may top your company’s list of

How-To Guide

© 2013 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

goals. Other reasons for using Twitter include: hiring new employees, getting

feedback on new products and/or services, and improving customer

communications. Use Demand Metric’s Social Media Strategy Workbook to

document your objectives and be specific about what you want to accomplish

through this social media channel.

2. Determine who will do the tweeting: If you own a small business, you might want to

do the tweeting yourself. But as your company grows, this is not always possible. It’s

important to identify someone in your business that will have access to the account

and will create the content. Having a strong social media policy in place will help

outline the roles and responsibilities of your trusted tweeters, as well as establish

guidelines and approvals for messages. The ideal tweeter is knowledgeable about

your business and understands the issues. Remember that the person responsible

for your Twitter account is ultimately providing the customer service experience for

your followers, so make sure it’s a positive one. If you plan on hiring for this

position, use Demand Metric’s Social Media Manager Job Description to outline

roles and responsibilities.

3. Get your business active on Twitter: Use Demand Metric’s Twitter for Business

Checklist to set up an account and to ensure the success of your Twitter marketing

program.

How-To Guide

© 2013 Demand Metric Research Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

4. Start following: Twitter isn’t just about putting your messaging out there, it’s also

about listening. So if you want your business to join the conversation, it’s important

to follow the right people. Leave following your favorite TV show for your personal

Twitter account. Instead, follow your competition and businesses similar to your

own. This is a great way to see what others are doing and stay current on your

competitors. Remember that anyone can see whom you are following, which in turn

can affect your credibility. You can search subjects in Twitter to determine who is

actively posting about your business’ subject and follow individuals or other

companies that relate to your field of work. Actively monitor your list of followers

too: delete and block anyone spamming your account. For more information on

social listening, be sure to read our How-To Guide: Social Media Monitoring.

Bottom Line

Twitter is an effective marketing tool for your business. Each year, more and more

people access content through it. Maintaining a presence on Twitter that your customers

can access quickly and on-the-go allows a deeper level of engagement with them.