How to use Twitter to promote your business

I recently had the good fortune to be featured on Campbell Live, a national New Zealand current affairs show, to talk about how companies can use Twitter to promote what they're doing:

Updated 17 February: the YouTube video has been removed for a Terms of Use violation, so here's a link to the original Twitter segment on the Campbell Live website.

This post is an introduction on using Twitter for business. If you know nothing at all about Twitter and want to start at the beginning, I can recommend The Ultimate Guide for Everything Twitter from Web Designer Depot. They've amassed a complete handbook on everything from creating your account to accessing Twitter from your Blackberry.

Twitter is -- or should be -- important to you if you are involved in marketing in any way. 56% of Twitter users say they use it for business. If you were a surgeon and the arthroscope had just been invented, wouldn't you want to know how it could affect the way you do your job? So here's a quick primer on how to use Twitter to promote your business:

1. Understand the medium.

   Twitter is often called a 'micro-blog' and has been likened to millions of personal radio stations, but the critical thing to understand is that it's not a one-way promotion tool. If you start tweeting exclusively about how great your latest widget is, people are going to tune out, quickly.

   Understanding the medium may require a profound shift in how you approach marketing. Historically, it's been hard to justify marketing activity that doesn't directly link to either sales or brand promotion. Twitter is part of a marketing movement focused on customer engagement, a movement designed to build relationships and create participatory businesses.

   A good way to approach it is by imagining you're at a networking function. You probably wouldn't walk up to someone and say, "Hi, I'm Joe. Would you like to buy some of my widgets?" Instead, you'd say, "Hi, I'm Joe. What do you do?" Then you'd wait for the other person to reply, and then you'd have a conversation, during which you might say, "Really? That's interesting, because the widgets we sell solve exactly that problem!"

   Once you understand the medium, you'll realize that you have to contribute to genuine relationship-building to have any hope of getting value out of Twitter.



2. Follow judiciously.

   It is actually relatively easy to amass followers on Twitter. Most people who you follow will follow you back, and there's no shortage of people to follow. When you're using Twitter to promote your business, though, it's beneficial to build a targeted following.

   To do this, go to the Twitter search page and search for keywords related to your industry or customers. If you've got an online direct-to-the-consumer tennis ball emporium, for example, do a search for "tennis", and then follow everyone who displays a passion for tennis in any way.
   
   Don't worry if you're following a couple of people who aren't your key accounts, and don't worry if people follow you who appear to be tangential to what you're doing. But definitely make the effort to connect with as many like-minded people as possible.



3. Be as human as possible.

   I don't have any statistics on this, but I'm willing to bet good money that automated direct messages saying things like, "Thanks for the follow! Download my FREE 21-page report today!" don't get much traction.

   Twitter is about real people talking to real people -- in public. So don't talk about picking your nose or your favorite ham sandwich, but do be as human and genuine as possible. Again, think about that business networking function. How would you relate to the people there?

I hope this brief introduction is of value to you. You can look forward to more blog posts on the topic, but please also feel free to reach out if you need any help with this. Heck, you can even send me a tweet.

How are you using Twitter in your business?