by Natalia Jones

Created on: January 12, 2010

There is a lot of talk about using different forms of social media as a means to marketing your business, but can sending out concise (140 character) tweets really do anything for your business? The answer is yes and no.

Twitter is not a magic formula for success and simply throwing up an account is not going to make a difference to the number of people that recognize your business name. However, if you approach your Twitter account in the right way and utilize some of the tools below you may be well on your way to stardom in the Tweetosphere as well as in the real world.

Spend Some Time Listening

Communication in the virtual world is not so different from communication in the real world. In both cases it pays to listen twice as much as you speak. So keep this in mind before you start sending off three random tweets everyday simply to have your presence felt. It is much better to do a search for your product or even for your competitors on Twitter first. Listen to what people are saying and then use your tweets to join in on the conversation.

Make Your Tweets Useful and Targeted

Once you have an idea of who is on Twitter and what they are talking about you can target your tweets in a much more effective manner. For instance, if you run a health shop, you will be on the lookout for people who are interested in fitness, exercise and nutrition. When you have found these people using your Twitter search bar and you have a fair idea of what concerns and interests them, you can send out targeted tweets and watch as they start to follow you. Using ‘hashtags’ which is done by simply adding a # to the front of the keyword you would like to highlight increases the search ability of your tweet and can help others to find your topic.

Follow Interesting People

Of course, Twitter is a networking platform, so it is not just a one-sided affair. You are likely to come across people or companies that interest you as well. Follow them to listen in on what they are saying and build up your profile in the process.

Build Your Own Following

Your tweet quality will work to attract some followers to your profile, but retweeting other people’s tweets is another way of building a following.

Use Technology to Make Tweeting Effortless

There are sites, such as twitterfeed.com, that generate automatic tweets on your behalf so that you only need to input the information once and then the service sends out your tweets at specified times during the day. Another useful bit of technology is Tiny.cc which reduces longer URLs to fit into the confined 140 character space available on your Twitter page.

Twitter can be a great way to market your business whether you are a one-man operation or a large corporation, but it needs to be used appropriately to deliver results. 

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