Are You Utilizing Twitter's Potential?

By Chris Crum - Wed, 02/11/2009 - 2:52pm.

Yahoo Talks Twitter Marketing

Are you using Twitter to market your business? Chances are you've read something about this at some point, but now even Yahoo is suggesting that eCommerce sites use the tool to create some buzz.

There has been some chatter about Facebook possibly killing off Twitter, but many dismiss that as nonsense. Michael Ober from Yahoo Small Business writes:

I think this one is here to stay. Dell has already proven that Twitter works for them, after producing over $1M on sale alerts and now offering exclusive deals to their 11,000+ followers.

Sure, Dell is a big name brand… but Twitter is a level playing field. Just as people sign up for your email newsletters today, they can start following you on Twitter too. But here’s the big difference — consumers like to stay in control. As soon as they turn over their email address, they lose that control. With Twitter, consumers stay in total control with the "follow" button, and they can choose to dump you (ok, "not follow") anytime they want.

Just as you should show your Twitter presence on you business card, you should display it prominently on your site or blog. Ober shows an example:

He also discusses using Twitter Coupons for your social campaigns. This is just one of the many ways you can use social media in your own marketing. I discussed some others here.

News Tags: eCommerce, Twitter, Yahoo, social media.social media marketing, online business

About the author:
Chris is a content coordinator and staff writer for SmallBusinessNewz and the iEntry Network. Subscribe to SmallBusinessNewz RSS Feeds.

Comments

By Ian Farmer (SBN reader) - Thu, 02/12/2009 - 6:46am.

twitter

Could not agree more, we are posting tweets to drive traffic to other media. Lots of buzz in the UK at present about Twitter - Simon Mayo 5 Live on Tuesday, BBC 1 One Show last night. It can be fun, useful and IS good for business, its liked by our US contacts because its quick and simple and does not rquire a long attention span to pick up a mesage or tip. Want a tip? If you want to drive traffic to your blog, web or other media, pose a question that is not a blatant sales pitch followed by a link. Also go get tweetdeck. Follow me: www.twitter.com/ianfamer Blogging at: http://www.customerflypaper.com/category/the-best-damn-sales-blog

By Gary (SBN reader) - Thu, 02/12/2009 - 1:27pm.

Twitter Power

Twitter Power (twitPwr) is a Beta Stage Check this out .

What do you think of this,

Gary Ludwig

By Robinoz (SBN reader) - Thu, 02/12/2009 - 8:04am.

Using Twitter

I've been using Twitter for a few months and have come across a lot of big-name people and companies using it too.

What I like about it is that it's quick, easy and works.

You can follow me here :-)

Robin

By Snerdey (SBN reader) - Thu, 02/12/2009 - 10:34am.

Twits, Twitters ..

Actually we just joined a few weeks ago and everyday we have messages from new followers. Wish we would have joined sooner but we're already swamped with work as it is but there's always room for fellow twitters!

When we finish a web project we place it in the daily message or any offers and it actually has increased sales as we track everything we do. Heck, even posing here today will help as it already has.

Twitter is the ultra gossip tool.. want the world to know something. Tell a twit!

Follow Snerdey too :)

By las vegas (SBN reader) - Thu, 04/23/2009 - 1:00am.

Twitter has been

Twitter has been successfully used as a network building tool by businesses such as Mozilla and Sun Microsystems, so there is a template that British businesses can apply to make it work for them.

By Ryan (SBN reader) - Thu, 02/12/2009 - 2:13pm.

Twitter Tools

There are also a ton of great tools to help you best utilize twitter and build your following. However, once you have built a following, you really need to work on your own to be of value to that following, especially if your promoting your business. If you dont, people will drop you and twitter may very likely boot you for being too spammy.

By Debbie Morgan (SBN reader) - Thu, 02/12/2009 - 2:54pm.

I'm on Twitter too!

I've been on Twitter for some time now to socially market my safety and security web site as well as raise awareness for it's products but haven't ustilized it to it's fullest potential.

I'm definitely going to be using it more. You can follow me if you want deals on safety and security product or just for fun. Thanks, Chris, for this great article.

By Murray (SBN reader) - Fri, 02/13/2009 - 1:33am.

Tweeter

I started using Ttweeter a few months back and it has already increased activity to both my website and blog. I found many of my clients using the service, now I can quickly keep them posted on current projects that might be of interest to them.

By Judy S. Jones (SBN reader) - Fri, 02/13/2009 - 6:37pm.

Twitter

A lot of big name Internet Marketers are following me on twitter, and I'm just a newbie in Internet Marketing. I guess twitter levels the playing field when we are trying to get our message to as many people as possiable. Great article.

To your success, and happiness,

Judy S. Jones

Make Money With Affiliate Programs

By Guest (SBN reader) - Sat, 02/14/2009 - 5:42am.