One of the simplest ways to effectively use Twitter as an online marketing tool is to tell followers about what you do and who you are. Tweets should be informative and not overly promotional.
Use casual and friendly language and don't think of Twitter as a bulletin board, but as a way to have a conversation with your customers. Your first goal should not be to sell, but rather to get people interested in your services and products. So be helpful, listen and give your followers relevant and useful information.
Examples are from Jade Teahouse (@JadeTeahouse), Portland, Oregon whose social media marketing campaign allowed them to become one of Portland's most popular lunch destinations within a year of launching, and Emerson Salon in Seattle (@emersonsalon), a hair salon with one of the highest number of followers within the hair salon list. Currently over 14,000 followers.
Create talk in the local community
Before the Tupelo restaurant in Boston even opened their doors, the word spread among their followers on Twitter (@tupelo02139), where they posted updates on everything from inspections to paint choices. On opening night the place was packed.
At least half of the restaurant goers were there because of Twitter according to co-owner and twitterer Jean Deaderik. A write-up in The Boston Globe described how restaurants, including Tupelo, were using Twitter as an online marketing tool. Local businesses can achieve such buzz by sharing sneak peeks of projects and events that are in development.
Offer special discounts and promotions
Use Twitter to broadcast special discounts and promotions, an available appointment or table at a restaurant. Luna Park Kitchen & Cocktails (@lunaparksf) in San Francisco shares tweets with a secret password to entice customers in with 50% off their meal, and True Massage (@truemassage), also in San Francisco, used twitter to announce available appointments.
According to this New York Times article, True Massage often fills its bookings within a few hours of posting. On the other side of the country, in New Orleans, a wholesome pizza restaurant called Naked Pizza (@NakedPizza) decided to track sales driven by Twitter at the cash register and found that one Twitter promotion resulted in a 15% increase in sales that day.
Give great customer service and listen to feedback
Respond to complaints and feedback. When Ramon DeLeon, a Chicago Domino's franchisee, read a twitter post complaining about the late delivery of a Domino's pizza, he and the general manager of the store recorded a video apologizing for their lack of customer service and gave the twitterer a free pizza. Successfully turning an angry customer into an ambassador proves that customer service is equally important online as in the store.
Spread positive endorsement and answer questions and comments directed at you. Use the retweet function to repost an efficacious message from a customer and take the relationship into the real world. Retweeting positive messages is a great way to spread word-of-mouth advertising and build a memorable brand. Berry Chill (@YogiJones), a Chicago based frozen yogurt shop does this well.
With your customer's permission, sharing a picture through TwitPic of a customer enjoying a milkshake, or their newly painted house, is a useful way to integrate multimedia, showcase your business and build a community. More on TwitPic below.
Use Twitter as a focus group. Dechutes Brewery (@DeschutesBeer) in Oregon will often post new creations and ask for feedback from their followers.
Another good way of starting out tweeting is with quotes. Do a search for some quotes of interest and tweet these. Personal development ones are great and also quotes by famous people.
Here's one I just found in the Tweetstream as an example: "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." — Aristotle. There are thousands of these all over the internet that you can use.
Another good idea with your tweeting is to keep religion and politics out of them. These subjects can only alienate followers and you can lose them.
No comments:
Post a Comment