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GROW Your Business with Twitter Ben Quinney | @bquinneyseo | Outreachr.com

GROW your business with Twitter

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A guide on how to grow your business using the power of Twitter.

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Page 1: GROW your business with Twitter

GROW Your Business

with Twitter

Ben Quinney | @bquinneyseo |Outreachr.com

Page 2: GROW your business with Twitter

Introduction

Ben Quinney | @bquinneyseo |Outreachr.com

My name is Ben Quinney of Outreachr.com. The following slides are my interpretation of the official twitter for your business guide which can be found here.

Outreachr.com specialises in building international links for all types of businesses by using powerful bespoke technology and a fully managed outreach service.

Source: http://images.tweet.twitter.com/Web/TwitterInc/%7B5325e912-4e78-4673-a3d4-a359275906c6%7D_Twitter_Smallbiz_Guide_UK.pdf?utm_campaign=EM_UK_NT_SMB_SurpriseEgg_Email1&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua

Page 3: GROW your business with Twitter

The Power of Twitter

Every week billions of tweets are published from a myriad of people, organisations, businesses – global and local on almost every interest, all within a 140 character limit.

Twitters feed is real-time so you can view what’s been tweeted about around the world 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

Twitters user base is over 140million strong so just one well crafted tweet is enough to start drawing huge amounts of publicity to someone or something.

Would you believe that one tweet has the potential power to save a business? Aaron Durand did just that.

With a foreseeable closure of his mums bookstore during the run up to Christmas Aaron decided to take action. He tweeted a link to his blog post where he was offering a free burrito if people bought 3 books in his mums store. This tweet was re-tweeted over and over again by people promoting the offer.

Not only did the store survive its now thriving. Visit Twitter stories for more on Aarons’ story and other success like it.

Ben Quinney | @bquinneyseo |Outreachr.com

Source: http://stories.twitter.com/en/aaron_durand.html

Page 4: GROW your business with Twitter

Your customers are already online and tweeting about you!

Even if you aren't on Twitter your customers are and the chances are they’re already having conversations and sharing opinions about you and your brand.

Searching twitter for your business name enables you to see what people are saying specifically about you.

Searching related keywords or industry areas e.g. London Restaurants can provide you with valuable insights on your customers and even your competitors.

Ben Quinney | @bquinneyseo |Outreachr.com

Page 5: GROW your business with Twitter

What does your audience want from you?

Understanding why people follow brands on Twitter can help you better engage with your audience.

Different types of tweets will work differently for each business. So take the time to experiment with different messages and content.

The chart opposite displays results from a survey where people were asked why they follow brands and businesses on twitter.

These areas are key to address to gain and maintain a strong following.

Ben Quinney | @bquinneyseo |Outreachr.com

Source: http://images.tweet.twitter.com/Web/TwitterInc/%7B5325e912-4e78-4673-a3d4-a359275906c6%7D_Twitter_Smallbiz_Guide_UK.pdf?utm_campaign=EM_UK_NT_SMB_SurpriseEgg_Email1&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua

Page 6: GROW your business with Twitter

How to get started

Connect: See who is interacting with you by clicking the connect tab. Here recent followers and people have tweeted you will be displayed.

Discover: See what topics are trending globally or locally. See what people are talking about in real- time.

Timeline: Your timeline displays tweets from users that you follow in the order that they're posted.

Who to follow: Twitter makes suggestions on who else it thinks you should follow based on who you currently do. You can explore this further and by area of interest by clicking ‘View all’.

Compose new tweet: Here is where you can compose you're own tweet. Simply click the blue button in the top right hand corner.

Ben Quinney | @bquinneyseo |Outreachr.com

Page 7: GROW your business with Twitter

What is a Tweet?

Username: The author of the tweet is in bold always the first thing you see.

Mention: If you want to interact with a brand or a person simply type out their twitter handle e.g. ‘@InShoreditch’ and you can interact with them. This will be visible to all your followers.

Ben Quinney | @bquinneyseo |Outreachr.com

Links: Including links in your tweets is a great way to drive people to your site and ultimately your brand. Don’t worry about the links using up too much of your 140 character limit as twitter automatically shortens them.

Hashtag: Hastags are used to categorize conversations making it easier for people to find subject specific content. The # symbol is used followed by a word or a phrase that organises a tweet into a category. Hashtags are also clickable taking you through to other tweets that have used the same hashtag.

Reply: By clicking ‘reply’ you can respond publically to any tweet. This is a great way of building relationships with other people , businesses and Ideally your customers.

Retweet: Retweeting someone else's tweet will display it to all your followers. This is a great feature to publicise positive feedback. So if a customer has tweeted you with praise go ahead and retweet it thanking them and enjoy some free positive press.

Page 8: GROW your business with Twitter

Setting up your own profile

Twitters customization features allow you to match your company's branding, ethos and design.

• Choosing a profile image is important as it’s the first thing that catches the eye when viewing your profile. Here Nando’s have used their infamous chicken logo.

• Provide an informative summary that describes what you do and where you are to your customers.

• Including a link to your site, opening times and perhaps a phone number provides customers with vital information quickly.

• Choosing a relevant and eye catching cover photo that really portrays your brands image is essential. Here Nando’s have chosen to publicise their infamous Nando’s card.

Ben Quinney | @bquinneyseo |Outreachr.com

Page 9: GROW your business with Twitter

Stop, look and listen

Before you start tweeting yourself, it’s a good idea to have a look at other brands and businesses to see how they doing things.

Learn from their from their ideas and also from their mistakes to see how you can approach your audience. Remember right content and right behaviours converts people into customers

To follow?

‘To follow’ someone means that you are subscribing to a persons or a businesses Tweets. Every time you login to twitter will automatically see Tweets from accounts you are following. The great thing about Twitter is you don’t need to approve people who want to follow you and you don’t need to follow them back making the platform very flexible.

Ben Quinney | @bquinneyseo |Outreachr.com

Page 10: GROW your business with Twitter

Finding your voice

Twitter is a very informal environment so let your personality and passion show. Remember these aren't emails that you're sending.

A friendly and personal approach to tweeting will get a much better response from your followers and keeping it casual allows you to build conversations with your them allowing for a deeper connection.

Keep them keenGive people a reason to keep checking your feed. Offer them content in the form of images and videos . Imagery is more likely to go viral than just a simple line of text so be imaginative; give people something to share.

Check out the tweets here by Starbucks and Nandos. Notice the informal communication with their followers as well as unique imagery that is bound to get retweeted.

Ben Quinney | @bquinneyseo |Outreachr.com

Page 11: GROW your business with Twitter

Engage with your audience

Your customers are going to tweet you positively and negatively. Either way its important that you reply and maintain a positive relationship.

Favourite and retweet messages of praise and admiration. This strengthens the relationship you have with your customers and makes them feel valued.

Handle your critics

Handling complaints is equally as important. Responding to critical messages can be of great public benefit to your company if handled correctly and with care. Some complaints may become too much for tweets so be sure to make use of the direct message feature when appropriate.

Ben Quinney | @bquinneyseo |Outreachr.com

Page 12: GROW your business with Twitter

Make it a habit

That doesn’t mean tweeting every 5 minutes, that can be annoying and you might find yourself un-followed, but creating frequent meaningful tweets will get you noticed and expand your following.

Start off by tweeting once a day and remember to experiment. Get to know what sort of message works best for you and when.

Keep the focus on your customers by tweeting special promotions, behind the scenes pictures, helpful tips and media mentions.

Tweet anytime, anywhereTweet anytime anywhere on almost every device with the easy to use twitter app.

Ben Quinney | @bquinneyseo |Outreachr.com

Source: http://www.digitaltrends.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/New-Twitter-App-iPhone-Android.png

Page 13: GROW your business with Twitter

Tweet something shareable

Posting content that your followers can share is a sure fire way to gain more attention and in turn, customers.

Be positive, inspiring and produce something that will go viral if you can. Think about how you want your users to respond.

Q+APose a question to your followers then answer with a link. E.g. “What are the top 10 pizza toppings in London?” Answer with a link to a blog post of yours.

VideosEmbed a video in a tweet and it can be played , retweeted and responded to right there on Twitter.

A quoteYou’ll encourage retweets if you choose quotations that strike a chord with your customers. Publishing inspirational pop culture quotes can be helpful to your customers further building a friendly relationship

Ben Quinney | @bquinneyseo |Outreachr.com

Page 14: GROW your business with Twitter

Amplify your impact

Get more followers by promoting your twitter handle wherever you can.

Connect the offline – online worlds by printing your twitter account on business cards, menus, t-shirts etc. Get it noticed! With twitter mobile its incredibly easy for people to instantly follow you.

Connect with like minded businesses and support them on Twitter. This speaks volumes about your brand and allows people to associate you with your industry and reflects a positive image.

Use your followers Harnessing your current follower base is a great way to get more. Competitions work best like Doritos have done here. ‘Simply RT to be in with a chance of winning’. Instant publicity.

Ben Quinney | @bquinneyseo |Outreachr.com

Source: http://images.tweet.twitter.com/Web/TwitterInc/%7B5325e912-4e78-4673-a3d4-a359275906c6%7D_Twitter_Smallbiz_Guide_UK.pdf?utm_campaign=EM_UK_NT_SMB_SurpriseEgg_Email1&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Eloqua

Page 15: GROW your business with Twitter

Measure and increase your impact

Test out and monitor different types of content to see which generates the strongest response from your followers. After a while you'll get to know what works best for your business.

Growth rate of your follower count is a good indicator of how well you're doing.

Google analyticsUse Google Analytics to see how much traffic is coming from Twitter, which show up as t.co in (this is Twitter’s link-shortening service).

Ask your customers

Don’t forget that you're best source is the thing you value most. Your customers. Reach out with a tweet or two and ask for feedback.

Ben Quinney | @bquinneyseo |Outreachr.com

Page 16: GROW your business with Twitter

Use twitter innovatively

Using twitter innovatively creates a buzz about your business. No doubt people will be talking about you if you find ways to push normal business boundaries.

Here are a few ideas that brands are already doing to inspire you:

• Manage restaurant reservations and real-time monitoring of customer comments and complaints from twitter.

• Build buzz ahead of restaurant and store openings by printing your Twitter username or a hashtag in public.

• Allow users to order your services by Twitter alone

• Tweet daily offers and deals

• Feature a customer’s Tweet in a public space such as LED screen so they are encouraged to tweet more.

Ben Quinney | @bquinneyseo |Outreachr.com

Page 17: GROW your business with Twitter

Ben Quinney @bquinneyseo Outreachr.com