Aside from purely building relationships online, social media has become a method for businesses to develop their own personal brand in the eyes of the public as a whole. By raising your company’s global visibility on Twitter you are able to target a niche of your particular industry at a low cost compared with other forms of marketing. Twitter can be a great way to interact with famous accounts or peers that may become contacts, but there are other reasons that it should be a no brainer for any business.

1. Tweeting can increase your visibility in search

Tweets appear in relevant Google search results. This means that popular tweets from your brand could show up on the first page of search results, which is not only great for extending the visibility of your tweets, but can also lead to increased followers, engagement, and click-throughs to your site.

2. Twitter allows you to engage in public, with real-time customer service

More than ever, consumers are turning to social media to ask questions and give feedback to brands. While receiving negative feedback in such a public forum can be disconcerting, it also gives businesses a public platform to showcase their commitment to customer service.

3. Twitter can be a lead magnet

Businesses use Twitter to generate leads. The key is using the platform in a way that creates and nurtures relationships, not as simply a channel for broadcasting your message. Promote a valuable free info-product that allows you to capture customer emails, promote products through relevant blog posts that have links posted to Twitter, monitor and respond to brand and industry-related conversations, and use strong calls to action in your profile and tweets.

4. Twitter audiences want to see product updates

People who follow a brand on Twitter do so to get product updates. In other words people will follow your business on Twitter simply to get notifications of when you release something new, which is an enormous opportunity to promote products and services exactly at the right time to an engaged audience. Just make sure to temper promotional tweets with lots of high-value, informational posts.

5. Twitter drives short and long-term sales

Twitter followers are more likely to make a future purchase after following or engaging with a brand on Twitter. According to research by Adobe there is real monetary value to having Twitter followers, with estimated revenue per visit from a Twitter user at £0.48.

6. Certain industries receive a significant number of orders through Twitter

While Twitter may not be equally effective for every industry, research shows that it generates a significant amount of orders in certain niches, including home and office furnishings, and home and garden gifts. If you’re in one of these industries and aren’t yet on Twitter, now’s the time to get connected and start driving sales.

7. Important industry-related conversations are taking place on Twitter

Twitter is a conversation. And it’s happening with or without you. People could be talking about your business on Twitter even if you’re not using the platform. But if you are then you can monitor brand mentions and respond to questions. Don’t give your competitors the opportunity to do it for you.

Clearly there are many ways to make the most of Twitter and if you haven’t yet started then it’s more than worth your time to check it out. If your brand is already on Twitter but you feel that you’re not seeing results from using the platform then please get in touch and we can give you advice as well as provide training and social media management services to get your business back on track.