twitter - i think i get it now

[ivebeenstiffed]

had a twitter account for ages but despite that i had no idea how to use it properly.

anyway. the other day, something cropped up on my radar to do with taxiroute...

so did some gooogling.

most of my leads led back to people at the sharp end talking in great depth about their field.

i followed a few and then decided to jump in and introduce myself.

so, the point of the story for me is, i didnt realise the networking power of twitter.

had some great conversations and am now following some of the decision makers relating to mapping. which i need.

i now check my twitter more than my email.

amazing.

 

[Mike W]

If you ever want any help in maximising it properly, check us out.

Our new website won't be live for a couple of weeks but happy to have a chat. You can PM me or send me an email via my website - you'll find it through Google.

Regards

Mike

 

[WebWizard]

Great! Its a great tool to have for networking with your exsisitng customers & target audience!

 

[fusingcreativity]

There are many different ways to 'exploit' Twitter to best effect - you have discovered just one of them!

Again, I keep banging on about it, but it really depends on what you want to achieve with things like FB and Twitter as to how you go about using them - there's no off the shelf way - it's different for each business.

Good luck and welcome to the world of transparent business.

 

[JessChapter8]

I don't know how I lived without it now. We've found new clients through it, responded to journalist requests for info through it and with Hootsuite it's just there in the background all day, refreshing up to date news. I think most businesses can get something positive out of it, we handle accounts for a variety of B2B and B2C clients.

 

[ivebeenstiffed]

i know im only a week or so in but i dont think i would have found half the people and knowledge that i have done this week without twitter.

when i first used it thought it was pants...

not so

 

[PeakPaul]

I run an electronics design and assembly company, how would twitter or Facbook help me? Can someone give me an idiots guide to how it may be of benefit please.

 

[ivebeenstiffed]

in my case. i started to look for technical help to do with mapping on forums relating to mapping in this instance . in the mapping game you very soon find the people who know and they all seem to twitter...

it helped me by finding out lots of info and being able to meet people in the mapping field.

i would imagine electronic design must have its twitterers?

 

[ivebeenstiffed]

oh, btw way im @taxiroute in you would like to follow me - lol

 

[kingwas]

I would like to someone giving the guides how the twitter/facebook to help us, thanks in advance

 

[fusingcreativity]

I run an electronics design and assembly company, how would twitter or Facbook help me? Can someone give me an idiots guide to how it may be of benefit please.

Hi Paul,

It's a good question, but one that could deliver you a lot of confusing answers.

before even considering an approach onto the social media track, i woudl advise to consider the following:

- What do you want to achieve by using FB/Twitter?
- What kind of content do you have to share and engage with people on these channels?
- Do you have the time or personnel to manage the channels?
- Do you understand the risks and are ready and able to take criticism if it comes?
- What will you do if negative feedback presents itself - how will you handle it?
- Do you know if and where your customer base 'hang out' online?


Actually, I could go on forever! haha, the great thing about social media is that the possibilities are endless for success, however, this is also the case about failure with SM. You really need to do some research on similar businesses, to see how they are using these channels and also think about the internals of your business to know how and what content you need to create in order to engage your target audience and obviously, most importantly, you need to know IF your target audience actually use those channels.

If you can define all the above questions and answer the all important one - what do I actually want to achieve by using Facebook or the like? And KNOW the kind of response you want to receive, then you can work out what content you'll need, how often and where and how to share it.

I hope that makes sense...

I think it dangerous to give you specific advice as to how to use these channels as without knowing your business, it's objectives, it's audience and other marketing activities going on, I could end up giving you bad or wrong advice that won't work for your company - what works for one company in the same industry may not work for another - possibly because of the internals issues.

I hope that is remotely helpful!

 

[DanHaynes]

For me Twitter seems to work best as a business networking device. I don't see it as a way to engage your customers directly. Tweet about things of interest to your business area. Follow people who are also in the business (even your competitors). Don't do what many businesses do and just tweet 'come to my website and spend some money' (ok occasionally you can do this). Keep your tweets light and interesting.

Saying that, I am still learning how best to use twitter as well.

 

[ParagPrasad]

I must admit I didn't get it either when I first started.

I think its best uses are:

networking: Its very chatty and relaxed which makes it a very good first contact point. In principle you can 'at message' anyone and they might reply - even really big names.

customer service: customers often feel much more comfortable asking questions on a platform like twitter than on the telephone for instance.

promotions: I've seen lots of places doing twitter only special offers. I heard about a pizza restaurant that tweets a secret password. If you make it to the restaurant within an hour you get a free pizza

 

[PeakPaul]

Thanks everyone, especially Jeni for the advice and information. I dont think social media will be the silver bullet for my business sector as it may be for others. One of the biggest component suppliers Farnell has a facebook page, and I couldn't understand the relevance, and now I dont think there is.....

 

[ivebeenstiffed]

i think the thing for me was i didnt go looking to use twitter. i just ended up finding it really useful.

after going to my twitter page a couple of hundred times i gave up and wondering what the hell to say and why people weren't following me i sort of put it back on the shelf.

but for me. it has deifinately worked. instead of waiting for google to google and news sites to syndicate i can get it from the horses mouth. and i get to choose who i follow.

neat

 

[ParagPrasad]

i think the thing for me was i didnt go looking to use twitter. i just ended up finding it really useful.

after going to my twitter page a couple of hundred times i gave up and wondering what the hell to say and why people weren't following me i sort of put it back on the shelf.

but for me. it has deifinately worked. instead of waiting for google to google and news sites to syndicate i can get it from the horses mouth. and i get to choose who i follow.

neat

What helped me a lot with the figuring out what the hell to say side of things was pre-scheduling my tweets.

I sit down once a month and make a list of 60 links, quotes, jokes, resources etc. I think my target demographic will like then I use a free service called socialoomph.com to automatically tweet 2 a day at 11:45 and 16:45. Then I just supplement this every few days with some interaction with my followers and a few slightly more up-to-the-minute tweets.

For me at least, it made the whole thing much more manageable and less stressful.

Does anyone else use a similar tactic? or something different?

 

[MChisselhurst]

Yeah, Twitter is amazing! It's the best social media referral site, followed by facebook, and then Youtube.