Simple tips to get you started on Twitter
Tim Pritchard, ecommerce analyst with SellerDeck gives five steps to get you going on Twitter
It may surprise you to hear that 42% of all Twitter users learn about products and services via Twitter, 41% provide opinions on these and 19% use it to obtain customer support*. If you’re an ecommerce trader, Twitter has to be part of your day.
So, why is it so important to be on Twitter as a business? There are many things you can take from Twitter, such as improved customer service, extra traffic and some SEO benefits.
5 secrets of success
1 When getting started, think carefully about your username and make sure it links to your company name. Include information and contact details about your company in the ‘About’ section, along with a link to your website. Concentrate on your branding; match your profile page’s design and colour schemes to those of your main company website.
2 Once set-up, start following people and make sure your regular website visitors can see you are on Twitter by posting a ‘Follow’ link on your main site.
Twitter will soon become one of your most important channels for customer service, and you need to make sure that you respond to every comment you get. Follow everyone back and don’t be afraid to ask someone to send you their contact details in a private message, as it’s doubtful you’ll be able to solve all problems in under 140 characters!
3 Remember, it is not just about being reactive, but being proactive as well. Use the Search function to find your brand name or products and check out what people are saying about you. If it’s good feedback, retweet it and reply with a personalised thank you message.
If it’s negative feedback, message them back, apologising and asking how you can help to fix the issue.
4 When it comes to the content of your tweets, remember that this is a business account, but you also need to be fun and engaging for your followers. Interesting facts/stats/pictures and anecdotes relevant to your industry will increase your chances of being followed and retweeted.
You may also tweet discounts and latest news but be wary of bombarding followers with too many ‘sales’ tweets.
Use relevant keywords, just like your actual site, to encourage the right people to find your tweets and subsequently follow any backlinks to relevant products. If you use a multi-account tool, like Tweetdeck or Hootsuite, make sure you are tweeting from the right account.
5 Businesses can be made and broken by just a few tweets so it is worth investing time and effort to learn the ropes and to be engaging. All it takes is one celebrity endorsement or censure to make a huge difference.
Stephen Fry tweeted a link to a YouTube video of a guitarist, which then had millions of views overnight, putting a relatively obscure musician instantly on the map. Mr Fry also tweeted that the new BlackBerry Storm was “embarrassingly awful” and “such a disappointment”; I wonder how many of his 5.5m+ followers changed their mind’s because of these remarks.
All in all, Twitter is a fun place to be, it is fantastic for growing your business’s online reputation and connecting with your customers. When used properly it will drive your traffic, increase your sales and help rescue customer service nightmares.
Do let me know below what the impact of Twitter and other social media sites has been on your webstore?
Find out more about SellerDeck ecommerce software at www.sellerdeck.co.uk
* Source: Edison Research, April 29, 2010 http://www.edisonresearch.com/twitter_usage_2010.php
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