Think ten years ago if businesses could target specific demographics, customer bases, at any given time, especially targeted consumption times like lunch and dinner hours, with coupons and special offers, daily specials and open times for a hair cut or an oil change.
For free.
What's amazing to me is that for the most part it seems it's still ten years ago around here. Some businesses are using SMS for contact, but in my interactions with our local economy, including your FB pages, Twitter is still underused and misunderstood.
Time for that to change, that is if you're the entrepreneur who wants to increase traffic, sales and reputation. Here are a few ideas to that end, concepts for specific types of business from service to professional, along with ways to increase your Twittter base.
Good Tweet Service
Businesses based on appointment traffic can use Twitter to alert their followers of openings, cancelations and rescheduling without inconveniencing their clientele. When hair salons and auto lube services enlist their clients as followers on their Twitter feeds they can be in constant contact, making known of unscheduled times slots throughout the day or cancelations that have opened up others.
I searched a number of services for St. George and came up empty on a dozen or so until I searched "st george salon." This is what I found from Fusion Organic Salon:
Other services such as hospitality and restaurants can tweet weekend packages and daily specials, chef spotlights, recipes, recommendations. Those entities who encourage retweets through incentives programs create a customer base that's doing their marketing for them by retweeting posts and recommending the day's lunch special.
Medical and dental services can exploit the same, managing patient services and interactions on a level that serves the best use of time for all involved. Provider profiles can be created to increase reputation and diminish anxieties associated with, say, visiting the dentist.
Professional services such as attorneys and accountants can create a continuity of contact with followers with tax codes updates, business calendars, best practices in liability protection, all possible under 142 characters. These tips promote branding and when followers find value in the post they're likely to retweet.
Transaction-based services like real estate can exploit Twitter on so many levels. Imagine being able to instantly update clients on new listings, linking to virtual tours, or instantly advising of offers.
My favorite jazz club in the city (
the city, there's only one) is Yoshi's. They tweet performance schedules, drink specials, how full the house is, wait times, and use tickets as incentives to retweet.
Retailers, only your imagination limits your reach on Twitter. From comparison shopping to "blue light specials," clearance slashing to new products and brands, contests and incentives to encourage traffic during slow times, not to mention customer service.
Follow, Follow Me
The trick to the success of any of these tactics is developing a follower base, and you can't follow without your own Twitter account. Once established, follow the followers of other local businesses, especially your competition. Encourage clientele to follow your business and explain the benefits of doing so. Teach them, walk them through setting up their own Twitter account. The dividends will compensate the two minutes it takes.
With a following, give them a reason to read and retweet:
Personalize - Create two accounts, one for business and the other about your expertise in that business, giving your followers that "back stage" exclusivity that non-followers don't enjoy.
Market - Place your Twitter ID at point of purchase (along with a laptop to enlist followers), include it on business cards, display ads, billboards, any advertising. And of course, cross market with your Facebook page, your Gowalla of Foursquare ID, any social media you're using to create buzz.
Educate - Tweet links to relevant and interesting articles, how-tos, reviews, tips, market conditions, new products.
Motivate - Use contest and give-away incentives to increase followers and retweets.
Automate
All the above is pretty simple and effective once you get the hang of it. Tweeting takes just a few moments thanks to the character limits. (Doesn't hurt to work out your tweeting prose beforehand to make the most of 142 characters.) Tee are ways, though, to automate messages using third-party applications such as
Hootsuite and
SocailOomph. If you're scheduling sales events or weekly menus, automating contact with followers provides some consistency. Just be careful not to cross the line into spamming.
