Your small business tweets may not attract over 44 million followers like Justin Beiber — who currently holds the title as Twitter’s top user — still that shouldn’t discourage you from incorporating Twitter into your marketing activities. A recent survey conducted by Market Probe International and Twitter indicates just how the social broadcast network can help small businesses drive growth.
The study was conducted among 500 Twitter followers of small and mid-sized businesses in the U.S. and United Kingdom. The results are as follows:
Value of a follower: increased sales and recommendations
72 percent of followers of a small or mid-sized business are more likely to make a purchase after following the company, and 82 percent are more likely to recommend the company they follow to friends and family than before they followed it.
Value a consumer gets from small and mid-sized businesses on Twitter – stronger connection
85 percent of small to mid-sized business followers feel more connected with companies after following them. When communicating with a small or mid-sized business on Twitter, 82 percent feel that their message was received.
- 70 percent re-tweeted because they liked content
- 64 percent mentioned the company to share a positive experience
- 54 percent @replied to share a positive experience
The top reasons they follow small and mid-sized businesses include:
- 73 percent to get updates on future products
- 63 percent to show support for them
- 61 percent to interact with them (share ideas, provide Feedback)
Value of Twitter for customer interaction
34 percent of small and mid-sized business followers interacted with a small business after seeing an ad with their Twitter handle advertised. 32 percent indicated they are more likely to visit the company if they saw a promoted tweet for that business that relates to their interest or needs.
Twitter best practices
If you are already tweeting on behalf of your small business or based on these results think it would a good idea to start, keep these tips in mind about your tweets for maximum impact:
- Tweet engaging content about your market or industry, including trends or news, in addition to your company information.
- Join in Twitter conversations that impact your business. Use hashtags# to make sure your Tweets appear in searches.
- Follow others who might be interested in your small business and what you have to share about the marketplace, as well as those who have mentioned your product or service offering.
- Drive followers to your website with links to product information, promotions and special offers, case studies, q and a’s, videos and more.
- Use Twitter to answer customer inquiries.
- Use keywords for your industry or market.
- Post often.
Social media is about engagement. Whether you are tweeting or posting to Facebook, think about having a conversation with your followers and welcome and respond to their feedback. Followers will show their appreciation by liking, commenting and sharing.