8 ideas for companies that want to use Twitter for business. Useful for small business entrepreneurs and for larger companies.

1. 8 ideas
for companies using Twitter
© 2009 Nette Media. All Rights Reserved.

2.  Listen
to conversations about your brand
Find out what people are saying about
your company or brand—and check out
what they’re saying about your
competition.
Tip: Use Twitter search to find
discussions about your company or
brand. Then respond to those who are
already talking. Think of it like a
networking event: briefly i) introduce
yourself, ii) acknowledge the
conversation in progress, and iii) join in. © 2009 Nette Media. All Rights Reserved.

3.  Respond
to current and potential customers
Handle routine customer service
inquiries or deal with a looming crisis.
Tip: Carefully monitor the @ and DM
traffic on your account to respond
efficiently to customer activity. Use
Twtlong to write responses that
require more than 140 characters
(you can save and reuse your previous
responses), or move the conversation
to Tinychat for a real-time discussion of
the issue.
© 2009 Nette Media. All Rights Reserved.

4.  Offer
special deals and coupons
Post special deals, coupons, or
advance notice of sales.
Tip: Develop a “Twitter-only” promotion
(include TW or some other Twitter
representation in your promo code.)
Then use that code (along with tracking
embedded in your product links) to
measure the amount of sales resulting
from your Twitter marketing efforts.
Revisit and revise your strategy on an
as-needed basis.
© 2009 Nette Media. All Rights Reserved.

5.  Get Feedback
on new products and services
Ask questions, request feedback, or
distribute a survey to find out how
consumers feel about your product and
service offerings—or your latest
marketing campaign.
Tip: Use a free poll service, like
Polldaddy, to instantly create and send
out your poll via Twitter. One question
to ask your followers: what kinds of
information would they like to see more
of in your Twitter feed?
© 2009 Nette Media. All Rights Reserved.

6.  Share
company news and updates
Provide information about new
products or services, changes in
management, new research or other
general updates.
Tip: Create a Twitter team to manage
your Twitter presence using CoTweet.
Add multiple users to the company
account and designate an “on duty”
response person. Bonus: CoTweet
allows users to manage personal and
corporate accounts at the same time. © 2009 Nette Media. All Rights Reserved.

7.  Find
business partners and clients
Identify potential vendors, suppliers,
speakers, virtual assistants or other
types of business partners.
Tip: Use your network to ask for
referrals and to get feedback on
possible leads. Twitter directories like
Twellow can help you identify service
providers. Or if you’re looking to do
business with government agencies,
you can connect with them using
GovTwit.
© 2009 Nette Media. All Rights Reserved.

8.  Recruit
new employees
Post links to job openings, identify new
candidates, and research potential
employees.
Tip: Setup a Twitter account specifically
to share job opportunities; ask your
network to retweet your posts. Use
Tweepsearch to search user bios and
identify potential candidates and
recruiters. You can build a list to keep
up with your potential recruits—just be
sure to mark it private.
© 2009 Nette Media. All Rights Reserved.

9.  Highlight
company programs and initiatives
Put your best foot forward by sharing
information on successful company
volunteer efforts, and other sponsored
initiatives that benefit your community.
Tip: Post about the community groups
where your employees volunteer,
congratulate employees on their out-of-
office activities, or describe how a new
company initiative will help a particular
segment of your community.
© 2009 Nette Media. All Rights Reserved.

10. Connect with Us
Twitter: @nettemedia
Website: www.nettemedia.com
Email: info@nettemedia.com
© 2009 Nette Media. All Rights Reserved.