Twitter for Nontraditional Businesses
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A short presentation on the techniques for successfully utilizing Twitter for nontraditional businesses (those who do not serve the general public).
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Twitter for Nontraditional Businesses
- 1. Rachel Ciprotti @RCiprotti Twitter for Non- Traditional Businesses 1 of 20
- 2. What do you mean by “non-traditional” business? A business that does Examples: not serve the • Law Firm general public. • Trade Association • Artist Service Organization • Construction Company 2 of 20
- 3. Typical Twitter Advice: • Advertise specials/discounts • Use it for customer service • Upcoming events and sales • Run contests 3 of 20
- 4. Why Participate on Twitter? 1) Getting the word out – find new connections and promote your business 2) Taking the word in – learn about trends & events and be an insider 4 of 20
- 5. Wait, You’re saying I shouldn’t run contests? Yes, that is what I am saying. At least not unless you’re doing it for the right reasons. 5 of 20
- 6. How will people How can I make find me on sure my tweets Twitter? are seen? Non-Traditional Business 6 of 20
- 7. Engage! Engage! Engage! • ReTweet • Respond Engage! • Start Conversations Engage! • Offer Assistance Engage! Engage! 7 of 20
- 8. Search is Your Friend! Search for: keywords, hashtags, company names…and refine by location! Once you find people interested in your industry/topic: Start a Conversation! 8 of 20
- 9. #GWBC Example: no one’s using the hashtag, but a broader search discovered that folks ARE talking about us! 9 of 20
- 10. 1. Who is Your Audience? • Businesses? • Engineers in Atlanta? • People who Study Astronomy? 2. What Info is Useful to Them? 3. Become a Resource for that Info! 10 of 20
- 11. Tweet Strategies: • Promote events, news, & organizations that are useful for your target audience • Follow & engage with your colleagues and your competition – both can spread the word for you • Let followers know what you are up to. It can be tough for them to know all that you’re doing – so tell them – give them the inside scoop on your organization 11 of 20
- 12. 12 of 20
- 13. How Often Should I Tweet? How Much Time Should I Devote? Non-Traditional Businesses May not Need to Tweet a lot. It can be quick and easy to find informative content for your audience. Schedule those tweets in advance. You SHOULD check in, and interact in real time with the Twitterverse. 13 of 20
- 14. How can I tune in How do I manage to relevant information content? overload? Non-Traditional Business 14 of 20
- 15. Make your twitter feed useful to your company – follow wisely! YES NO 15 of 20
- 16. As a non-traditional business, you should be following those that are useful and relevant to your business. Keep an eye on who those whom you follow are re-tweeting and interacting with. 16 of 20
- 17. Twitter Lists: • Follow others’ relevant lists • Create interesting lists for your audience: o Your membership on twitter o Relevant news sources for your group o Thought leaders in your industry 17 of 20
- 18. Twitter Lists: • Use them as a way to stay informed while also de- cluttering your feed. • Create private lists of your competitors or those advocating against your cause 18 of 20
- 19. Twitter List Examples from @GAArtsNetwork: 19 of 20
- 20. Rachel Ciprotti @RCiprotti Twitter for Non- Traditional Businesses Contact/Info: Rciprotti@gmail.com linkedin.com/in/rachelciprotti 20 of 20
Editor's Notes
- HI! I’m Rachel Ciprotti, and I’m here to talk about using Twitter for Non-Traditional Businesses. I will sketch some strategies that all kinds of companies can use to make Twitter useful to them, and (more importantly) useful to their followers.
- Don’t worry. I don’t mean anything risque. I’m talking about businesses that do not serve the general public. Retail stores, restaurants, museums, dental offices, etc, all have general customer bases or audiences. I’m here to talk about other kinds of businesses.
- Here we have some of the typical advice given for businesses on Twitter. But these “typical” strategies don’t translate to our “un-typical” businesses. Which begs the question – what SHOULD they be doing on Twitter? Should they be there at all?
- Non-traditional companies still need to get the word out. They may have a niche audience, but that audience can be found and reached on Twitter! Secondly, taking it all IN. Companies can discover new partners, events, and opportunities on Twitter. Used properly, it can often keep you updated on the latest news in your industry.
- A pet peeve of mine are contests run by companies for whom it doesn’t make sense. If you have 200 followers, you are not going to get a huge response to a contest. If you have free things you want to give away via twitter, that’s great – but do not try to use it as a tactic to double or triple your followers.
- How do you get the word out? Most non-traditional companies don’t have physical locations where their customers gather, so twitter can be a place your clients, members, or customers can find you and find each other. Often, this process starts with You finding Them.
- Engagement is key. Engagement is king. Talk to people on Twitter, and they will usually talk back! Promote their content if it’s of a high caliber, ask questions or offer help to people.
- The search function is your best friend! Search keywords, follow relevant hashtags, and look for variations on your company name, and that of your competitors. Find out what people are saying, who are the influencers, which experts in your field are active on Twitter? Once you find them – talk to them!
- Here’s a search example. If you clicked on the hashtag #GWBC, it looks like only the company is posting content about it. But, searching for the keyword only reveals that people ARE, in fact, talking about the brand. These are the people who need to be found and engaged with.
- Now, on to the content of your soon-to-be-brilliant tweets. Here are the simplified steps for becoming a Content Curator: Think about who your target audience is. Figure out what kind of information is useful to them. Become the best resource online for that information.
- Here are some strategies for creating useful content. Events and news in your area (define it rather broadly), engage with similar organizations, be they colleagues or competitors. Tell your followers what you are doing Right Now. Attending a fundraiser? A conference? Doing a site visit? Let people know! It’s good to let your followers know you are not just sitting at a desk playing Angry Birds all day.
- …Doing a site visit? Let people know! It’s good to let your followers know you are not just sitting at a desk playing Angry Birds all day…..Here are some examples from the same GWBC company. A note that they are attending a cool event, promotion of a national event related to their field, and an email newsletter from the company. DIVERSE content.
- Non-Traditional Businesses May not Need to Tweet 10 times a Day. If you use the right strategies, it should be quick and easy to find informative content for your audience, and you can schedule tweets well in advance. You SHOULD check in every other day at least, and set aside a few minutes to interact in real time with the Twitterverse.
- The trick of finding great information on twitter is tuning into relevant content and managing the huge flow of information on the site. The answer to both of these questions lies in the idea of keeping tabs and appropriate restraint.
- Follow Wisely! People who “follow-back” everyone end up with utterly useless Twitter feeds full of irrelevant information. Which is more impressive here? Without even looking at their content, I assume Brent Spiner’s tweets must be amazing – otherwise he could never have so many followers without following back.
- A law firm, for instance, should not be following Kim Kardashian, nor should they be following all of their clients. I might be your client. I tweet about the Red Sox a lot. Is that relevant to your law firm? Probably not. If you’re having trouble finding good people to follow, check out who your favorite twitterers are following.
- Twitter lists are underutilized. Personally, I think they are a great tool. Find useful lists and follow them; create lists that help YOU (these may be set to provate so only you can see them) and lists that help your audience.
- Lists are a way to keep an eye on certain groups without cluttering your feed with content that isn’t always relevant. You can check on them occasionally. Private lists are the perfect way to stay on top of your competitors or those advocating against your causes and issues.
- Here’s one example. Note that the organization has created numerous lists, but it also follows lists that others’ have created – there’s no need to reinvent the wheel if others have created great lists themselves,and it’s being a good Twitter citizen to boot!
- I hope this brief presentation was relevant to you. It was created for an event hosted by the Social Media Club of Atlanta in 2012. Please contact me if you have questions or if you’d like to discuss how to make twitter work for YOUR organization. I’d be happy to help!