Can Twitter help you sell more?
I was having a conversation with a friend over coffee earlier this week about Twitter and discussing whether or not the famous 'micro blogging' tool could actually help small and medium sized businesses sell more of their product. I'm often asked by members of the aforementioned group if Twitter can help them with their business and as I am not currently using Twitter, I can only speak from what I have learned about from others and give opinions based on my observations.
For those of you who don't know what Twitter is; it's an online 'micro blogging' tool that allows individuals to broadcast messages of 140 characters or fewer to others who choose to "follow them". Most people use Twitter to follow their favorite celebrities like Oprah Winfrey who recently adopted the technology. There are apparently over 10 million Twitter users, but it's yet to be determined now active they all are and what the true profile of a Twitter user is.
If you are looking to leverage Twitter to sell more of your products, you need to treat it like any other part of your Marketing Mix. It's basically another communications vehicle or Marketing Tool that enables you to build and foster relationships with customers and hopefully be able to sell them something should they like you as a result of actively "following you". By engaging in a dialogue with others and finding out about them as they look to find out more about you, then with any luck; you will be able to sell more to those who are interested.
If you are selling lots of a given product and doing well in your small or medium sized business, it's usually because you have done a good job of relationship-building. Twitter allows one to access millions of people who can eventually become "followers' on either a local, national and international bases. I heard recently that someone found their job on Twitter because they actively followed a Manager of a given Company that they were a "fan" of and was able to build a relationship with this person as a result which eventually led to a job offer. Not bad at all.
As a specialist in Partnership & Channel Marketing, I would advise on being cautious when introducing or discussing your products and services with people on Twitter. If you are selling through Channel Partners and using Discreet Vehicles to sell and market certain products; you need to be careful and ensure that you don't create any channel conflict with suppliers and vendors alike. That type of scenario could result in serious damage to your business. Twitter, like any social media based application, is available to the masses, so you need to really think through the strategy before opening your account and looking to acquire "followers".
Would love to hear more on how you use Twitter in your business. Maybe it will inspire me to get on it myself! Comments please!
