New data has been released suggesting social networking sites are not just a place to chat with friends and family, but an excellent channel for marketing your business. The data acquired by O2, and reported widely in the internet press this week suggests over 6,000 small businesses in the UK are turning to Twitter every day to reduce marketing overheads and to stay in touch with their client base.
“For a small business, using Twitter is more about customer or prospect engagement than advertising or branding. Twitter like all social media - is all about creating conversations, rather than pushing out a one-way message.” (Kate Hartley, writing for Real Business).
Twitter won't be appropriate for all businesses, but if you're looking for a fast, reactive means for exchanging information with customers (real and potential), the fast-growing phenomenon may be a useful channel of communication.
Benefits of signing up to Twitter
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Find out what customers think of your company or product |
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Respond directly to your client base |
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Gain feedback on new ideas and products |
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Link back to your site via your Twitter profile |
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Network with others in your market |
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Update customers with news on your company and services |
The statistics that have come out of O2's survey show that:
17% of small businesses are using Twitter (that's around 700,000 organisations) to link up with customers and suppliers
28% of those have joined in the last month - an estimated 6,000 sign up per day
62% of companies said the move was led by a cost-cutting strategy
6% said they had saved up to £5,000 on recruitment and marketing budgets since joining Twitter
74% said they were using the service to market their business
42% used the service to stay in touch with suppliers and customers
As O2's head of Small Business Marketing, Simon Devonshire is quoted as saying in March's edition of New Media Age:
“The way small businesses are using Twitter is a great example of how the community is embracing new technologies in order to adapt and survive in the current economic climate.”
And he goes on to say:
“The increase in small businesses using converged devices such as the iPhone and Blackberry smartphones combined with the simplicity of Twitter represents a fantastic opportunity for businesses to further raise their profiles and increase efficiency.”
As Kate Hartley's article points out, focus on what message you want to send out to your customers and make sure that what you post on Twitter is relevant and informative - she cites a good analogy: “Think of it like a conversation at a party: no-one likes the person who says nothing, nor the person that takes over.”
An excellent guide for how Twitter can be a cost effective marketing tool can be found on Understanding Marketing. Although geared to a US market, the benefits and tips on how to make the most of Twitter is well worth a read.
Twitter bosses in the US are also conscious of converting the growth of Twitter into cash and have recently recruited in order to develop the commercial side of the site. The current view from Biz Stone, the co-founder of Twitter is that the service will continue to be free for all individuals and businesses, but new features currently in development will be available at a cost. As reported in TimesOnline, he states: "But the key is to understand that Twitter will remain free for all to use - individuals and companies alike. We are thinking about simple business products that enhance and encourage what is already happening."
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