If you blog for business purposes, then you’ve heard of the ways in which Twitter can help you either build your brand or help you redistribute your content in order to spread the message of your brand. And it looks like all the talk of Twitter being good for business was right. According to a recent survey by MarketingProfs, small business owners view Twitter as an important aspect of their company.
Well, that’s fine for business owners, but what about about the non-business users? They’re the ones that business owners are targeting, so getting their message to these non-business users is essential to branding success through Twitter’s microblogging platform.
Lucky for business owners, the MarketingProfs survey also indicates that the acceptance of Twitter is an overall trend within the realm of social media tools. that means that there’s a strong correlation between the success of a business owner bloging on Twitter, and the larger acceptance of Twitter in today’s culture.
So how can Twitter’s movement into the mainstream business world help you as a business blogger? There are several ways in which we discuss the benefits of Twitter on BloggingTips. But more specific to Twitter for those of you that are blogging for your business, some primary aspects of Twittering should be kept in mind.
For starters, mind your manners. Spam is generally unacceptable. Avoiding the appearance of being spammy is a challenge for business bloggers because of the necessity to market oneself on Twitter without annoying the target audience (or any audience for that matter). The more genuine you can be with your Twitter messages and interactive behavior, the less spammy you’ll be.
In being genuine, you’ll also be able to better engage your target audience, interact with them and build relationships that help you and your business in the long run. Remember that Twitter is a great way to spread your message, if you can leverage your followers to do things like retweet your updates and mention your name in their update stream. Reciprocity is important in any community, and that includes Twitter.
Don’t abuse Twitter features, or Twitter application features. This is true for automated direct messages, regular direct messages, and RSS feed imports. Twitter has done its part to begin curbing the ability to be considered a spammer or an abuser of certain features like its own integrated direct messaging options, but users are still able to abuse the features provided by Twitter and third party applications. Avoid being stigmatized or even suspended from Twitter by using all the available features wisely. The more effectively you can use these features, the more you’re able to benefit from Twitter as a blogger.
I've found 3-to-1 to be a good ratio. 3 regular tweets for every one self-promotional tweet does my site some pretty good business. Also, don't keep everything about your niche. YOu're a person that tweets, not always a company.
Sometimes I wonder if its only businesses using Twitter.