Out of all of the jobs and clients I have had, Twitter always seems to be the least likely for anyone to want to use. I get it. I was introduced to Twitter at a college internship and hated everything about it. I refused to get one until my boss said that in order to remain an intern at the agency I had to have one. I used a fake name and did not post one tweet…forever. It wasn’t until I was up to a nice 73 followers that I started noticing the value of Twitter. Two years out of college I realized that I was able to have one-on-one conversations with the industry’s greats and get to a brand FAST without being put on hold. I fell in love. Yet, there is an entire world out there full of corporations and small businesses that still refuse to use Twitter. The two excuses I hear the most are that Twitter runs so fast it takes too much time and too much content AND a fear of losing privacy and/or making a mistake that ends up on the front page of Mashable. Fair enough. However, fear should never be the reason you do not move to a different social media network. While Twitter has had its ups and downs, it still remains one of the most valuable tools for one-on-one conversations with consumers (hint: with personalization being a HUGE part of 2019 strategies, this is IMPORTANT) and for consumer research.
I really do get it if you are leery of jumping onto the network, but maybe, just maybe, you could try a few of these effortless tips and see the magical glory that lives behind the 240 character-limit curtain? I will, if you will.
Targeting For Less Money
I swear by Twitter for laser sharp targeting…for free. That’s right. You can search for nearly everything, anything and everyone on Twitter due to most of its users having public profiles. You want moms that don’t have time to cook? Done. You want men who just want 35 minutes more in the day to go for a run? Done. People overly share their interests and details of their life on Twitter, which makes it the ideal playground for targeting the consumers you are looking for. And you can do all of this without spending a dime. In fact, I recommend organically searching for your audience on Twitter versus spending a ton amount of money with Twitter (sorry, Twitter). It will do you wonders.
Customer Service Necessity
If you are a huge corporate brand, or a CEO of one, or a small business, YOU NEED EXCEPTIONAL CUSTOMER SERVICE. With the trend of personalization, consumers are looking even more for a quick, accurate, empathetic response. A ton go to Twitter only to get answers from brands about products. If you ignore this customer service hub, you are ignoring a huge amount of questions, concerns and even compliments from your consumers.
Research
I started my career working for a research public relations firm in NYC. I LOVE RESEARCH. So, when I finally opened up my mind to using Twitter, I became obsessed with the ability to research everything from product usability to what your consumers actually care about. You can use what you find on Twitter to help improve your website, tweak your products and better tailor content to your consumers. It’s incredible.
Exposure
Twitter is one of the BEST social media networks for brand awareness. It’s one of the few networks that you have the ability to enter third-party conversations and industry conversations for FREE. I highly recommend participating in Twitter chats and searching for tweets that you can answer about your industry. When I was starting out in social media, I caught a tweet from a famous DJ to one of our fans. I entered the conversation as the brand, and before we knew it we were redoing his entire bathroom! We gained tons of IG posts, tweets and Facebook videos from catching that one interaction. The exposure is truly insane on Twitter.
Authenticity
This is quite the buzz word that I plan on writing about (again) soon. Authenticity is not picking the perfect filter so it looks like you didn’t try when you took a picture. It’s about actually being yourself as a brand, which can be an uncomfortable space for a brand. I would even argue that this is why a lot of brands are timid about the platform. You don’t have time to create the perfect tweet every time you need to send one. A lot of tweeting needs to be done on the fly before all levels of the company can approve it. Scary, I know. Totally worth it, though. Consumers love Twitter because they feel like they are seeing the soul of the brand through the many tweets it sends out each day. It gives them a sense of being a part of that brand’s community in a way other networks can’t. Twitter allows your brand the opportunity to shine as its real self, unedited. Believe me, consumers gravitate towards this.
I hope some of these reasons will encourage you to get on Twitter, or at least let your social media team expand a bit on a network that you might be uncomfortable with. Twitter is not going anywhere, in spite of a lot of news stories. They are doing amazing things on the extremist front, making sure they are removing accounts that represent extremists and racists. They also are listening to the same research of a huge chunk of consumers that you also have access to. Don’t be afraid of the fast pace. Be excited! This is a change to test your brand and show consumers who you really are.
– Marji J. Sherman
