I hope you’re using Twitter. Utilizing it for Business.
The internet has been revolving ridiculously fast, and Twitter’s rise to fame has definitely been one well documented. While it’s easy to just brush it off as a pointless web application with little practical point, that’s the same slow stagnant thinking that topples industries (see: newspapers & GM). So it’s time to accept the fact that right now Twitter is popular, is used by many, is hot…and therefore is relevant to busienss and making money which we are all about.
First, beyond the simple 140 character updates, Twitter has many strengths that have been revealed in countless industry articles. So below I highlighted a few valuable business applications of Twitter, and some huge opportunities that are relevant to young entrepreneurs and college startups.
1. Network with other businesses and professionals – with so many businesses, professionals, and websites already on twitter, twitter offers a unique opportunity to network with others in your industry. Whether its direct messages, Re-tweets (RT) @a business, or just a tweeting dialague, valuable relationships and networks can be formed exclusively using the Twitter platform.
2. Connect with your market. Super Niche, local, and intimately- If you’re a young entrepreneur or in college, chances are your target audience is also young and Twitter offers a great opportunity to really define your target audience and interact with them directly and intimately
4. Monitor Ad and promotion performance – Both offline and online promotions or ad programs can be monitored and tracked with Twitter, revealing a lot of valuable data to better market your product or service. For example, offering promotions only through twitter makes your performance very obvious.
Additionally and possibly even more powerful would be requiring your market to interact with you on twitter after seeing offline promotions like fliers or billboards. So essentially Twitter would make offline, old fashioned ads work much better and much more effective.
5. Rapid News & Blogs - Twitter is turning into one of the best sources for news with its trending topics and search abilities. In addition to the rapid reporting made possible with Twitter (able to come from any user in the US that can talk and use Twitpic), Twitter is the new feedreader for people following blogs and online news sources to get their information.
Opportunities – The opportunities that lie in Twitter are still almost endless. Services like StockTwits really show how communities can be formed around a specific niche topic, and until all those niches are covered there could almost always be some opportunity for small college-ish startups. So there is huge potential in forming communities on and around twitter, or aggregating similiar tweets to creaste an authoritative news feed.
Twitter’s exciting, and the possibilities and business potential around it are just being found and recognized. So get familiar with it at the very least and develop a Twitter campaign for your business, projects, or self today.
by @nickochsner
Share your thoughts!!!