Can Twitter Really Help Small Businesses?

Yes. Okay, article’s done, right? Just kidding.

It sounds like a simple question, but it’s deceptive because the answer really depends, i.e. can Twitter help you do what exactly?

Customer Support
This is an obvious one. If your customers are on Twitter, it’s another channel for support. You’d rather be able to answer questions or get in front of a negative experience than have it shared with everyone else without you weighing in. And if you provide a positive experience right where the customer is interacting, you have a chance to turn a negative into a positive.

Increase Loyalty & Get Repeat Customers
Twitter is great for short interactions and many businesses can find ways to encourage loyalty or get customers back and buying. For example, a food truck might tweet its location and daily menu. This keeps potential customers updated and might get them in the mood for that food. Or, you might tweet a limited time offer to celebrate something local and your twitter audience may come in to take advantage of it.

Get New Customers
According to Twitter’s own study on audience behavior, Twitter users are more open to trying new things. This means that compared to the general population, they are more likely to try your business/service/product for the first time, it’s just a matter of engaging with them in the right way over time.

The Takeaway
So, you can see that your business can benefit in at least some way from a presence on Twitter, even if it is just to monitor and make sure there are no negative interactions or support requests. The next reasonable question is ‘How much effort should I spend on Twitter?’ and we’ll cover that in the next series.