October 14, 2010
Why isn’t my business’s social media following growing? Twitter has answers!
Twitter has been prepping an ad product directed specifically for small business owners. Twitter CEO Dick Costolo says the company “would offer a self-serve tool for local businesses to buy Twitter ads, and is working on ways to deliver those ads based on location, ” starting next year. This has been long awaited since the release of the ‘Promoted Tweets’ that currently exist. ‘Promoted Tweets’ are an advertising system that allows businesses to have their tweets highlighted in search results, and eventually, in the Twitter system and third-party applications, meaning Twitter will soon be able to reach nearly 100% of its users with ads if you have a big enough budget. This new self-service model will open the platform to tens of thousands of businesses already using Twitter and by looking at a combination of factors, including the location given on users’ profiles, as well as the other accounts that a specific users follows business will be able to better target their public.
If your current social media strategy isn’t cutting it for your growing business, we have a few suggestions towards making adjustments to improve your outlet potential:
- You may update your page too often or too little. It may be difficult to determine whether or not you are updating your Tweets and Facebook too much or not enough. A good general rule to follow would be to try and update your social sites at least a few times a week and daily if possible. If there is a noticeable complaint about your frequency, adjust accordingly.
- Your message is too promotional. Followers do not want to have any more marketing messages jammed in their face! Especially from a business they trust and love. Keep the promotions to a minimum and try to provide useful and meaningful content to your followers.
- You dont’ offer value to your followers. Going along with messaging, it is important that the information you are sharing is valuable and something that your followers will want to read. For each social media site, set a clear guideline towards what your business aims to accomplish, this will help you better focus your ideas and messages to your followers.
- You aren’t promoting your social profiles enough. Make people aware that you are using social media profiles! While some fans may find you within a search, others need some encouragement. Utilize your website, place of business, fliers, and even business cards to get the word out.
- You need to interact more. Once you have a core group of followers growing…SOCIALIZE! Social media sites are not just important outlets to promote and grow a good business, it is also a space where you can build strong and lasting relationships by interacting with your followers and making them feel as though you are a trusted friend. It is important to maintain these relationships and by giving your social profiles a face by engaging with the community, you can achieve that.
