JC Social MediaThere’s no more umming and ahhing about this one. Twitter is the most important platform for a business in 2015 to be on and we’re going to explain why. Long gone are the days when a well maintained Facebook account sufficed as an entire company’s social media presence and, amongst all the others, Twitter is now well and truly on top.
9 reasons your company HAS to be on Twitter:
1. Your audience is there!
This used to be a major argument against Twitter for business but it is simply no longer true. In November last year, Twitter claimed it has 232 million users worldwide with more than a fifth of Britons using the platform in 2014 (that’s over 13 million!). The latest estimates also suggest the fastest growing demographic on Twitter is the 55 – 64 year-old age bracket with overall usage of the platform ever on the increase.
2. There is more viral scope than Facebook
Twitter has the most viral nature of any social media platform for two main reasons:
Anyone who retweets a tweet is posting it to their timeline for all of their followers to see (Facebook uses algorithms to determine whose friends see what).
Sharing is easier than on Facebook – your don’t have to add a comment to RT whilst people are less inclined to share things on their own Facebook wall – it’s more personal and private.
This means the sheer potential reach and the speed with which thousands and even millions of people will see one of your posts is far higher over Twitter than Facebook.
3. You can piggy-back on trends and hashtags
Whilst Facebook is trying to integrate this system, it’s not cutting it for business. Hash-tagging gives you the same benefits that come with it on Instagram; grouping similar pictures and posts which appeal to a certain audience. Having a topic relevant to your business trending on Twitter gives your business the chance to be seen by thousands of trend-followers by posting a tweet using that hashtag. Don’t force it and make sure it’s good!
4. Twitter is the only true social media platform
Only on Twitter can any company account openly find and meaningfully communicate with any other. This really is Twitter’s defining feature and why it makes it so important for businesses. Read more on our social media interaction page.
5. Twitter is the best sales and lead generation tool
Reason four underpins the fact that a business can use Twitter as a sales tool. Twitter enables a sales process akin to one you would have in real life. You can find individuals and hand over leads to the ‘real world’ or begin a sales process right there and then on Twitter!
6. Celebrity endorsements
Try getting your product or services formally endorsed by a celebrity with hundreds of thousands of fans by writing to their agent or sending them something. It is incredibly difficult! Not least because celebrities and, therefore, their agents, get paid huge sums of money to endorse products. Approaching celebs over Twitter and managing to get a reply, a retweet or even an unsolicited tweet is gold in terms of social media PR. You only have to take a look at a celeb’s follower numbers and the amount of interaction and reach their posts achieve to see what benefit this will have.
It’s also the perfect platform to contact journalists and circulate your press releases and play a role in your PR efforts. Some journalists actually use Twitter as their preferred method of contact.
7. No fees
Unlike Facebook, Twitter doesn’t categorize your account as a personal account or business page (not yet, anyway!). This means Twitter does not generate its revenue by hiding business’ accounts and essentially making them pay to appear on other people’s news feeds. Over the past few years, Facebook has altered its algorithms to make business pages almost invisible to the public. Why? So it can charge for Facebook ads and promoted posts. Simple. It’s no wonder that putting just £10 into a promoted post gets it seen by hundreds of people – they want you to continue to spend on advertising!
8. Return on investment is more measurable than traditional marketing
Once branded as the ‘black box’ of marketing, social media has proven to be one of the more reliable marketing methods in terms of trackable return on investment. This is due to the rise in third party analytical tools and the power of Google analytics as well as companies having a better idea of their conversion and lead value rates. Twitter is no different and as a savvy marketing director you’ll actually be able to track your return on your Twitter spend.
9. It’s fun!
Social media is fun and for the right businesses, giving the brand a voice can suddenly make a company more appealing to its audience. Adopting a representative voice is vital and it’s something we emphasise in Tweet to the Top and our other Twitter for business material. Creating value-adding content and really engaging people through interaction is hugely enjoyable and you can also learn a great deal about your audience; what they’re like, what their interests are and where they hang out.
If you’re not yet on Twitter, now is the perfect time to capitalise with some companies still not making the most of the platform.
Like to know more? Check out Twitter for business.
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