Too big to ignore
All ecommerce site owners should now be using Twitter as part of their overall marketing strategy. Many ecommerce site owners simply dismiss Twitter out of hand. 6 months ago, I'd probably have agreed with them. Yet with 75 million users, it isn't something that you can ignore. New accounts grew by 1,500% last year and although that growth is slowing, it is still growing. On top of that, Twitter posts appear highly in the search engine rankings. The image below shows Twitter posts on page 1 of Google, for the search term 'Dell outlet'.
What is Twitter?
In case you've been living under a rock for the last year, Twitter is a 'miniature blog' (it's a form of micro blog), in which your posts are restricted to 140 characters. It's most well known use is for many famous celebrities, such as Stephen Fry and Ashton Kutcher to let their fans know what they've had for lunch and what they're doing throughout their day. But it can be so much more. Used correctly, it can be a very powerful marketing tool.
Is anybody actually using it?
Just because you're not using Twitter, doesn't mean that your customers aren't. Chances are your customers are already using Twitter. And they're talking about you on it. About the service they received, the goods you sent and any problems that they might have had. There was a time when only a handful of people were using email, search engines and eBay. And no ecommerce store today can ignore any of those.
The use of Twitter is of course demographic dependent. If you're selling stair lifts, you probably don't need to worry yet. If you're selling anything else, you should.
Does it work?
Dell's Twitter feed was so successful, to the tune of $6.5m, in alerting customers about sales that it has now set up a dedicated Dell Outlet Twitter account offering discounts exclusively to Twitter followers.
How can it help my business?
Quite apart from the fact that it's free, there are three main ways that Twitter can help your business.
1. Cutting down support costs
Think of Twitter as a highly searchable FAQ system. Every time you answer a customer's question that will be on public display. Anyone else who has the same question, regardless of whether they use Twitter or not, may see your answer in the search engine results. This can save them contacting you directly and will save you answering the same question 50 times on the phone.
2. Brand management
As I said above, even if you're not on Twitter, people are probably talking about your business on it. It is the perfect place to respond - answer questions, resolve peoples' issues. Think of Twitter as an extension of your customer services department. And all in a public place where potential customers can see how good your customer service is.
Take this (made up) Twitter conversation and think how you'd feel as a potential customer, reading it:
@YourBrand was useless. I wouldn't ever use them again. Item was 3 days late and box was damaged.
You would probably think twice about purchasing from that store. Yet if it was followed by your response:
@Customer - sorry, our shipper let us down that day. I've refunded your shipping cost and I've sent an email with a goodwill gesture.
Now, how do you feel about the shop? Twitter is a great resource for protecting your brand. And all in less than 140 characters!
You must think carefully about how you handle responses - you don't want to be handing out refunds to anyone that complains on Twitter. But regardless of what you reply, you must send a reply.
Twitter posts can also rank highly for your company name in search engines. You can use this positioning to create post that can push down other content, such as bad reviews further down the search results where it won't be seen.
Internet shopping is usually impersonal. Twitter gives you the ideal place to let your personality shine through and connect with your customers.
3. Communicate with customers
Twitter also offers you an easy way to communicate directly with your existing customers. You can use it in a similar way to email marketing, to notify customers about things happening at your store. Yet it's much cheaper than email marketing and can be used far more often. Some examples of what you can use it for are:
- Send special offers
- Let customers know when products are back in stock
- Let customers know when popular or timely products (e.g. de-icer in winter) are running low on stock
- Announce events
- Announce new products
- Bring to attention new blog posts or news articles
- Listen to customer feedback - some may not phone or email, but Twitter can be an invaluable source of feedback.
- Announce holiday period opening times
If you can make changes your shopping cart system, then you may even be able to make these functions automated, for example automatically creating a Twitter post when stock is updated. This means that you need even less time to manage your Twitter marketing campaign.
Where do I start?
The first step is to sign up for an account and give it a try. Try it for just 10 minutes a day, for a month or so and see how it works for you. All it will cost is your time.
Some tips
- Set up your Twitter account with your company profile and upload your logo.
- Tweet at least once a day
- Tweet about what you know best - your business
- Tweet about what your customers are interested in. They won't want to know what you've had for lunch, but they do want to know about good deals and new products
- Encourage your staff to Tweet too - they can set up their own profiles, which can all be managed through CoTweet. Just make sure that you put in place a protocol about what they can and can't say.
Build a following
Just as you work to increase your email marketing list, you must build up your Twitter following. Encourage existing customers to follow you by adding the link to on your website, emails and anywhere else that you communicate with customers. You can even incentivise following you by offering prizes, such as a draw for all new Twitter followers to go into to win a prize.
Most importantly, let customers know the benefits of signing up, such as Twitter-only special offers.
Want to know more?
Then go to Twitter and get started! http://business.twitter.com/twitter101/