Twitter For Retailers & Wholesalers
Are you tweeting?
More and more retail and wholesale businesses are using the popular social media site Twitter to promote their businesses. The question is – is it worth it? I believe yes… depending on your business and how you manage your time on Twitter.
When used properly, and some will argue what properly is, Twitter can provide a valuable outlet to promote your business. The catch is that it really only works for businesses who can offer their product and / or service online. If you have an online boutique, then Twitter is definitely something to check out. If you have an Etsy, Artfire, Silkfair, or other community hosted site, Twitter is also a great site to promote your product. And if you are a wholesaler who is trying to gain attention, Twitter is definitely right for you.
What Is Twitter?
Twitter is a quick way of sharing news, ideas, thoughts, and more in 140 characters at a time. Your profile on Twitter is extrememly brief, but allows you to include a website address, a brief bio of who you are or what your business is and also includes a small space for a photo or logo. Anyone can “follow” you on Twitter and you can “follow” anyone, as well, with some restrictions. For the most part, everyone on Twitter is open to anyone following them and vice versa. As for finding people to follow, there is an easy to find people section that allows you to put in key words, such as fashion, that pulls up user names with your key words in it. This is a great way to then click on users you want to “follow”. By following them, you will then get quick updates from whatever they post in their brief update section which is only 140 characters or less. In addition, if you follow someone it does not mean they can or will follow you. But they might! I often check who is following me so that I can follow them back if I want. It really is a simple, easy way of communicating with complete strangers about your business. How you communiate will make the difference, though!
Twitter Time
When I first started “tweeting”, I was lost in time. I could tweet for hours! Turns out, tweeting for hours kept me from doing the work I needed to get done. After my initital binge with Twitter, I found a way to control my time on Twitter while also gaining purpose. In my opinion, the key to tweeting really is to have a purpose to tweet. For me, it’s to link people to my blog and hopefully educate and support them by doing so.
Here are a few thoughts on how you can best use your Twitter time based on my experiences:
1. Stay focused on why you are tweeting – which for most of you will be to promote your business.
2. Offer tweets that give to your audience. For example, if you posted a new blog, let your Twitter followers know about it. If you have a contest going on, tell them. If you saw a great example of customer service at your store, share the details.
3. Make sure that you give for reasons more than just getting sales. Offer friendly thoughts, advice, humor, and more to keep your Twitter followers engaged. Tell brief tid bits about your day, such as “Just laid baby down. Time to make some more jewelry.” This gives a more personal connection to you without revealing too much. And because Twitter only allows 140 characters, you are forced to be brief.
4. Link people back to your website. If you dont’ have a website, than honestly I wouldn’t waste your time tweeting unless you really want to. If you do have a site, tell people about it. For example, you could tell them about new spring arrivals, sales going on, and anything else. Plus, you can include the link for them to click on!
5. Control your time. It can get addicting if you let it – easy, sometimes mindless thoughts and strangers to chat with – but don’t let it consume you. Unless you think it’s providing you valuable benefits for your business, only tweet as much as necessary to maintain a healthy growth from it in your business.
If you do end up on Twitter, check me out by following me! And DM (direct message me on Twitter) so that I can know you are there! I’d love to hear from you. http://twitter.com/RetailMinded
What's your reaction?
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ljackson
you convinced me. I’m twittering 🙂
Michelle Pratt-Lienhart
I absolutely love Twitter! I have networked with so many wonderful people and have learned about many great opportunities that I would never have found otherwise. You can follow me at @just_be!
Simone
I’m a big Twitter; as a matter of fact, I have two Twitter personalities: @maya-tony, which I use for personal and business communication, and @CentralEvanston, which I tweet on behalf of our local Evanston Central Street Business Association.
I started on Twitter after reading an article on a trade magazine, along the same lines of this blog post. It quoted a children’s boutique owner who said that 1/3 of the traffic on the website was driven from Twitter. I was impressed, and of course, signed up for it. After a few months on Twitter, I took home a few lessons:
There was definitely an increase in traffic to my web site, originating from Twitter. However I have still to see one SALE originating from Twitter. So don’t confuse TRAFFIC with SALES.
As Nicole points out in her article, you have to “give”. And in Twitter that means PARTICIPATING IN THE CONVERSATION. People can see right throw spam, and will turn you off. Most of the clicks I get on my website are from people “checking me out” after reading my posts, rather than just clicking on the few promotional links that I post every now and then. In other words, I see Twitter as an internet-age agent of the good old “WORD OF MOUTH” – which is still the best adverting method for any retailer! If you make it interesting, people will find out about you and your business; even if they don’t click and/or buy right away.
And that ties into to the one point in which I disagree with Nicole: you don’t have to have a web site to Twit successfully! In the long term, the name/brand awareness that Twitter generates outweighs the number of clicks to your site.
Twitter is one more channel to get the word about you and your business. And it is free – for the time being! So enjoy, but keep reality in check!
Albert
Twitter is an amazing way of having a personal connection with your clients. I suggest everyone get on it! Hope to see everybody there. Let me know if you’re in the retail space so I can follow you.
@cheapcheapcheap
James
Great article for a new Tweeter like me. Thank you! I am really enjoying your blog.
@zoeybloom
Raygun Robyn
I tweet all the time! Its amazing how many people you can connect to and get your message out there. I don’t know if more people have found my stuff because of Twitter but I”m willing to try. Thanks for the great article!!
Raygun Robyn
Michelle
Great article! It was overwhelming at first, but once I got the hang of it I really like it. I do need to find some apps. to help making tweeting easier though.
@pitterpatte
marianne
Twitter is easy, fun, and a great way to make connections online. I’ve met so many wonderful people, made business connections, and learned a whole lot!
Come Twitter along with us! @polkadotpatch
We’ll love to read your “tweets”!
Jesse @ Premier Packaging
Overall, I agree with Nicole’s post that Twitter is great for small retailers.
However, the following statement seems a bit misleading, “The catch is that it really only works for businesses who can offer their product and / or service online.” In fact, I’ve seen a few examples of companies that don’t offer their product and services for sale online, but are using Twitter successfully. However, it does help to have a website / online presence to bolster your efforts on Twitter.
This one’s about a coffee shop http://cli.gs/Eq25nU
This one’s about a small pizzeria http://cli.gs/2jJ9NX