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Volume 4, Issue Number 2
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October 26, 2009 |
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Use Twitter to Reach the Industry
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Table of Contents
Partners in Progress homepage
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 | | Follow the SMWIA on Twitter - An example of putting this tool to work for the industry |
Tweeting (a short, text-based update sent using the messaging tool Twitter) has taken the business world by storm. “Building one's base leads to marketing opportunities,” according to Kathleen Parker of the Washington Post.
Organizations of all sizes are making Twitter work for them, establishing connections and social circles, growing their brands, and bringing exposure.
Twitter publically launched in 2006 and remained a relatively underground phenomenon until recently. In the past year, according to the company, the number of users increased by 900%.
eMarketer estimates that there are currently about 6 million registered Twitter users, which equates to around 3.8%of people on the Internet. The research firm further projects that those numbers will double by the end of 2009 to 12.1 million users, and pick up another 50% in 2010 to about 18 million registered users.
Is there really a place for Twitter in the sheet metal construction industry? According to productmanagementtips.com, you can use Twitter as another vehicle to establish our leadership in the market and also to create awareness of what we do. This can be done by posting Twitter links to
- Articles about your company. local, chapter or training center in the media;
- New content articles on how to best solve problems your customers have;
- Best practice articles (does not have to be written by you, provide links to other’s content, what is more important is to make your prospects/customers/followers get better at what they do);
- Your press releases;
- Webcasts conducted by your company, local, chapter, or training center;
- Promotions, such as rebates;
- Conferences or tradeshows you may be attending; and
- Awards received by your company.
It’s important, though to ensure you have rules in place if you start tweeting. “Because it is so easy to dash off a tweet, you may have to be especially careful to resist shooting off a risqué [or flippant] comment. Instead, consider how you can positively impact your brand,” says Phyllis Zimbler Miller, an author and marketing consultant.
To start tweeting, simply go to twitter.com, sign up for an account, complete your profile, and write. SMWIA has established a busy twitter account at twitter.com/smwia. Partners in Progress has an account at twitter.com/smpartners and SMACNA at twitter.com/SMACNA. Tips for getting followers—from problogger.net— include
1. Leverage Existing Presence: On your website or other social networking site, mention your Twitter presence and link to your profile. Further, add it to your email signature, business card, mention it in any interviews or public relations efforts.
2. Tweet Often, But Create Space for Reactions: The more active you are on Twitter the more likely you are to have someone find you from within Twitter and add you as someone that they are following. Try to stick to one topic at a time and create pauses between them to let others interact.
3. Be Conversational: When you reply to someone and that person replies to you, you have the potential to be exposed to thousands of Twitter users. Be sure you are conversational about topics that will interest others and are relevant to their lives or businesses.
4. Provide Value: Your conversations should ‘matter’ on some level, providing something useful to people (information, entertainment, news, education etc), otherwise people won’t follow you for long.
“Social networking is definitely here to stay and should be cultivated for the long term,” says Bridget Wright of Corporate Eye, specialists in corporate communication.
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