Why would you not want to use Twitter to grow your business? This is one of the most powerful tools you can use, so get on it! Maybe it is underutilized because Twitter isn’t as intuitive as Facebook and it’s not so immediately obvious to people how to use it. It is an excellent traffic driver, relationship builder, and awareness generator, but did you also know it is a powerful listening tool?
If that wasn’t enough to get people using it, Twitter has also removed the barriers to enable you to get direct access to people that would have traditionally been impossible. Many celebrities, TV anchors, reporters, sommeliers, wine experts are now all accessible on Twitter. Wow. We’ve never seen this kind of access from any technology before. It is a marketer’s dream.
But too many times brands get on Twitter and don’t use it effectively. Here are the 7 biggest mistakes companies make when using Twitter:
- Talking to themselves. You wouldn’t stand in the corner and talk to yourself at a cocktail party. Twitter is no different. Be sure to direct your tweets at someone or some other business, or try to mention other Twitter handles in most of your tweets. (@ replies or mentions should be 60-90% of your tweets). Participate in wine chats using hashtags.
- Having a sales mindset. Using social media to push sales opportunities is not the best use of these platforms, and will end up repelling people. You cannot get away with the same content as what you might include in an email blast. First, listen and closely observe what other people are talking about wine / ultra premium wines / varietals you specialize in. Join the conversations that are already happening. Make friends first, then once you have a relationship with people then you can tease sales opportunities. You can also use your Twitter account as a customer service channel and proactively invite questions, check in on customers to see how they liked your wines, etc.
- Posting tweets that are not relevant to what is going on. Post content that is relevant, that people will be interested in. If it is not relevant, do not post it. Use trending topics #Holidays #HolidayWine #WineWednesday to see what a lot of people are talking about, listen, then comment.
- Do not appreciate their followers. This is a huge missed opportunity to strengthen relationships. Once people have followed you send them a tweet and thank them. Appreciate their retweets or favorites. Find out which of your customers are on Twitter and thank them for their business.
- Do not talk to followers on a regular basis. Getting followers then not talking to them is like leaving the party as the host and not saying a word. Respond to EVERY tweet. Keep talking to them on a regular basis.
- Do not tweet during events and tastings. At tasting events what you see happening at the event itself is just scratching the surface. There is another conversation happening in REAL time on TWITTER and other social media platforms. Don’t miss out on these conversations. Don’t miss out on the chance to drive bloggers and consumers to your table by connecting with them on Twitter during the event.
- Do not use Twitter to research who their customers are. Just by skimming your followers list you can see who these people are, where they live, and what they are passionate about. This is an incredible amount of information you have to get to know them. Find out what they are passionate about outside of wine and see what you can do to connect with them.
– By Mindy Joyce, Brand Strategy Coach
