Twittering for success with locals

The typical first response I get when discussing Twitter is “I don’t get it”. A statistic once spreading the net in April of 2009 claimed that over 60% of Twitter users simply do not get it’s concept and leave within the first month. Many claim Twitter is simply a passing fad and that there is no real business application to this new medium of communication.

Naked Pizza in New Orleans would have you believe otherwise. Within the first 30 days of applying that application to it’s business, their sales are soaring a minimum of 15% due to an exclusive Twitter promotion. Another business in Chicago has discovered that “Sweet Tweets” brings in floods of Twitters to it’s yogurt shop operation in Chicago. With over 700 followers, Twitters must prove they’re following the shop in order to receive a free yogurt.

The ‘experts’ said it would never fly

The experts said in 1994 that the Internet was not a viable business application. Thomas J. Watson, past president of IBM, estimated in 1942 that the world peak demand for computer was ‘maybe five’. The telephone was discounted in 1882 by President Chester Arthur as a non viable means for human communication.

Twitter can, and likely is, a larger means of communication than the telephone. The micro blogging site Twitter is different and like most new technologies, is being shunned upon as something no more than a pastime. One almost can not fathom that there are 4 billion registered mobile phones on the planet, and in 1985 many wondered by one would want to be accessible while mobile. If you’re one of those who are shunning Twitter, then in my opinion, you’re not a visionary and are someone who is typically a follower.

It’s just marketing

The fact is, marketing a local business on the Internet is merely the process of being where prospective customers are. You attend trade show, chamber meetings, networking events and go on sales calls. You own business cards, brochures, websites and give aways. These events and collateral are simply tools in your marketing toolbox to built, establish and nurture relationships. Over time, you earn the right to do business with these prospects you meet. The electronic world is no different. You are not using the Internet to sell your services, you use the Internet to find relationships, take them offline and earn their right to business.

Users of practically every product and service are collaborating in special places on the Internet. For examples, if Facebook were a country, it would be the sixth largest country on the planet. There are 600,000 new people every single day joining this network. It’s a social networking site, a place to network. Twitter is averaging 8,000,000 tweets a day, with 45% of it’s users in the U.S. Currently ranked as the fastest growing website on the planet, Twitter is experiencing growth of 1382% per month!

Sales start with Networking

The goal is to make the effort to be in the places that prospects are hanging out in Twitter. Just like approaching a conversation of four people at a MCAA convention, you’re welcome to join, however don’t jump in and cannibalize the conversation. Introduce yourself, shake some hands, and engage in the current conversation. Stay relatively quiet for a little while, and when the timing is right, share your business. Once you have earned the right, then plug your product and service. You’re goal is to take the conversation away from Twitter to either your website or offline.

Think like your buyers. You can search all the Twitter conversations and you need to search for local users and those that are talking. For example, a potential client for a delivery business may be in the medical niche. The decision maker might be a hospital purchaser. If this person were to engage in conversation, some of their conversation might reference their career, even with their closest friends. So this buyer might say something like “today was a rough day at the hospital, I got four cold calls from sales people trying to sell me some new computers”. So, search for the words ‘hospital’ and ‘sell’ or ‘sales’ for people in your local area. Twitter will show you all these people who are saying those words. Once you have found someone who you think qualifies as a potential buyer, follow them. Over half the time, they’ll follow you back and the average person only follows 100 people. Send them a personal hello. Tell them you are networking with locals. Over time, this person will see your tweets, which are intended later to spark curiosity, and drive them to your website. Of course, your website will be set up properly to handle the best call-to-actions.

This takes time. It’s difficult to outsource and it requires a level of intellect. There is no get rich quick Twitter strategy and you won’t see immediate results. This is no different than the old school world of networking. Marketing your local business on the Internet is no different than marketing in the old school world, just using a virtual world. Don’t look back in 2012 and say, I should have learned that a century ago, in 2009.