Using Twitter to make money
I have posted how to use LinkedIn for business and how to use social media as a PR strategy, but isn’t the most important factor making money?
This post walks you through how I use Twitter to help my boyfriend’s company reach new clients and increase profits.
Once you get the hang of Twitter, it’s pretty straightforward on how to find business opportunities through Twitter search.
First off, my boyfriend’s company is located in Ottawa so he prefers to work within 30km of the city limits. Second, the plumbing industry is multifaceted, involving different kinds of work and services. In this case, lots of keywords. I currently have 15 search terms set up.
Twitter search allows me to track conversations relevant to his business within the city limits. This is how I found them:
- Whether you use search.twitter.com or use the search bar on your Twitter web application, you can apply these search operators to specifically find conversations to a ‘T.’
- In my case, I created a handful of search terms with the following code: [keyword (ex: plumbing, plumber, renovation)] near:Ottawa within:30km
- Since his business is fairly new and is very location and keyword specific, I don’t need to use other search codes at this moment.
- It’s been almost four months since I’ve applied these search codes and his company has gained eleven new clients, all of which he’s completed work for. The conversations keep on growing, and so does his business!
Not only am I tracking conversations of potential clients, but also those of plumbing suppliers, companies and contractors. It’s important to know what your competition is doing, but also keep up-to-date with what’s happening in the industry. I also set up Google search terms similar to those in Twitter for news and industry updates.
At the end of the day time is money so it’s only fair you know how much time I’ve put in.
I work full-time by day and volunteer for three organizations by night. On my spare time (nights, weekends and lunch breaks) I check the search results for conversations worth engaging or accounts worth following, and either engage or post some content. If I can’t find opportunities to engage, I either post plumbing facts/tips (with his approval) or use Google search for relevant articles or stories.
In one day it will take me approximately half an hour to an hour, but I prefer to manage his Twitter twice a day, so his account is active in the morning or afternoon and at night. My boyfriend also posts pictures and content of the work he’s doing. It’s actually better when he can jump on so he can answer questions and add his own personality.
I hope this helped you learn how to use Twitter to look for potential business or clients and help increase your profits and brand awareness. Thanks for reading! Do you have questions? Would you like to learn more about how to use Twitter to reach new clients or gain followers?
What I learned at Ottawa’s largest Social Media Learnathon
On Saturday July 21, I had the pleasure of attending and speaking at one of the largest social media conferences in Ottawa, the Social Capital Conference.
With 18 speakers and subjects, and only allowed to choose three, it was challenging to decide which to attend and what subject I would teach. I chose sessions based on what I haven’t learned or tested in the social media landscape and what would help advance my skills for my current job as a research and content specialist at ReSoMe.
In this post, I’ve highlighted the three sessions I attended and what I learned. You can also learn about the topic I chose to teach, Social Media Relations, here.
The sessions I attended were Using Social Media for Research with Kelly Rusk, Making Dollars and Cents with Social Media with SoshalGroup, and Strategic Social: It starts with a plan! with Lara Wellman and Karen Wilson of Wellman Wilson Consulting.
Here are the points I took with me from each session:
Using Social Media for Research
- Pay close attention to the sources of research. Read and verify facts and sources before sharing or using information.
- Conduct a media analysis and competitor search for your company or product. Continue to follow these online conversations, also known as “business intelligence.”
- Even though technology has made the majority of our work easier and more efficient, social media research tools are not able to detect sarcasm and do not correctly measure the sentiment of mentions. Manual labour is required to verify whether the mentions are negative, positive or neutral.
Three main uses for research:
- social media audit
- issues analysis
- comparative analysis
Research tools:
- SocialMention.com
- FluidSurveys.com
- SproutSocial.com
- Sysomos
Making Dollars and Cents with Social Media
A complete social media campaign (strategy, planning, development and execution) can be costly. SoshalGroup highlighted the associated costs whether you’re a small, medium or large company. Here are some financial breakdowns of determining your social media plan:
- For a small business (0-100 employees), the average cost of a complete social media campaign can be approximately $30K for the first year. To support these costs, your company would need to have $200K annual revenue to support. You would then need to determine if 13-15% of your revenue was achieved through your social media campaign to be deemed successful.
- For a large business (500+ employees), the average cost of a complete social media campaign is $361,250 for the first year. To support these costs, your company would need to have $2-million annual revenue to support. You would then need to determine if 13-15% of your revenue was achieved through your social media campaign to be deemed successful.
Other points:
- Content is King. Context Rules. This means anyone can write key messages or design a website, but how is it perceived by readers? Does it generate action? Does it make the reader want to know more and follow through? Don’t settle for average. Dream big.
- Impressions are money. When evaluating your social media campaign, impressions are how you determine what the cost would have been if you paid for advertising or traditional media. But double check your findings if possible. Not all technology is accurate right now. For example, Facebook is getting better. If you are unsure, calculating leads can be more accurate.
Strategic Social: It starts with a plan!
Anyone can create a Facebook page or Twitter account, but what do you do then? Lara and Karen suggested these are very important questions to ask yourself about your brand before you jump online:
- Who are you? – what do you do and why?
- Who is your audience? –who are your primary target audiences?
- What are your key messages? – what do you want people to know about your business?
- What are your goals? – focus on the next 6 months.
- What are your tactics? – think of these as tasks. What are you going to do? For example, are you going to write blog posts or Tweet a number of times a day or week, or share content on Facebook every day? An editorial calendar will help you schedule and track your tasks.
I was very pleased with the speakers and the information I learned. Are these tips beneficial to you? Do you have questions or are you unsure about anything? Is there a social media topic or product you would like to learn more about?
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