Are you tweeting?

Twitter now has 10 million active users in the UK – Is your business one of them?
The once personally focused micro-blogging tool, Twitter, has developed in popularity with individuals but equally amongst businesses in the UK. Twitter may have been a source for celebrity status updates in the past, however, the times are changing and more and organisations are realising the potential behind the social networking site. According to research published this week, over one-in-six businesses now use Twitter to scout and engage with new customers.

So how are small businesses achieving success through Twitter?

  • The London Studio

Theo Paphitis of Dragons’ Den launched a Twitter competition called Small Business Sunday. Once a week, Theo started asking entrepreneurs to tweet him about their business, choosing his six favourite, which he then flagged up to his 240,000 followers and on his website.

One of the companies that tried to attract the attention of the successful dragon was a multidisciplinary design studio called The London Studio.

“I tweeted Theo hoping to tempt him to look at The London Studio website and see the products I’d designed,” says the MD.

He did — and his single tweet saw my website’s traffic more than double on its weekly average. I thought the server might break. Sales jumped too — gift shops and other independent retailers got in touch and asked me to be a stockist, and existing ones put in larger orders. I sold an extra 13,000 cards in the month after Theo’s tweet. Twitter has been great for business.”

  • Big Green Bookshop

The Big Green Bookshop in Wood Green tweeted on the 24th of February 2011 that without help they would have to close the doors to the book shop in nine months due to an unpaid bank loan. Shortly after the tweet was sent, the topic started to trend on the social media platform, growing in popularity, spreading throughout the social media realm. Due to Twitter the shop sold enough books to cover its bank repayments for two months and is now trading healthy.
Is your business one of the 10 million active UK users on Twitter? If so, has you ‘tweeted’ or ‘followed’ in the last two weeks?  Take a look at the top tips below to get your business on the path to social media success.


Tips to get your Twitter activity up and running:

  • Follow other relevant small businesses – Quality rather than quantity
  • Share tips related to your industry
  • Post links to original thought pieces
  • Give referrals via Twitter
  • Communicate with potential customers, strategic alliances and suppliers
  • Engage with industry magazines, editors and journalists – you never know who might read your latest news or blog feature.
  • Ask your audience questions

Twitter is more than just a status update, the opportunities are endless….Get tweeting today!

For more social media tools and tips, click here.

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