There are lots of posts around telling you how you should be using Twitter and I don’t think many would disagree if I said Twitter was a social tool used by individuals and businesses to engage with friends, peers, customers and potential customers.
But really, isn’t Twitter just a tool that can be used in whatever way fits with the business? Shouldn’t an individual or business be able to set up a Twitter account to use how they wish (assuming it isn’t to spam)?
While large corporations are able to lavish lots of money on external agencies to set up and manage a Twitter account for them and perhaps the medium sized businesses might be able to find someone in-house to take it on, the small businesses and sole traders often can’t get a look in as they don’t have the time nor the funds to invest.
- How does a small business owner know whether Twitter is any use to them anyway?
- Are their customers using Twitter and even if they are, is their product or service interesting enough to tweet about?
- Is there a way of introducing a small business to Twitter that doesn’t make them run for the hills in fear of social engagement?
I’d like to share a way I’m using Twitter that perhaps doesn’t fit in with the ‘how to use Twitter’ posts that you normally read.
I have a small business client with a static html website. They don’t have the funds nor the time to develop that site further to make it self updateable or even to add a blog and making frequent blog posts with fresh content and news updates. Even the smallest change needs to be done by someone who is familiar with html and FTP, which the business owner isn’t. My client wants to be able to make brief announcements that are visible on the website without having to ask/trouble (pay) the web designer to do this each time.
Most of us marketing types are familiar with adding a twitter widget to our websites and how it can be styled to blend in and match the theme of the website. Yet this same widget can also serve as a quick and easy tool for updating a website with short announcements without functioning as a social tool that encourages visitors to go to twitter.
In the features part of the widget code there are elements that you can turn off and on. These affect how your twitter updates appear on the website:
features: {
scrollbar: false,
loop: false,
live: false,
hashtags: false,
timestamp: false,
avatars: false,
behavior: ‘all’
You can also set how many updates will appear as well as changing dimensions and colours. So with a little tweaking and styling, twitter updates appear as short, regular website announcements (without linking to twitter). The business owner/staff can add these quickly and easily without any technical knowledge whatsoever either via their twitter page or using one of the many desktop and mobile Twitter applications available.
If you decide to use Twitter in this way it’s important to remember the Twitter Profile is still visible on the web and all past updates can be viewed. Yes, it will appear to be a long string of self promoting updates but that can still attract interest. Just make sure:
- The account is appropriately named (ie the business name)
- The profile bio explains what the Twitter account is for
- There is a link to the website
Also, watch out for @messages and direct messages via Twitter. If the account does get a genuine business enquiry from Twitter perhaps it is a sign Twitter could be useful for more than just easy website updates and it is time to get social!
My client is loving being able to make updates to his website himself. Who knows, if he ever gets a genuine business enquiry from Twitter he might recognise the social benefits too!
I’d love to know if you use Twitter for anything other than what ‘it is meant for’. Please feel free to share your thoughts and comments.
