Thursday, May 5, 2016

Biz Builder's Small Business Social Series - Twitter

Today on Biz Builder we continue our Small Business Social Media series by putting the spotlight on Twitter; the platform that allows business to take flight. 
 
With over 320 million active monthly users, businesses of all sizes make use of Twitter every day to get their name and brand out to regular and perspective customers. All over the world people use Twitter to release news, answer questions, and target their ads to their target demographic. And while other social media platforms allow you to also communicate with your clients, Twitter - with its rapid messages and quick interface - is unique in how easy and fast you can answer inquires and speak directly about your products.
 
But these messages - 'Tweets' as they are called - draw criticism as much as they seem to offer boons. A major challenge faced by employers on Twitter is the 140 character limit. Not letter. Character. That means hashtags, punctuation, and even spaces count towards that 140 limit. The 140 character limit might make it hard to convey messages, but last October when CEO Jack Dorsey began a project to extend the character count, the reaction was mostly negative. Many tweeters took to their Twitter accounts to voice their upset (proper language – but sounds weird to most people – reoword)  about the removal of the character limits, fearing that it would turn Twitter into 'another Facebook'.  The idea of 'micro blogging' with smaller, more concise messaging, is one that has drawn a lot of people to Twitter - and I'm of the opinion that character limits help rather than hinder small businesses.
 
Small tweets for small businesses encourage new and even experienced marketers to convey the most direct and simple message. Cut away the flowery language and the unnecessary details, and you have the bare bones of news or an idea to give to the customer. And this is crucial in a world where flickering eyes on bright screens are the new normal. Most customers and potential clients hardly have the time to sit and read a 500 word article while at work, so a simple line of text telling them directly what they need to know is the new, best way to attract attention. And in this day and age when big businesses already have their brands out there and small businesses/entrepreneurs are fighting for the same recognition, anyone who markets a small business or works for themselves should embrace the small character limit. The attention span of your customer should always be in mind when composing a tweet, and when a customer's time is so precious to them, a smaller tweet with your name/brand would be a far easier thing to take time to focus on than a hundred word expose on you or your business.  As FDR said “Be sincere, Be brief, Be seated”
 
Working at EGP Business Solutions, I've come across both sides of this argument. When I write a new blog post, or make a new Pinterest board, and want to get the news out to our customers - it can be hard to narrow the information down to 140 characters. But what this has allowed me to do is really take the time to sit back and ask myself 'what am I doing with this post/board?' 'What is the core of my project?' 'What is the most important thing for my customers to know?' This line of thinking allows me to always keep the customer in the forefront of my mind not just when composing a tweet but making the post or board itself. What is the core? Why is this important in a world where five minute old tweets are already ancient news? This makes every post and every board its own unique challenge but also makes me more discerning on the value of my projects. What is really deserving of not just my time - but my customer's precious time?

If I can't justify that to myself in 140 characters, maybe I should re-evaluate why I want to work on a particular project.

So even though 140 characters can be tough to work with - I argue that the limit has more of an opportunity to help than it does to hinder. It demands small businesses be to-the-point, which can catch the eye of a quickly browsing customer, and ultimately serve to get your name out to the masses. And with millions of people on Twitter, that's millions of chances to communicate directly to your customer, talk about your product, and potentially make millions of sales.

No comments:

Post a Comment