Can Your Small Business Do Well on Twitter?

Social media is a unique tool for your business because it’s more interactive. This is in contrast to the emails you are sending out, those require your customers to click on links and this usually doesn’t encourage two-way communication. On social media, you can start conversations with your customers (and future customers!). Every post opens up the opportunity for dialogue, so it’s a perfect channel to connect with your followers and build trusting relationships. Plus, social media can help you grow your audience because it can put your content in front of new audiences in your followers’ networks.

Over one in five adults in the U.S. on Twitter, there’s a good chance your customers are on Twitter. Once you understand some basic Twitter best practices and know the types of posts that resonate with your followers, Twitter can become a gateway to developing a loyal fan base for your small business.

Just about any type of business can thrive on Twitter, whether you own an online e-commerce store, local coffee shop, hair salon, or handmade gift shop. If your customers are on Twitter, you can be successful on Twitter.

If you only have time to invest in one or two social media platforms, you want to make sure Twitter is one of the places where your customers are most active. There are a few ways to find out.

Ask your customers

The easiest way to find out if your customers are active on Twitter is to ask! If you’re an online business already and have an email list, send a quick survey about social media. Ask your customers which social media channels they use most frequently, what kinds of content they share, and which ones they follow brands on.

No email list? If you have a physical store, get a temperature check at the cash register. While checking out a customer, tell them you’re thinking of getting on social media and ask if they follow brands online and which platforms they use.

Are you active on other social media platforms? On both Facebook and Instagram they have tools that allow you to create polls and you can ask your followers if they are on Twitter as well.

Compare your target audience to Twitter’s audience

Each social media platform has certain groups of people who are more active than others. You’ll want to compare your target audience’s demographics (information like gender, age, geographical location, income, etc.) and psychographic data (psychological traits like personality, interests, and values) with the social media platforms you’re considering.

Look to your competitors

Every one of your competitors’ customers is a potential customer for you. So if your competitors are doing well on Twitter, it’s likely your people are on Twitter. You just need to start tweeting!

If your competitors aren’t on Twitter, it could be a sign that it’s not the right platform. However, if you have reason to believe otherwise — say, multiple existing customers have told you they’d follow your brand on Twitter — disregard your competitors and create an account. Twitter could be a goldmine that you’ll be the first brand in your niche to discover!

How Twitter can help your small business grow

Twitter can become a thriving part of your business to interact with customers and find new ones.

In a 2021 survey of 4,300 marketers, Social Media Examiner found that Twitter is used by nearly half of business-to-consumer (B2C) marketers (i.e., marketers that work for brands that sell to consumers as opposed to brands that sell to businesses, like the software you use for your website). And it’s not hard to see why.

According to the report, 88% of marketers increase business exposure through their efforts on social media. Seventy-nine percent of them report increased traffic to their website. Other benefits include developing loyal fans, improving sales, and growing business partnerships.