Twitter is growing in popularity because it is a way for small businesses to cut back on marketing costs, reach  national or international audiences and keep their existing customers up-to-date on what is happening within their business.

Twitter Small Business Case Study #1

In Albany, there is a Toyota car dealership where  this rather large, boisterous small business owner who is known for the tagline of ‘it’s huuuuuuuuge’ (as in the savings). He was smart enough to have his commercials direct people to the company Twitter account ( http://twitter.com/iamhuge). When you browse through his tweets you can’t help but chuckle. He is as cheesy on Twitter as he is in his commercials and that is the secret to his success online. He keeps it real and keeps it true to form. For him Twitter is a non-stop commercial and it works for him.

Twitter Small Business Case Study #2

Curtis Kimball owns a crème brûlée cart in San Francisco that moves from location to location on a daily basis. He was amazed one day to find out from a customer in line that they had read about his cart on Twitter. He immediately signed up for an account (http://twitter.com/cremebruleecart) and now has over 7,000 followers who wait everyday to hear where his cart will be located and what the flavors of the day will be. His business went from a part-time hobby business to a full-time business thanks to Twitter popularity.

In these economic times when advertizing budgets are tighter and sales may be declining, finding low cost sources for bringing in new customers is essential to staying afloat. These Twitter case studies demonstrate that the small business owner can compete if they are creative and learn to Twitter correctly.

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When the dotcom era arrived it was difficult to replicate that same customer satisfaction and referral process. You either had to satisfy the search engines for higher placement or you had to purchase expensive advertizing for your website. People stopped using the traditional ways of finding local products and services and turned to the internet as their source for shopping information.

There was no real way to let anyone who found you online  that you had a great product or the friendliest service in town. You could put testimonials on your website, but people soon became wise to the fact that 90% of those testimonials were fake. Then came sites like Twitter and FaceBook and MySpace.

These social sites are a gold mine for the creative small business owner. A creme brulee cart operator in San Fransisco grew by word-of-mouth via Twitter and within a few months the owner had to quit his day job to keep up with the growing demand of his little cart. (“Mom and Pop Operators Turn to Social Media”, Claire Cain Miller, NY Times, July 23,2009)

This goes to show you that the word-of-mouth era has returned but with a technological twist. It is now possible for your happy customers to bring you more business to your brick and mortar small business as well as your online business. A wise business owner will recognize this and grasp the golden ring. Encourage your customers to “Tweet you right”.

Be creative in asking your customers to give you that valuable referral. It may be something as simple as printing up a little sticker with “If you love me Tweet me” on it to put on your products or sales receipts in your store. Make sure if you are an online business you include your URL and a Tweet request on every product you ship out.

You will be surprised at how well this works. Most times your customers would not Tweet you because they never thought of it. Simply asking them to do it may be all you need to do. If you don’t ask you will not receive.

You could even turn it into an in-store contest. Offer a free product or service to a random customer you find Tweeting about you. There are many ways you can cultivate link love from your customers. Just be creative!

Be visible on Twitter yourself. This is a great platform for your small business to let your potential customers get to know you. Just be sure you know how to use social media effectively. Learn internet marketing for small business and you can reach a whole new level of success.

Internet Marketing for Small Business | Niche Marketing Course | How to Find Profitable Niches