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It may seem that social media sites may not bring a great deal of customers to your business – compared to search engine results or pay per click campaigns, for example – but Facebook and Twitter are your word-of-mouth publicity for the digital age, and you shouldn’t underestimate them. Creating a Facebook profile and sharing photos and videos is usually the first port-of-call for businesses trying to build a social media presence online, but Twitter can be just as useful a tool for engaging with your existing clients as well as any potential customers. Here are just a few tips on how to use Twitter when marketing your company.

Build Your Brand

At its most basic level, Twitter allows you to expand your brand to another area of the internet. Twitter is hugely popular, and although it can be a challenge getting your message across in 140 characters or less, it gives you a chance to communicate with people on both a mass and individual level. Making use of hashtags and trending topics will also help you to locate users that could be interested in your business but who don’t yet know who you are. It’s also an opportunity to be a bit more creative and show your company’s fun side; post unique images, ask your customers questions, or start a Twitter contest in order to gain new followers. The characters you can type may be limited, but that doesn’t mean your ideas have to be.

Improve Your Customer Service

Twitter is great for communicating with customers. Don’t just follow your clients back, though; engage with them. If they ask you a question, reply (as soon as possible) – they’ll remember this and think of you (rather than your competitors) the next time they want something that your business sells or provides. You can make use of private messaging for more individual requests, but replying via a Tweet will show others that you care about your customers, and that you take the time out to respond to them on an individual basis.

Create Useful Online Relationships

This can be both in terms of customers and other businesses; Twitter can help you to build relationships with others that will benefit your company. It can be as easy as following users back, Retweeting their messages, and encouraging others to follow them as well. If you help to promote one of your suppliers, for instance, they’ll more than likely return the favour, and it may help your communications in the future if you need to discuss business matters with them.

None of this is rocket science, but it can end up taking up a lot of your time, so be selective in what you use Twitter for; some businesses Tweet about all kinds of irrelevant things that go on in their office, for example, but if you don’t have the time, don’t do it – it can make a company seem ‘cool’ and ‘real’, but it can also annoy your followers.

By Chelsey Evans

Follow @AmpheonLtd

Google+ has received mixed reviews from the online community – both from individuals and businesses – and it seems that Google has taken the negative comments on board in order to offer brands a reason to use the social media/business marketing platform. They recently introduced their Google+ Sign-In feature, an authentication method which works in a similar way to other social networking authentication tools such as Facebook Connect. It allows users to sign into a website via Google, taking along all of their personal information and preferences. So why should businesses be interested in Google+ Sign-In? Here are a few ways it differs from its rivals.

By Chelsey Evans

Follow @AmpheonLtd

The popularity of smartphones and tablets has rapidly increased over the past few years, and this huge change in how people are using – and searching – the internet has forced businesses to improve and adapt their marketing strategies. Those companies who ignore the potential of mobile platforms for their business could end up losing a lot of their customers as they flock to other firms who can offer them what they want, when they want it – which, with mobiles and tablets, is all the time. Customers even use their mobiles to search online while they’re actually in a physical shop, making sure they’re getting the best possible deal or just to compare the physical products in front of them with what they could be buying online. 

By Chelsey Evans

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You’ve heard of SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) to improve traffic to your business website or blog, but are you aware of video SEO? With YouTube being the second largest search engine on the net (after Google), it is not surprising that companies of all sizes are getting in on the act and not only creating business videos, but optimising them for search as well. Just like with your webpage, you need to ensure that your videos are being found by your target audience – the relevant people who are most likely to buy your products or use your services. Here are a few tips to help get your videos to the top of the listings.

By Chelsey Evans

Follow @AmpheonLtd

Compared to some other social networking sites, Pinterest is relatively new, but over the past year or so it has gained millions of users and become one of the most popular ways to promote businesses in a fun and interactive way. As you probably know, the site allows people to create virtual pinboards, where they ‘pin’ their favourite images to express themselves and share their interests online. It can be used to help organise events such as weddings, save inspirational images for future ideas, and collate useful-looking businesses and products. 

By Chelsey Evans

Follow @AmpheonLtd