For many business owners, Twitter has become the nagging thought at the back of their minds.
The problem for most is deciding whether they should or should not take the plunge and begin tweeting as a way to build relationships and 'put their name out there.
' However, for most, the decision of 'should we, or shouldn't we?' is then quickly followed by 'how do we?' In other words, how do they use Twitter and how do they find the time to use Twitter in a manner that is worthwhile? In these situations, there is the option to outsource your Twitter account to a third-party agency who will tweet on your behalf and even conduct conversations with your customers or prospects online via Twitter.
Like any form of outsourcing, using a Twitter agency has to be carefully considered to ensure it is what's right for your business.
Here are 4 issue to consider before outsourcing your Twitter account: How well should the Twitter agency know your business? This is a specific question relating to your industry and your business.
If you sell a well-known and well understood consumer product, then it's likely that the Twitter agency will have a better level of understanding of your products.
But if you are a law firm or you sell complex technology, you might need to consider an agency that has knowledge of your sector.
And specifically, the agency's employee who will be tweeting for you should have this knowledge.
What are they going to tweet? Obviously you will need an agency to tweet on your behalf regularly, so they are going to need a solid brief on what they can and can't say.
In many cases, they will ask you for a list of Tweets or at least, a list of tweet topics so they have some clear guidelines on what topics they can tweet about.
How should customer interactions be managed? Over time you would expect your Twitter follower numbers to grow.
As this grows, more people are likely to engage with your Twitter profile.
In this situation you should define to what extent the agency can have online discussions with your customers.
It might be that general 'are you having a great day?' types of comments are fine, but perhaps product-related comments would need to be agreed by you in advance.
What are the processes for management and measurement? It's easy to embark on a Twitter drive without a plan of why you are on Twitter.
Typically for a business, it is to connect with their current or future customers, and ultimately increase sales.
It's therefore important to track any new opportunities or sales so you know which ones were influenced by Twitter.
It is also important to keep an eye on who is following you.
Yes you want your follower numbers to increase, but also keep an eye on how influential your followers are - you only need a small number of influential followers to regularly re-tweet your tweets to see the benefit.
The problem for most is deciding whether they should or should not take the plunge and begin tweeting as a way to build relationships and 'put their name out there.
' However, for most, the decision of 'should we, or shouldn't we?' is then quickly followed by 'how do we?' In other words, how do they use Twitter and how do they find the time to use Twitter in a manner that is worthwhile? In these situations, there is the option to outsource your Twitter account to a third-party agency who will tweet on your behalf and even conduct conversations with your customers or prospects online via Twitter.
Like any form of outsourcing, using a Twitter agency has to be carefully considered to ensure it is what's right for your business.
Here are 4 issue to consider before outsourcing your Twitter account: How well should the Twitter agency know your business? This is a specific question relating to your industry and your business.
If you sell a well-known and well understood consumer product, then it's likely that the Twitter agency will have a better level of understanding of your products.
But if you are a law firm or you sell complex technology, you might need to consider an agency that has knowledge of your sector.
And specifically, the agency's employee who will be tweeting for you should have this knowledge.
What are they going to tweet? Obviously you will need an agency to tweet on your behalf regularly, so they are going to need a solid brief on what they can and can't say.
In many cases, they will ask you for a list of Tweets or at least, a list of tweet topics so they have some clear guidelines on what topics they can tweet about.
How should customer interactions be managed? Over time you would expect your Twitter follower numbers to grow.
As this grows, more people are likely to engage with your Twitter profile.
In this situation you should define to what extent the agency can have online discussions with your customers.
It might be that general 'are you having a great day?' types of comments are fine, but perhaps product-related comments would need to be agreed by you in advance.
What are the processes for management and measurement? It's easy to embark on a Twitter drive without a plan of why you are on Twitter.
Typically for a business, it is to connect with their current or future customers, and ultimately increase sales.
It's therefore important to track any new opportunities or sales so you know which ones were influenced by Twitter.
It is also important to keep an eye on who is following you.
Yes you want your follower numbers to increase, but also keep an eye on how influential your followers are - you only need a small number of influential followers to regularly re-tweet your tweets to see the benefit.
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