This post was actually yesterday’s weekly newsletter but I thought it would be something I would share with everyone because I know a lot of contractors are still trying to develop traction with Twitter and these tips might help. Anyway, if you aren’t on the weekly newsletter list, you can join for free by clicking here.
10 Ways Contractors Should Use Twitter But Don’t
Contractors typically get the concept of Facebook. They understand what it is: “Hey, I can post pictures of jobs; I can talk to my friends; I can show people what we’ve done;” and so on. What they don’t typically get is Twitter. They don’t know how to use it, and they don’t understand why Twitter is important in marketing and promotion, or why they should pay attention to it at all. So let me offer 10 good reasons why you should be using Twitter to promote your business. Use all 10, or use just one. The point is: Use Twitter.
1: You build you brand
By getting on Twitter and shouting links to what you think your best prospects or customers might be interested in—DIY projects, ideas for home improvements, etc.—you push out information and build your brand.
2: You help others
You monitor specific keywords. These people don’t necessarily have to live in your own back yard, they may never ever become a customer of yours, but if you get on Twitter and you present yourself as a business with a reputation for helping others, guess what, the law of reciprocity is going to come back and help you at some point. So there’s kind of an altruistic look to it, but just getting on and helping people definitely comes back to you.
3: You expand you network
You get to meet people on Twitter who you’d never have met for any other reason—ever. The world is becoming smaller and lines of demarcation are being erased. There’s no reason you can’t talk to or do business with somebody on the other side of the globe. So build your network, providing information and also using that network to ask for ideas and suggestions, too.
4: Establish yourself as an industry expert
If you get online and your main motivation is to help—not to sell—and you’re not that guy or that company that just pushes out products/materials/services, then you’re going to win because people want to buy from people who they consider to be experts, not salespeople.
5: Provide customer service
People go online to talk about you. They talk about your company, they talk about your products and services, and they talk about you personally. Being there gives you the ability to answer questions as they come up. Maybe they are presale questions, maybe they’re questions that don’t have anything to do with your business, but if you can help somebody and you’re providing customer support whether it’s for your business or not, you’re present. Remember: A rising tide lifts all boats, so it can’t hurt the general impression people have of the home improvement industry if you’re making it just a little bit better every day.
6: Discounts and specials
Twitter is where you can offer specific products or promotions that you want to run. They can have sunsets on them that say, for example, expire at 2 p.m. on Tuesday. Whatever it happens to be, you have the ability to market on Twitter if you want to use it.
7: Share photos
For contractors or home improvement companies this is a big deal for you to be able to show before and after pictures of your jobs. It’s a way for you to go out and use these outposts to attract new people to come back to your website where you own the content and you own the land for lack of a better term and get people to come back and view what you have.
8: Watch your competition
That’s a big one. For you to be able to monitor what they are doing and what they are saying because everybody forgets twitter is really about listening, not about promoting, and you get these guys and girls that don’t know what they are doing and they are just blasting promotions 24/7. You, as their competitor, get to see what they are up to what they are talking about. So it’s a great way to spy on your competition.
9: Research prospects
Let’s say you have an appointment on Thursday with Mrs. Jones. You go on twitter and search for them. You find out what their conversations are. You get to find out what they like or don’t like. You get to see what her favorite music is or sports team or college. Sounds a little creepy, but when you are able to tailor the presentation to what you think will make Mrs. Jones say yes, it’s simply called behavioral marketing. It’s being done to you all day so why not use it to your advantage?
10: Be consistent
If you get on twitter and you don’t do anything for a year and the last update you see is from 2008, you aren’t going to be taken seriously. You can’t have digital tumble weeds floating around your twitter page. So if you are going to engage in it you have to be consistent with it.
So that’s it. Ten solid ways for you to start using Twitter today to help move the needle on your social media marketing.