By Noor Abdel-Raziq, Altitude Accelerator Communications Intern
By now you should have read my previous blog post, 3 Reasons Startups Should Be On Facebook, and if you haven’t then you should now. Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms share certain strengths, but what makes Twitter different and why should startups join? Well, here are 3 reasons:
1. Networking
With 320 million monthly active users, Twitter is a great place for businesses to network with potential customers, business partners, influential people in the industry, and others. Unlike Facebook, Twitter is based on a more stranger-to-stranger connection rather than friend-to-friend. To a startup, this means that you can connect with any Twitter user, anywhere in the world. It also means that your reach isn’t limited. By using hashtags, retweeting, and mentioning others in your posts, your startup could be noticed by many people outside of your follower’s circle. If you use the right hashtags that are relevant to your industry, you could attract your target market.
2. Real-Time and Viral
Twitter is a ‘now’ and ‘in the moment’ type platform. With Facebook, you can use the platform to schedule posts that are relevant to your business and they’re somewhat timely. With Twitter, unless you’re using a third-party app, you cannot schedule posts. Your posts are supposed to be short, in the moment, and as relevant as it can be to what’s happening in the world around you. Connecting this with the point above, if you post something that is currently a hot topic and you use the right hashtags, your post could go viral or at least attract the attention of people. This will cause some people to look at your Twitter account, view your pasts posts, know what your about, and hopefully become your customer and follower.
3. Information
Twitter makes it simpler and easier for you to find information about your customers, competitors, and the industry as a whole. Simple searches can result in you knowing what people are talking about within your industry, and what your target market likes and what they don’t like. This information can help you adjust your brand marketing and perhaps inspire product innovation. You could also gain competitor intelligence by browsing your competitor’s Twitter handle and seeing what they post and what others post about them. Hey, maybe you could convert some customers this way!
Now that I gave you the reasons, I want to help get you started. Here is one piece of advice from Róisín Bonner, Social Media Lead at Microsoft, on what to do to improve your startup’s page. For Twitter, she says, “Always include an image in your tweet. According to Twitter, tweets that include a photo get an average of 35% more retweets.”
t’s hard to include everything there is to know in one post, however, if you’re interested in knowing more about social media and small businesses, check out the other posts on the Altitude Accelerator blog on why you should be on LinkedIn and Facebook. Also, don’t forget to read Altitude Accelerator’s 5 Social Media Tips for Startups!
