Small Businesses and Twitter
The Power of Social Engagement
Written by Steve McGarry.
I work in coffee shops around Silicon Valley on a daily basis.
You can typically find me at one of these places:
- Philz Coffee (Palo Alto)
- Blue Bottle Coffee (San Francisco)
- Red Rock Coffee (Mountain View)
The amount of people tweeting about these coffee shops is staggering.
Most early-stage startups would be more than happy with the level of engagement. They have figured out what harnessing social media, especially Twitter, is key to keeping their customers loyal and happy.
The problem is that the millions of other small businesses around the nation haven’t figured out about Twitter engagement yet.
We have a ton of small businesses using FunnelFeed campaigns. They have drastically increased their social following, and many have even gained new customers, especially those using our location-based targeting feature.
The point behind engaging with people on Twitter is to secure your brand.
Having someone tweeting about your small business is an amazing accomplishment. Their 140 characters are showcased to their following which increases brand awareness that Fortune 500 companies pay millions for.
Twitter levels the playing field for small business that are active on Twitter… and, its free.
Every time I have a great experience at small business, I always let them know on Twitter. I do this to, not only test to see if they are active on Twitter, but, to see the personality behind their tweets.
Philz Coffee is a great example of quality Twitter engagement:
If anyone is talking about your brand on Twitter you should be:
- Engaging with their tweet
- Tweeting back to them
- Giving them incentives to return
Brick and mortar stores are behind the times when it comes to Twitter engagement and that’s why we has taken off so quickly within the small business community in San Francisco and Silicon Valley.
SF and SV small business owners have referred to FunnelFeed as, “Twitter in a box” (which is awesome to say the least!)
The fact is, if you are running any kind of small business, you probably don’t have time to engage with every tweet. Which is why we, FunnelFeed, automated it.
Secure your brand and make it a point to tweet back and engage with people with, or without, FunnelFeed campaigns.
Take advantage of drink specials and daily menu items to offer incentives to drive foot traffic.
Get out there, and you will see returns. I, Steve McGarry, promise you that.
What do you think? Let us know on Twitter (@FunnelFeed).
Like our blog posts? Subscribe.
