While many people still may not value Twitter, its adoption by some mainstream media (TV shows giving out their Twitter address during their programming for example) is helping to fuel its impressive growth.

The Twitter micro blogging platform enables real-time sharing of information, the gathering of market intelligence and an opportunity for building stronger customer relationships; all in 140 characters or less.

Like Facebook and YouTube, there is no cost associated with using Twitter for business, which makes it an attractive proposition for marketers wishing to engage their audience in new and innovative ways. It comes with a warning though, joining the conversation without adhering to some online social etiquette can do more harm than good.

How Not To Use Twitter
Twitter is essentially a social networking website – enabling people to connect and interact with other people who share similar interests. As such, some simple advice for participating successfully applies.

1. Tell People a Little About Yourself
Don’t leave you profile information blank. Your profile information is a great way to introduce yourself, your business and your key interests. Leaving it blank can appear as if you are not prepared to engage.

2. Let People Get to Know You
Don’t just quote other people all the time. Imagine a person in a social setting who does nothing more than quote sound-bites from famous scholars, inspiring leaders or even celebrities. It may be interesting for a while, but not worth an investment of your time to build any meaningful relationship.

3. Be Original, Be Yourself
On a similar note, don’t just continually retweet other users. Retweeting can be a great way to engage your audience – but doing little else implies you have nothing better to say. Preparing a content strategy will enable you to be original and share some personality as well as your expertise.

4. People Do business With People
Don’t be a faceless business entity. While your objectives may clearly be to grow your network and improve your bottom line, this shouldn’t mean you only talk about your company. Sharing some personality will increase your appeal and make you more approachable.

5. Think Engagement Before Sales
Don’t spam other users. Think again of a social setting, how would you react to someone introducing themselves with “visit my website for some great deals”. Your intention to engage with them will understandably vanish very quickly. Twitter is no exception, using mentions for ‘click here’ messages without any other correspondence is a clear no no.

In closing, keep in mind that similar principles apply as with any customer engagement initiative, be prepared to commit some time and resources to genuinely participate as part of the Twitter community.

If you would like help planning and implementing a social media marketing strategy for your business please call 0845 345 2592

This article isn't aimed at those of you under the mistaken belief that social media – in this instance Twitter – exists simply for short-term gain. Just as real-life business relationships require an investment of time and effort, the same ultimately applies to the digital medium. Whilst there are short-term results to be had, these should form the basis of a long-term commitment to engagement with your audience.

Whether you're focusing on lead-generation, industry insight or media exposure - this article highlights some key tips for leveraging two-way communication between you and your audience.

Improving Business Over Twitter
Used by millions of people on a daily basis, Twitter is a free micro-blogging service that enables users to send and read messages known as tweets. Now, people are turning to Twitter as an effective way to reach out to businesses, too. Here are 5 useful tips for using Twitter to help enhance your B2B communications.

1. Be Original
Try to avoid simply following the crowd, rehashing and retweeting (reposting) other people's content for the sake of it. Sure, every now and then an unmissable piece of content pops up on the viral radar, however one of the best ways of engaging your readers is to have something to say yourself. At the very least it will lend your voice some credibility, and you'll stand out from the crowd a little more.

Just as you're trying to achieve in your day-to-day business, establishing yourself as an authority in your chosen field is more likely to build and retain a loyal following than consistently referencing other people's content.

2. Retweeting Content
Following on from the last point, if you're going to share information from other sources – ensure it's relevant to your business. A snippet of information that you found valuable in terms of your own B2B business will help to both establish your grasp of the subject and assist in building affiliations with contemporaries, customers and national organisations.

Go one step further and add your own comment for that personal touch.

3. In the Field
One of the most appealing (and useful) aspects of Twitter is its dynamic nature. Users can update followers wherever, whenever. Got a sales team in the field? Attending a trade show? There's never been a better opportunity to post some original, 'as it happens' information that will – for a few hours at least – place you and your company on everyone's radar, leveraging invaluable exposure.

Imagine this scenario: you're at a trade show and have just lucked in with a casual 5 minute chat with a key player in the industry – what better time to tell everyone than right now?

4. Hashtags
Of course these days it's not just about what you post, but how you post it. In the same way that keywords matter in terms of SEO for your company website, you should be aware of the relevant hashtags and keywords that your target audience use on a daily basis. Broad search times no longer apply.

Once you have identified the relevant terms, set up appropriate searches on Twitter to automatically collect tweets that mention them. Doing so will open up a whole world of possibilities providing access to competitors, industry expertise and new followers hungry for relevant content. In other words, your target audience!

Handy hint: Twitter clients such as Hootsuite and Tweetdeck make hashtag monitoring a relatively painless process.

5. Inject a Little Personality
Any good internet marketer appreciates that, business aside, their audience is first and foremost human. Consider then that your use of social media doesn't have to be all business. Dropping in an amusing anecdote here and there – maybe even an irreverent musing on current affairs – is a great way of presenting yourself as a human being with genuine interests. Hey, it's called social media for a reason.

However you choose to use Twitter, it's important to remember why you are using it in the first place. Of course there are plenty of other ways social media can augment a great B2B strategy – so feel free to share your experiences.

Alongside Facebook and Digg, Twitter has become the digital marketer's platform of choice when it comes to reaching an increasingly content-hungry audience. In its simplest terms – recycling (or retweeting as it is now known) your Twitter content is a cost efficient and incredibly powerful way of pushing your content to a wider audience.

Twitter is presently free to use and is fast becoming an essential part of many businesses' communications strategy.

Using Twitter to Spread the Word 
In this article we'll look at some simple strategies to get your content moving across the digital highways and byways.

1. You Get What You Give 
A simple philosophy that can be applied to most areas in life, yet one that is often overlooked by digital marketers. If you interact with others, they are more likely to interact with you – which in this case means retweeting their content.

Be selective in terms of quality, because after all it is your name that will be associated with the rewteeted post. Don't forget to include @reply so that the author is aware of your reposting.

2. Use Hashtags 
Assuming you know what a hashtag is (if not, visit Hashtags.org), be aware that they should be used appropriately as opposed to liberally. Organised into relevant and clear categories, hashtags are an excellent way of spreading your content amongst like-minded folk interested in a particular niche or topic.

3. Keep It Short 
The whole basis of Twitter is built on the notion of short, concise snippets or statements that retain the reader's interest. As such the format features a 140 character limit on all entries.

With this in mind, the secret is to get as much information across as possible in as few words as possible. Not so easy when you consider that the allocation can easily be consumed by shortened URLs, @reply, hashtags and reweets.

So, unless the entry you'd like to see retweeted is short and sweet, it may end up sliced and diced by Twitter when re-posted by someone else.

4. Choose Your Moment 
Whilst there have been a number of studies concerning the best time to launch content for maximum response and exposure – there is little in the way of concrete evidence to support a theory one way or another. Instead, consider at which points during your working day you give tweets the most attention, and then use this as a basis for a structured posting strategy.

This may not be the most scientific approach, but is surely better than randomly launching tweets in to the ether and hoping for the best.

5. Ask and Ye Shall Receive 
Here's probably the most obvious but overlooked option of all – request a retweet in your entry. Call-to-action is one of the most basic marketing principals, and certainly has its place in the realm of social media. Of course one may need to exercise a little more restraint and subtlety due to the medium, however it is still a valuable tool when used strategically.

If you would like help planning and implementing a social media marketing strategy for your business please call us on 0845 345 2592.

Twitter is one of the most powerful social media marketing websites today. While it may still accommodate a lot of pointless babble, this real-time short messaging service continues to go from strength to strength as a viable alternative for connecting with people online.

Twitter is a free micro-blogging service that enables users to send and read messages known as tweets. Twitter, primarily used by consumers, has been attracting an increasing number of businesses who see it as one of the fastest ways to "connect" with customers. So, can you really improve sales using Twitter?

Top Twitter Business Techniques
As an increasingly popular social network, Twitter is growing daily and presently ranks one of the 20 most popular websites worldwide by Alexa's web traffic analysis. Whether you're a celebrity, politician, corporate giant or a one-man-band, Twitter can help you improve brand awareness and acquire loyal customers.

However, this doesn't mean to say you simply join Twitter in order to solely promote your products. While increasing sales may be your long-term goal, adopting a direct one-way sales approach will soon turn people off. Remember, social media marketing is all about dialogues, not monologues.

Creating a Dialogue
The best way to build a large following on Twitter is to offer helpful, friendly and genuine information – without expecting anything in return. Here are some content ideas to help build a positive reputation for your company on Twitter:

• Provide content about events related to your industry.
• Use Twitter search to find conversations to participate in.
• Re-tweet other users' good comments.
• Thank those who re-tweet your comments.
• Ask questions and invite comments on industry-related topics.
• Add links to great resources on other websites.
• Share some of your personality (without being mundane).
• Make reference to new content on your own website.
• Respond personally and promptly when someone sends you a message.
• Compliment great web content.
• Tweet your support for a charity event.

Once you have a good foundation of followers in place, you can then move on to using Twitter to help promote your products. Consider the following techniques.

• Make limited-time offers available exclusively on Twitter to reward those who follow your business.
• Re-tweet testimonials from satisfied customers.
• Share "pick of the week" products.
• Announce arrival of newly-released products.
• Tweet special coupon codes.
• Link to new product reviews on your website.
• Make reference to videos showing off products you sell.
• Promote special company anniversary give-aways.
• Refer to media coverage that relates to your products.
• Tweet about competitions running from your website.

As you take advantage of the opportunities to create some traffic to your website using Twitter, remember to take care that your content doesn't become too sales-oriented. Genuine participation should always be your first priority.

Finally, be consistent. Twitter is a fantastic source for real-time, short-form information, in a myriad of industries – including yours. If you need help with your social media marketing activities, call us on 0845 345 2592

Social Media Marketing is one of the latest online promotional techniques and is quickly growing in popularity as a way to gain a competitive edge. It involves creating content and publishing it via blogs and social networking sites such as Facebook, Digg, Twitter, YouTube and many more.

Social networking websites provide easy to use tools that make it simple to get set up and immediately 'join in'. To be done well, however, social media marketing is like any other promotional campaign, it must have an objective and a strategy to achieve your desired results. Here are some ideas for planning to stand out from the (ever increasing) social networking crowd.

Social Media Marketing for Business
Social media marketing is about enabling interaction as sustained interaction creates relationships, which in turn opens up the opportunities to share information about products and services.

A well thought out, sustainable social media marketing strategy can fulfil many objectives and benefit a business in the following ways:

• Increasing brand awareness
• Providing customer research opportunities
• Opening up an additional direct marketing channel
• Improving public relations and customer service
• Helping strengthen a Search Engine Optimisation campaign

While temporary success may be gained by simply 'getting stuck in', the best way social media marketing will help grow your business is if it becomes part of your overall marketing plan.

Establish Your Objectives
Before venturing unprepared into the social media scene, take some time to consider what you hope to achieve – and how you might measure how effective your efforts will be over time.

Keeping your objectives in mind as you proceed will enable you to be more focussed and prevent getting unnecessarily sidetracked. This easily by-passed step can help convert social media marketing efforts from simply being time consuming to being time well spent.

Listen & Understand
Spend some time finding and monitoring what activity is already taking place amongst your intended audience. If you identify where your customers 'hang out' and understand their community, you will be able to interact with them more effectively from day one.

Choose Your Tools & Engage
Now a good foundation has been set, the next step is to 'join the conversation'. Some of the most popular social media marketing activities for business include:

• Publishing a business blog – as an appendage to your corporate website
• Microblogging, via social networking sites such as Twitter and FriendFeed
• Participating on social media networks, such as Facebook, Linkedin and more
• Running ad campaigns on social networking sites
• Monitoring social media sites in order to follow and participate in the 'conversation'.

While it may be tempting to have a presence in all the available channels (it is free to set up after all), be realistic with your available resources.

Be prepared to share your expertise without asking for anything in return – focusing your efforts on being genuinely helpful is a great way to engage your audience and is a sure way to increase your reputation and social media influence.

Monitor Your Progress and Make Improvements
Participation in social media is not always convenient or directly beneficial, so measuring the activity created by your social networking efforts is key to identifying your progress – and vital for identifying where to focus future resources.

If you would like help creating a workable social media marketing plan for your business, call us today on 0845 345 2592.

The social networking website Twitter continues to grow in popularity amongst British web users, recently becoming the 38th most visited website in the UK. Twitter is a free-to-use micro blogging platform allowing users to correspond (or 'tweet') with each other in 140 characters or less.

Estimated at having more than 10 million users, Twitter is currently growing faster than any other networking site. As a result, businesses are getting on board as a means of extending their reach and participating in the 'online conversation'. So what are some of the best ways to use Twitter for business?

Tweeting for Business the Right Way
The ability to communicate in real time with your followers is one of the main attractions of participating in the micro blogging arena. Add to this the ease of making updates of only 140 characters or less – and the ability to do so via a mobile device – and you can see why Twitter's popularity is growing so quickly.

These same benefits also apply to businesses. At present, Twitter is free to use for companies. But users are not easily fooled. Participating with no other reason than to make sales will soon leave you 'friendless'. To help you succeed on Twitter, consider the following 20 Twitter tips for business.

1. Begin with a strategy; otherwise, you may quickly find it a fruitless (and time-consuming) exercise
2. Update your personal profile, incorporating your business colours and 'visual personality'
3. Add a picture profile
4. Include a 'Follow us on Twitter' link on your own website
5. Include a 'Follow us on Twitter' link in your email newsletters
6. Update your Bio information to give a little background, including a link to your website
7. Keep your strategy in mind as you tweet: stay on song
8. Use the Twitter search tools to find your target market
9. Search for Tweets related to your industry and participate in the conversations
10. Use ReTweets (RT) and replies (@...) when commenting on related Tweets
11. Keep an eye on trending topics
12. Ask for help from other Twitter users – it's a great way to engage people
13. Use links in your Tweets to others sources, including (but not exclusive to) your website
14. Recommend other Twitterers; it's a genuine act that is often reciprocated
15. Be yourself. Don't be afraid to share your personality – it's a part of being genuine
16. Ask questions and conduct polls
17. Give advice or assistance where applicable; this helps position you as an expert
18. Keep an eye on your Direct Messages (DM) and take time to respond to the genuine ones
19. Try not to use automated software. Think quality before quantity
20. Add yourself to the We Follow Twitter directory.

Other social networking sites such as FriendFeed and Facebook provide micro blogging tools as well, and it is possible to link your accounts with each application in order to update them all from one interface. Be selective, though. Don't spread your resources too thinly.

While Twitter is fast becoming one of the biggest players in the social media arena, it shouldn't be adopted as your only marketing activity. Instead, use it to complement your other marketing channels. If you would like help improving your social media strategy, call us on 0845 345 2592.

Twitter's popularity has catapulted over the past year or two, with celebrities, radio and TV show hosts using it to increase their following. Businesses too are getting on board, using the Twitter messaging platform as a means of enhancing their online communications.

It is easy to participate on Twitter; you can keep up to date with a person's 'Tweets' by choosing to follow them from within your Twitter account. When you follow someone, every time they post a new message, it will appear on your Twitter home page. This gives you complete control over who you want to follow.

So who is using Twitter and for what purpose?
Twitter is presently free to use and is fast becoming an essential part of many businesses' communications strategy. Charities have successfully embraced Twitter, using it to keep followers updated with events and up-to-the-minute news.

The Red Nose Day charity enjoyed a huge following as a result of active support from participating celebrities tweeting about their involvement. You could even get updates from the Kilimanjaro climb as it happened.

UK companies capitalising on the Twitter platform include Asda, Debenhams, eBay UK, Thomas Cook, Littlewoods, Dixons, O2 and more.

How Businesses are Using Twitter
Twitter is essentially a social networking website that enables people to connect and interact with others who share similar interests. To participate successfully and reap the benefits of a growing network of friends or business prospects:

• Don't be rude
• Don't be boring (especially applicable to Twitter)
• Give before you expect to get
• Be genuine

While participating on Twitter, be aware that like other social networking sites such as YouTube you could waste a lot of time by reading random things about other peoples' lives. The best approach is to establish your objectives first, then adopt a disciplined mindset as you seek out those you wish to follow.

Effective Tweeting for Business
Once you have identified your objectives, Twittering for business can help you accomplish some – or if you are really good – all the following goals:

1. Expanding and reinforcing your brand by customising your Twitter home page
2. Helping promote your business blog, perhaps by using Twitter to notify followers of new blog posts
3. Presenting your expertise (in snippets of 140 characters)
4. 'Sharing the love' by sighting other websites related to your area of expertise
5. Linking to articles (yours and others) of interest
6. Making new product announcements
7. Researching and seeking feedback from other Tweets
8. Offering special deals exclusive to your followers
9. Using Twitter search to find any comments about your (or a related) business – with the intention of re-tweeting with helpful comments
10. Announce and comment on preparations for special events

The key is to be purposeful, original and consistent. As with any customer engagement initiative, be prepared to commit some time and resources to genuinely participate as part of the Twitter community.

If you would like help planning and implementing a social media marketing strategy for your business please call us on 0845 345 2592.