Whether you're thinking about setting up a Twitter account for your business or already have one but are wondering if you should allocate more of your marketing resources towards it, many businesses want to know if Twitter is just a fad or actually here to stay.
Although only a crystal ball can answer that question with absolute certainty, the fact that more than 500 million people have signed up for Twitter is a strong indicator that it's not just going to disappear overnight.
But in order to decide how central of a role Twitter should play in your online marketing, it's important to look at exactly what it can do for businesses, as well as its weaknesses.
3 Reasons to Use Twitter for Your Business
There's no question that there are some compelling reasons to use Twitter for your business. Those reasons include:
* Access to a Huge Audience: Although not all of the half a billion people who have signed up for Twitter are actually active, according to recent statistics directly from Twitter, the platform does have more than 200 million active users. Thanks to that reach, you can gain access to potential customers who probably wouldn't be accessible through other mediums.
* Great Targeting: If you're willing to put some time into doing research, there are a lot of different tools that allow you to search and find users who are interested in topics related to what your company offers. While that doesn't guarantee they'll actually do business with your company, it's a very strong starting point for building a relationship.
* Full Exposure: As you may have learned from personal experience, when a business makes a post or update on Facebook, only some of their fans see it. But with Twitter, whenever you send out 140 characters or less, everyone who follows you will have an opportunity to see it.
Twitter's Weaknesses
While there are plenty of ways your business can benefit from using Twitter, that doesn't mean this social network is perfect.
Some of its weaknesses include:
* Short Attention Span: While your followers see every one of your tweets, it's important to remember that you're competing for attention with every other person and company they follow. Since plenty of users follow hundreds or even thousands of other accounts, it may not take long for your tweets to get pushed out of their stream.
* Easy to Waste Time: If you're not careful, it's easy to spend quite a bit on time without actually doing anything that helps your company's online marketing goals. In order to achieve any type of positive ROI on you or your employees' time, it's important to set clear goals for what you want to accomplish through Twitter.
To Use or Not to Use
Although Twitter does have its weaknesses, the benefits Twitter offers means it's still worth spending some time building a following.
In addition to being smart with the time you spend on it, the other key to getting the most out of Twitter is to make it just one part of your online marketing strategy.
By also engaging in other activities like blogging, email marketing and search engine optimization, you won't have to worry about becoming overly reliant on a single channel.