In this second edition of our social media for ecommerce businesses series, we are delving into the growing business opportunities that Twitter presents for online retailers – and how to optimize your profile for sales conversions.
Of all the social networks, Twitter is the platform that is becoming increasingly appealing to retail organizations; just last November, Twitter announced the introduction of a ‘buy’ button, to encourage ecommerce transactions.
Even buy button aside, Twitter has an enormous scale of influence. The network has over 288 million monthly active users, a third of which are based in the USA. Importantly, 8 in 10 Twitter users access their account from a cell phone, which makes it an ideal tool to support mCommerce transactions.
In order to be successful on Twitter, however, you must have a strong and well thought-out presence.
For example, there’s no point rushing into setting up an account without making sure it looks professional and clearly explains your offering. This means choosing a sensible account name – or handle, as it’s known – making sure images are formatted correctly for your profile picture and header banner, and ensuring your profile introduction outlines what you do and where you do it (including your website URL).
With your profile established, the next step should be to set out a clear strategy for content posting. One of the biggest mistakes that ecommerce retailers using Twitter make is to send sporadic messages purely promoting products. Yes, Twitter is a sales platform, but users only respond to content that has value. This could mean posting company updates and special offers, or commenting on the latest industry news relevant to your business.
It’s a wise idea to create not only a content strategy, but also a posting schedule, to make sure there’s a regular flow of material coming out of your account. We advise posting 5-7 tweets per day; these can always be scheduled using an automatic posting tool like Hootsuite, if you’re worried about finding time to tweet within your busy schedule.
One thing to remember about the posts you create is that they’re representing your business, so make sure your brand personality comes across. To maximize engagement, add a hashtag to words you want to emphasize – product names, competitions etc. – and if you’re mentioning a person or other company, include their handle e.g. we’re now stocking the new @fizzyfizz soda. A word of warning, though: don’t start your message with a handle name, as it will only send it to that recipient, rather than posting it widely on your follower timelines.
Once you’ve established a clear approach to outgoing content, it’s important to consider how your company will respond to incoming messages. Twitter is a two-way tool and has great customer service potential – provided messages are processed and responded to correctly. It’s a good idea to download the Twitter app so that you can respond to messages as and when they come in, even if you’re not at your desk. Make sure you don’t ignore negative feedback either; see it as an opportunity to win customers back, rather than push them away.
Finally, when you’re feeling confident about both your outgoing and incoming response strategies, the time is right to investigate Twitter’s new ecommerce facility. Online retailers now have the opportunity to pay for adverts that appear on U.S. users’ Twitter feeds, featuring exclusive social media offers. Users can then choose to add that offer directly to their credit or debit card, to be redeemed in retailers’ online of bricks and mortar stores.
Although this ‘buy’ function is still in its infancy, it’s a great way to experiment with social media’s selling power and test the effectiveness of your online profile. However, even without promoting your ecommerce agenda, Twitter is still a powerful brand awareness platform that can help you sell more to customers online.
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