What is your favorite social media platform and why?
That is one of the first questions I ask every new and prospective team member at Roundpeg. There is no one right answer, but I am always curious about which platform people gravitate towards and how they use their platform of choice. Over the years, I have seen tastes change and change again among individuals and business owners.
At different times I have favored Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and these days I am definitely leaning toward Instagram. Of course, you will notice that G+ is not on that list. I tried, but just like the word, G+ isn’t going to happen. So when I asked Dana Nelson, the new Roundpeg strategist about her preferences, I was expecting she would have many favorites, but she doesn’t. Twitter is her love language.
Why should small business owners love Twitter?
So I asked Dana why she loved Twitter most of all. She described the connections she has made on Twitter. Of all the platforms it is the easiest to reach out to people you don’t know and start a conversation. On Facebook or LinkedIn you are limited by the size of your network. Unless you want to advertise you can only talk with friends/associates and their friends/associates.
On Twitter everyone is accessible, local people, industry leaders, and even celebrities. If you see a conversation which interests you, she advises you to jump in, ask a question or share a helpful suggestion. While you may be ignored lots of times, occasionally you’ll get a like, a retweet or even a reply. Suddenly you are introduced to a much wider community of people. And those online connections can become IRL (in real life) conversations and even business opportunities.
But a word of caution, you can’t be too sales oriented. People want authentic, helpful conversations, not a sales pitch on the first interaction. When you are a real person first, you earn the right to sell something later.
Twitter Breaks Barriers
I have always been astounded at how easy it is to have a conversation in 140 characters. Sure the grammar is a little odd, but when you look past that, you discover that people who use this platform well can be funny, compelling and interesting. One funny comment may get you noticed and open the door to a much longer conversation. In today’s podcast, Dana shares stories of friendships and business relationships which started on Twitter and ended with lasting friendships.
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A great example of a Twitter success story.
In 2009 I was absolutely blown away by how well Discount Tire was using Twitter. While this Twitter strategy is fairly typical today, it was pretty remarkable back then.