Twitter allows you to do searches using geolocation information. This means that if you are a local business, you can directly connect with people in your area. Twitter Targeted Search is currently our most requested social media service for clients.
Your company may be a good candidate for Twitter Targeted Search services if your business is primarily local. Armada Digital has had success in using Twitter Targeted Search for service-based companies.
One of the advantages of using Twitter as an outreach tool over Facebook, is that your business profile on Twitter can directly interact with individuals, while a company page on Facebook cannot. If you are managing a business page on Facebook, you can only communicate with other business pages.
A potential downside to using Twitter Targeted search is that you only have 140 characters to communicate with a potential client. Technically, you have even less because you need to subtract a few characters for the Twitter handle of the person you are communicating with and a few characters for your company email address or phone number. We strongly advocate including a preferred point of contact at the end of your Twitter message so that your potential customer knows how to get in touch with you if they are ready to take the next step.
However, multiple social media studies uncover that shorter messages are more frequently read and garner more interactions. From a positive perspective the constraints on character usage force you to be clever, direct and compelling.
Before you ever begin tweeting, it is considered best practice in the social media field to listen first. Social listening means paying attention to what those around you in the Twittosphere are discussing about your industry or topics related to your area.
One of the trickier parts of Twitter Targeted Search is isolating what search terms to use. Some search terms may return few if any results, or a search term that may seem relevant to you and your business may reveal completely different results. Instead of searching for professional jargon like attorney or physician, you may have to use more colloquial terms like lawyer or doctor,etc. One way we encourage clients to think of potential terms is by asking them: If someone was complaining about a problem that your service/product/company could solve, what might they say?
The point of Twitter Targeted Search is never to spam anyone, instead we are interested in inserting your brand into conversations already happening related to your industry. By approaching a possible lead in a humorous way, offering useful advice or valuable content, we hope to help you start a dialogue about what your business can offer a potential client.
If you already have a consistent social media strategy and a robust website, Twitter Targeted Search can be a great addition to your online presence. This service allows you to directly engage with a specific audience.