If you’re a business owner on Twitter then you already know that the social networking / social bookmarking hybrid of a micro-blogging platform is an effective way to discover new content, connect with others in your trade, and share information regarding your business, but what you might not know is how exactly to cut through the ever-flowing content from other business people and find individual customers interested in what you have to offer.

For that reason, I’ve put together a few tips that will help you find customers on Twitter … afterall, you are a business person — if you can’t find a way to increase your ROTI (Return of Time Investment) in the social realm, then you’re not being efficient.

Take a look …

Search for keywords relevant to your goal

Twitter has a great search engine — you can search through everyone’s tweets quickly and easily to find potential customers.  For example, if you’re a lawyer you should consider searching for tweets including key phrases such as “starting a business,” “legal advice,” and “suing.” Experiment with key phrases to see what brings up the most tweets containing content expressing a need you can fulfill.

Share helpful content

Think of Twitter and bookmarking like the Gold Rush – only instead of searching for nuggets of gold, we’re searching for nuggets of content. You might even go as far as saying content is gold in social media. This said, there’s something else vastly different from the Gold Rush: we share our finding with others! People enjoy reading fresh content, so if you can position yourself as a resource where readers can depend on for fresh content, you’ll build a following around your work. Be careful to resist turning into a bloghog though. A bloghog is someone who only promotes their latest articles, their latest deals, their latest news – someone who doesn’t share. By sharing not only what you create, but what you find as well, you’re positioning yourself as that resource where readers can point their readers, get information to share, and subscribe to as a reader themselves. the more you share, the more potential customers you’ll attract and the more tweeters you’ll attract — the great thing here is that the more people you attract whom also share content, the wider your content will spread.

Tweet with hashtags

Hashtags allow Twitter users to place a particular tweet within a specific stream of tweets relevant to any given topic. For example, because Dapeem is an online yellow pages, I tend to tweet to #yellow pages all the time. Think of hashtags as a type of group organization. Though this isn’t a very popular technique for consumers searching for service, products, or professionals, you never know — it might jsut become the next-gen micro yellow pages.

Tweet with keywords and key phrases

Resist going overboard with this one — especailly those out there implementing SEO tactics into your blog or website. Tweeting with such keywords as “plumbers,” “investigators,” or even “yellow pages” will enable users searching the search feature to find your tweet. If they were to search for a name of a Twitter user, a keyword, phrase, or even content within the tweet itself, your “optimized” tweet would show. When I do implement this technique, I tend to keep the keywords or phrases near the end in order to avoid distracting and annoying readers.

Re-Tweet Content

This fits in with sharing content, but it deserves its own space due to its importance. Re-tweeting content is how people “vote” which material is valuable. Though there’s not really a ranking system or “front page” the content will spread quickly if re-tweeted. On top of that, it’s just plain courteous to give credit where it’s due — usually this will be the original creator who posted the tweet. This also plays into becoming a valuable resource for information. The more you share, the more eyes you’ll attract. However, be sure you’re sharing quality content … not just any content that you happen to see. Visit the site or blog to make sure the content is legitimate, original, and friendly.

Provide answers

Use the search tool to find people asking questions relevant to your trade. Send a direct message or tweet their way with the answer they’re looking for. This takes a bit of time, but can enhance your profile and authority level tremendously. This will tell people that you’re a resource they should follow.

Share company news

Inform your readers what your company is all about by releasing news every now and then. Avoid going over board with this one - tweeting too often about yourself can turn off readers and keep you from attracting new followers.

Throw a contest or giveaway

Contests and prizes often attract a nice amount of people. Consider throwing a contest with an affiliate, organize your theme and prizes, and promote the chance your readers have to win.

Recommend others

Increase your profile as a helpful resource by pointing your readers to other helpful people and companies. Don’t be afraid to send your readers away - they’re not going to purchase from you on Twitter anyway, and hoarding attention isn’t how Twitter works. Point them to helpful tweeps (Twitter users) and they’ll come back for more.

Following the tips above will increase the exposure of your company and streamline your involvement and ROTI. Remember, it takes time to make an effective splash in the social media world, so keep at it.

For more ways to attract customers online, check out our previous post, 38 Ways to Find Customers.

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