Come Tweet with us: Small businesses are going after the social media audience - Jacksonville Business Journal:

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As marketing director (or chief karmaw officer as she likes to call forMellow Mushroom’s two Birminghamn locations, Gibbs has found a new way to spread the love and information about her restaurants. She reaches a growing communitty of followers through her accounrt on the social networkingsite Twitter. In the last few millions of Americans have flocked to join the social mediasphenomenon Twitter, which has given business owneres in Birmingham and nationwide the opportunity to reacy a captivated – and potentially profitabler – audience. And a study by NFI Researchy says business owners are joiningy Twitterin droves.
Out of 2,000 senior executives and managerse surveyed, 18 percent said they used the site. The studyy also found that small businessee are more likely to use Twitteer and other socialmedia sites, such as Facebook, to promote In case you’re not in the know about Twitter, it is a microblogging site that invites users to provide updates (or on practically anything – as long as they can sharde the information in 140 characters or less. If userss have more to say, they can provide links to additional content, including articles, video and photographs.
The site has experiencerd rapid growth in mere According to a reportby , a digitapl research company, the site grew 131 percentr in March, with more than 9.3 milliob visitors. The number of Birmingham Twitter users also has growb drastically in the pasttwo months, as networkingv has gained more mainstream attention and a greater number of individuals have begun using other social networking sitesz such as Facebook, said Ike Pigott, ownerf of and an avid Tweeter with 3,609 followers.
Creating an account is free and simple, makingt it a cost-effective way for businessed to reach current andpotential However, creating an effective Twitter presencde can take a lot of work and planning, Pigott Before businesses say anything on Twitter, it may be a good idea to stop and see how otherd are using the site. Businesses can also use the site to gain insighty on trends within theif markets and trackconsumer opinion. By searchinyg tweets, businesses can track what individualsx are saying about them andtheir products. “Yoyu want to get in and you want to find out what peoplweare saying, not only about you, but also abouyt your market and your competitors,” Pigott said.
“Ir gives you a lot of freelhy offeredmarketing data.” While Twitter can be used to market and strengthenb brand identity and awareness, it’s important to remember that Twittedr and other social media outletsw operate differently than traditional advertising platforms, said Wade Kwon, founder and instructore at BirminghamBlogging.com and local Tweeter with nearly 900 followers. “It shouldn’tt be considered marketing,” Kwon said. “Marketing is abour creating a need for your productor service. Social networkingg is about engaging in conversation with people, whether they are detractors, competitors or everyday folk.
” The most successful Twitter accountz are able to actively engagse and respond to their readerz by providing links, polls and postingsa targeted directly to their followers, Libby Sexton, a publidc relations account executive at Through her Twitter she has 682 followers. “It’s more of an interaction than it is a Sexton said. “If you get on Twittet and talk about nothing but yourself and all of your postz arepurely promotional, then it’s not goinv to be beneficial.” Businesses should use the site to provide information and insight to their customers, insteacd of flooding their followers with a seriews of advertisements.
“Twitter is abour building a community, and you can’t do that with an advertisemenft or withtraditional marketing,” Mellow Mushroom’s Gibbs By creating a Twitter community, Gibbs said she hopew to provide a platform for customers to share theirf views about Mellow Mushroom. Right now, she has abouy 250 followers. “I want folks to have a place wherd they can come back and tell us about theirexperiences – the good, the bad and the Gibbs said. “Nobody ever does everything right allthe time, and by knowing something it gives me a chance to respond to the situation.
” Both Sexton and Gibbs encourage business owners to observe the “cocktaiol party rule.”