Social Media continued.....Twitter

As of this writing, there are 523 members of the Starting Point Facebook. The unintended side effect has been many new people joining Facebook in our community, and, the last few days I have had many discussions about how to market a business on Facebook.

It isn't just Facebook, it is also Twitter and the hundreds of other opportunities out there. There is so much marketing power in social media...it just takes a little time, and some creativity so that you offer value to your fans or followers. The possibilities are limited only by your imagination.

The hair salon I go to has recently started using Facebook to promote specials. They have been posting on their "wall" since January and have included everything from Men's Night to Valentine's Day specials to a free eye brow shaping .

Twitter can be even more effective in my opinion, because it breaks through the clutter that is Facebook (but what makes Facebook so great.) A quick last minute deal sent out via a tweet offers tremendous value to your customers. And gaining and keeping followers is all about offering them value.

There was a great article in Sunday's Wall Street Journal about businesses using Twitter to promote specials and improve customer service. Major airlines, such as JetBlue and retailers like Amazon are using tweets to alert their customers to last minute deals and special offers. Banks such as Bank of America are using Twitter to tick up their customer service levels. They search tweets for mentions of the bank and then respond directly to those customers. Brilliant.

In NH, PSNH is using Twitter for customer service - such as alerting customers of power outages.... "Outages scattered state-wide, but many in the Epping/Raymond area. Crews are responding and working to restore power.9:27 AM Feb 23rd from web." PSNH has nearly 2,000 followers.

I also love it for news alerts, such as on NH NPR...."Good morning! Today on The Exchange, the life and career of Ted Kennedy. Call in, or post a comment: http://www.nhpr.org/node/22092"

But for marketing your business....Wow! Tweet away. Offer something of value. The more value, the more followers, the more followers, the more customers. And, did I mention that it is free?